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Bad China amps with great reviews?

StepheK

StepheK

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I am continually baffled at how some of these made in China amps I am sent to review, some of which have a large "fan base", have many glowing reviews and have been on the market for years, are in actuality really bad both in how they are designed, measure and how they sound. Most of them don't come close to meeting their advertised specs, as either the rated power, distortion numbers or the frequency response isn't even close to accurate. And then when I sit down to listen, some just sound REALLY bad. Like an $80 class D chip amp or for that matter a blue tooth Bose speaker sounds better.

The part I don't understand is how they get this far without someone saying "Hey, wait a minute..." I saw this with both of those Reisong amps, both the A12 and the A50. I was lit on fire for pointing out their short comings by folks saying "You must be wrong because XYZ influencer said these are GREAT!" Then those Willsenton amps, especially that R300 that was eating rectifier tubes. And the latest is the Musical Paradise MP301 MKIII I was sent last week, which has had long threads on this very forum with people gushing over how fantastic these are.

Look at this frequency response measurement (the advertised frequency response is 15hz to 30khz) and tell me how this is a high fidelity amp? And honestly the total absence of bass response isn't the only audible problems it has. It has all kinds of funky harmonics and IMHO just sounds very odd, maybe people like that???

Curve.jpg

Here are some videos I made reviewing this if you are interested in more details.


 
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Wonder what speakers they were using them with, or what they were comparing them against. If the speakers aren't revealing enough or if there is no basis for comparison its hard to really say "this sounds great". First time I heard a really revealing system it made it clear to me I needed to step up my game.


also consider some (many?) will give glowing reviews to anything that they are paid to review in order to maintain that income stream. I've found that reviews from people who bought the whatever with their own money tend to be more accurate since they have no reason to lie about how good or bad it is.
 
gadget73 said:
Wonder what speakers they were using them with, or what they were comparing them against. If the speakers aren't revealing enough or if there is no basis for comparison its hard to really say "this sounds great". First time I heard a really revealing system it made it clear to me I needed to step up my game.


also consider some (many?) will give glowing reviews to anything that they are paid to review in order to maintain that income stream. I've found that reviews from people who bought the whatever with their own money tend to be more accurate since they have no reason to lie about how good or bad it is.
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Possibly they are using speakers that cut off at 200hz so they aren't noticing the bass track is missing? I tried 4 very different pairs of speakers and hear the same issues, lispy vocals, no bass etc. Also tried 8 different pairs of output tubes and several driver tubes, some were worse, none sounded good to my ears.

And I've honestly seen the inverse, people who buy something will rabidly defend their purchase choice and see it as a personal insult if you question the product they bought. The comment section is starting to fill up with fan boys claiming "That amp isn't burned in properly" etc. It actually came from another Youtuber, who bought a second one and has listened to both for a long time, himself giving it a rave review. So the unit I tested was previously given a very positive review by the person who purchased it. O.o
 
Is it possible you may received a bad amp to review? I've read some reviewers who notified the manufacturer of their unsatisfactory results, and the manufacturer sent the reviewer a second amp which tested properly.
 
Surprised you're asking this question, given how many amps you've gone thru and listened to. Look at all the youtube reviewers like SG that give everything a glowing review.
There's the odd one that will say the amp will only sound good with certain speakers, but that's about as far as they will go.

jeff
 
StepheK said:
This amp came from another YouTuber who owns 2 of these, said they both work great and gave this sample a glowing review....
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Ask the owner if they'll send you the second amp. There's a possibility the first amp got damaged in shipment.
 
StepheK said:
The part I don't understand is how they get this far without someone saying "Hey, wait a minute..."
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Most credible reviewers - and by that I mean people who test for adherence to published specifications - don't review Chinese amps. You seem to be one of the few who does. Other than that, I can tell you that the Chinese business culture is very different from ours. Most Westerners don't realize just how much of what we take for granted in terms of ethics and honesty is simply non-existent there. It's clear some of these companies have tried to adapt, but it's counter to decades of thinking. In fact, the situation has become worse lately due to political intervention into nearly all Chinese companies. This is particularly acute regarding manufacturers and companies that export. I'll just add that even when you find an amplifier that performs well, it doesn't mean the next one off the line will be the same.

Jack
 
StepheK said:
That both channels would get damaged in exactly the same way in shipping is hard to imagine... The power supply voltage is fine, which is the only thing shared between both channels.
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As @TriodeLuvr said, " I'll just add that even when you find an amplifier that performs well, it doesn't mean the next one off the line will be the same."
 
StepheK said:
That both channels would get damaged in exactly the same way in shipping is hard to imagine... The power supply voltage is fine, which is the only thing shared between both channels.
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We will wait for your measurements of the stock Chinese output transformers vs better ones. That's probably the issue as usual..
 
gadget73 said:
Wonder what speakers they were using them with, or what they were comparing them against. If the speakers aren't revealing enough or if there is no basis for comparison its hard to really say "this sounds great". First time I heard a really revealing system it made it clear to me I needed to step up my game.


also consider some (many?) will give glowing reviews to anything that they are paid to review in order to maintain that income stream. I've found that reviews from people who bought the whatever with their own money tend to be more accurate since they have no reason to lie about how good or bad it is.
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Actually, this provides purchase justification. When you start with nothing, everything sounds good. Influencer get paid to influence, not be factual, even if they have no idea what they were talking about. About the same as their customer base
 
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