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Thread: Does china make good speakers? |
    
New member Username: Jeremyfla
Post Number: 6
Registered: Feb-07
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 01:05 pm: |
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After some research, it appears that there some chinese made speakers that look great.....but how do they sound?
Has anyone heard the Swans Diva 6.1 or the new 6.2's? They look impressive and are sold direct from the internet. Driver tech specs look good.....
Wharfedale uses chinese made drivers, along with, I maybe wrong, Rocket, Onix, Axiom?? Is this true?
Why pay more to get speakers made in North America and Europe when the Asians make just as good for less $?? |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9800
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 06:11 pm: |
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Do the words "trade deficit" mean anything to ya, Kingfish? |
Silver Member Username: Exerciseguy
Brooklyn,
NY
USA
Post Number: 878
Registered: Oct-04
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 06:41 pm: |
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...or this http://www.comw.org/cmp/ ? |
Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9802
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 09:28 pm: |
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"Why pay more to get speakers made in North America and Europe when the Asians make just as good for less $??"
This sounds like a question for Lou Dobbs. |
Silver Member Username: Jingka99
Kuala Lumpur,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Post Number: 105
Registered: Aug-06
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 11:48 pm: |
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"Cheap and Good" is always a good proposition in any language or culture...
It's a bit difficult to genaralise but it seems that MIC(made in China) audio gear has improved by leaps and bounds since a few years back...
This is not only true in the hi-end audio products but in almost all products as in telecommunications industry, auto industry to name a few...and even professional services my friend...
So, I say, it's a matter of choice... |
Silver Member Username: Jingka99
Kuala Lumpur,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Post Number: 106
Registered: Aug-06
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| Posted on Monday, February 19, 2007 - 11:51 pm: |
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Let me quote from one Magazine;
"THE CHINESE AURAL ODYSSEY HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN" |
Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9804
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 12:18 am: |
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The problem the above quote doesn't address is how many of the Chinese companies are going to be around in a few years as the "aural Odyssey" winds down and shakes itself out? |
Gold Member Username: My_rantz
Australia
Post Number: 1188
Registered: Nov-05
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 12:21 am: |
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I think that goes for any company anywhere these days Jan. Question is will anything be around in a few years? |
Gold Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 5954
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 06:59 am: |
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But a company going toes up in Bejing is a little different than the same in Poughkeepsie.
Service afterwards? |
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Silver Member Username: Jingka99
Kuala Lumpur,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Post Number: 109
Registered: Aug-06
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 09:00 am: |
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Good point Jan, it looks like the Chinese are bent on capturing the lion's share of the Global high-end audio market which traditionally belongs to the US and European Manufacturers. Why they do this, why they wish to expend so much resources and effort to become the leader of this specialized and niche market remains a mystery still... |
Platinum Member Username: Project6
Post Number: 13046
Registered: Dec-03
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 12:38 pm: |
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Money! Where's the mystery in that? |
Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9808
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 04:04 pm: |
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I checked with Lou Dobbs and asked about this "mystery". His answer was a bit incoherent as he kept returning to illegal immigrants coming across our Southern border and how two border control agents are unrightfully incarcerated due to wrong-headed ideas by our elected officials in Washington, but here's the gist of his comments.
It has nothing to do with "the Chinese are bent on capturing the lion's share of the Global high-end audio market" since that market is such small potatoes to the Chinese. (Last time I was over at Lou's house, he was using a Pioneer receiver from the 1980's, so take this with a grain of salt.) Lou's contention is the Chinese are trying to put our collective backs against the wall in all areas and our politicians are all too willing to let those border agents rot ... no, sorry, he wanders nowdays, and the audio market is ripe for takeover in a non-hostile manner due to the greed of our politicians and overpaid C.E.O.'s who are making bargains with the Mexican government to ... no, this isn't going to work, forget what Lou had to say. Forget the foreign oil cartels and the selling of our national security those who would do us harm. Well, don't forget it but, as Lou says, high end audio is small potatoes in this affair. That's part of why you should be wary of goods manufacturered in China.
The Chinese are simply making the best of a situation that favors cheap wages and resources coupled with very little government regulation but plenty of graft. What is happening in the audio market is happening to all industry in all parts of the world. With the few exceptions of a handful of companies who want to produce locally what they design and sell (Pathos and Rega to name a few), the audio market is ripe for this non-hostile take overdue to the uneven distribution of production costs between China and most of the rest of the world.
As far as high end audio is concerned where China is not keeping up with the rest of the world is in innovation. Most of the "high end" audio product coming out of China is either designed somewhere else and shipped off to China for the cheap labor or the designs are not new and in many cases not very good. Most of the high end electronics coming from China are copies of designs that anyone can find on the internet or old designs for gear that has often been out of production for years if not decades and now exist in public domain. So, many of the pieces of tube gear and other electronics are taken from existing ideas and the "manufacturer" sets a retail price and builds accordingly. These will be the pieces to be most concerned about as the value of the yuan to the dollar shakes out over the next five years as most of these companies aren't going to survive any sort of challenge to their ability to produce cheap stuff. Good, stable products coming from China are still largely subject to the rules of the market forces. Solen caps and WBT connectors are the same price in China as elsewhere. Companies such as PrimaLuna are succeeding at building well designed, professionally executed products which tend to insure the company's survival. They are not what I would call "cheap". I have yet to hear China is growing MDF trees for their speaker manufacturing. As the resources of the land get less available and the population becomes more attuned to a better economic lifestyle, the people of China will eventually want many of the products they are now building for the rest of the world on the cheap. The Chinese government will eventually have to establish some rules which will shift the disparity between China's manufacturing capabilities and the rest of the world. This will move the production of goods to yet another third world country just as it always has for the last 60 years. There might be a few of you out there who can remember when the word on Japan was they just take US designs and make them smaller, cheaper and less reliable. When the production shifts, the parts and backing for the cheap product disappears and the owner of a Chinese amplifier or speaker will find they have very little in the way of help if their cheap amp or speaker needs repair.
And, despite what Lou says, this has little to do with the war on the middle class.
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Silver Member Username: Jingka99
Kuala Lumpur,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Post Number: 113
Registered: Aug-06
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 07:24 pm: |
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Berny, you're right, it must be Money as in all businesses, the main objective is profit...BUT you've got to remember the law of supply and demand, the high-end audio market as mentioned is small and with a lot of established players out there, where does it leave the new comers??? |
Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9817
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - 08:37 pm: |
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" ... the high-end audio market as mentioned is small and with a lot of established players out there, where does it leave the new comers???"
Looking for people who have never believed the old saying that if it looks to good to be true, ... |
