What about all those Chinese DACs?

@mapman 

The Thucydides Trap is a political theory 

I feel mahgister singled me out! lol

Such political talk is unavoidable when it comes to Chinese gear. 

Will folks stop buying Chinese gear if we go to war with them? What if you don't receive your product? Will Todd in Texas help you with that? Not sure Todd would be around to help if that conflict took off, but it sure should make on think twice about sending your money to a country that may bomb your house. Todd may be sympathetic to your cause if your DAC goes up with your house, but to what point? 

Welcome to reality. Brought to you by....(fill in the blank)!

@goodlistening64 - Fair enough, though I don't know which source/nation I should trust that IS trustworthy.

But my thoughts on Chinese DACs are like thoughts on any other international or domestic products; there's cheap junk that will not be reliable - I've bought my share of weird little adapter boxes from Amazon - and there are excellent quality products like Holo Audio, and I've had a wonderful-sounding May KTE DAC for over 5 years with no trouble. 

On a different, but related note, it will be interesting to see how MBL does under Chinese ownership. The buyer in acquisitions often says "no changes" but the realities are that buyers usually need to take costs out of the deal. Hopefully, that comes through reductions in back room operations, not engineering.

Japan started off with budget novelties, then entered into the audio revolution of the seventies, and finally dominated cars in the 80’s (we built big ones, they built small ones) before going bust in the 90’s. Deja Vu all over again, this time it’s China. 

I have read that China has manufactured so many vehicles already and could permeate a country with their cars (as it will now do in Canada) within a year or two; once allowed to flood a market. 

Also have heard many car reps here in the USA say that it will wipe them out. Not sure I feel sorry for them, as while they are not directly responsible for building a car that can compete, but they looked the other way as Chrysler did in the 80’s and are holding everyone back from their lack of judgement over the years. 

As you allude to larsman, I would be more apprehensive with the purchase of a lower cost China option. While it may add monetary risks by going up the ladder, the higher end Chinese products do seem to be well made and reliable. Still, there are so many great options stateside and the T’ffs kind of dent the idea that you are getting more for your money in the end.

@goodlistening64 - yes, during the 50's and 60's, and likely into the 70's, 'Made In Japan' was just as ubiquitous as 'Made In China' is today and was usually thought of as cheap junk. Sony got well known for hand-held transistor radios that teenagers would carry around with them.

But when did the Japanese car industry go bust?