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Bad China amps with great reviews?

StepheK said:
Someone was arguing in defense of this amp, then later posted that the AIYIMA A07 was his "reference" amp....


Maybe compared to an $80 China chip amp it sounds good?
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could well be. I've got a crappy little amp that I use for computer sound. Its fine on crappy speakers, hooked to anything with some resolution and its pretty obvious how bad the amp sounds. Those speakers also manage to sound worse on a better amp. I suppose its craplimentary.
 
StepheK said:
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???

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


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Just want to say thank you for your diligence!
 
gadget73 said:
Critical listening is another thing that frankly not everyone can do. I can hear things that I can't put into words but lots of other people just don't hear it at all, or aren't paying attention to it. I won't pretend my ears are great either.
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This probably describes me well. I’ll be the first to admit I rarely critically listen and perhaps have a lower threshold of sweetness than most here.
I actually find it advantageous that I don’t require massive investments in gear to reach a high level of enjoyment. I can see where other less astute/interested listeners may not have the same rigorous requirements of many here.

Not tube, but my recent purchase of a Chinese Fosi BT20A plus Class D amplifier checks many boxes. I’ll probably A/B it with Kegger’s modded ST-70 avatar amp to see how I like the two.

For me it’s all about what sounds good to my old, worn out ears, not anyone else’s. There’s a solid chance that I may sell much of my gear and just wind up with my laptop feeding a USB HiRes DAC into a switch with a tuner and phono into the Fosi feeding my Fried Model Qs.
 
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Sometimes I listen critically, sometimes not. I know what I like and what I don't. I did not like the ST-70, Decware Tori, Music Angel, Heathkit, Dared, and probably others I can't remember. 11 years ago I bought a Yaqin MS-300C and have used it almost daily since then. I love this amp. It does everything I need it to do and sounds good doing it.
I'm sure there's "crap" sounding Chinese amps out there, just as there's "crap" sounding American, Japanese etc.
Lumping all Chinese made equipment into the same category (you know who you are) is doing members a great disservice. Every time the subject comes up the same players spout off, I suspect their problems are quite deep. I can't help you with that.

Mike
 
63pontiacgp said:
Lumping all Chinese made equipment into the same category...
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I too have run across some nice sounding China tube amps. That Muzishare X7 sounds nice, just don't use the phono stage it has inside lol. The newest version of the Willsenton R8 also sounds nice and after following my lead, they fixed most of the issues I found with it. Maybe this one will be the same?
 
63pontiacgp said:
I bought a Yaqin MS-300C...
...I love this amp.
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Mike, I also love my Yaqin. I bought the older MS-300B used (VERY used lol). I believe I read somewhere that the C fixed a few issues the B had.
Love my current setup, but I do sometimes miss the smoothness of the 300B, even if its at the expense of some of the detail..
 
63pontiacgp said:
11 years ago I bought a Yaqin MS-300C and have used it almost daily since then. I love this amp. It does everything I need it to do and sounds good doing it.
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Just wondering if you ever tested the frequency response and other areas of performance? Yaqin is one of the larger and older companies. They can't all be non-performant. I'd be interested to know maximum output power at 20Hz. That's a tough nut for SETs from anywhere.

Jack
 
TriodeLuvr said:
Just wondering if you ever tested the frequency response and other areas of performance? Yaqin is one of the larger and older companies. They can't all be non-performant. I'd be interested to know maximum output power at 20Hz. That's a tough nut for SETs from anywhere.

Jack
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I honestly don't care much about 20hz performance. My speakers don't do anything under 40hz!
 
TriodeLuvr said:
Just wondering if you ever tested the frequency response and other areas of performance? Yaqin is one of the larger and older companies. They can't all be non-performant. I'd be interested to know maximum output power at 20Hz. That's a tough nut for SETs from anywhere.

Jack
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Jack

I never have measured anything. I just know how it sounds to me. I do admit I use a powered sub for 45 and below.

Mike
 
StepheK said:
So how much music is below 40hz and how many even premium speakers actually reproduce down to 20hz? Of course I look at how an amp does there, but in a listening test, you aren't gonna hear it.
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That's absolutely wrong. The bass reflex speakers I built 20 years ago are tuned to about 22 Hz, which means response is flat to at least 20Hz. The difference between these and speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls - which are down at least 6dB (probably more) at 20 Hz - is significant. I listen to many types of music, and a huge amount of audible output is lost with lesser speakers like those you're describing. I wouldn't want any amplifier that can't keep up with the limits of hearing, particularly at the bottom.

Jack
 
TriodeLuvr said:
That's absolutely wrong. The bass reflex speakers I built 20 years ago are tuned to about 22 Hz, which means response is flat to at least 20Hz. The difference between these and speakers like Klipsch Cornwalls - which are down at least 6dB (probably more) at 20 Hz - is significant. I listen to many types of music, and a huge amount of audible output is lost with lesser speakers like those you're describing. I wouldn't want any amplifier that can't keep up with the limits of hearing, particularly at the bottom.

Jack
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If you are really intent on big power below 40hz, a SET or a single ended amp in general is probably a bad idea to start with.
 
Not interested in big power generally, I just want an amp that is capable. I don't need big power but I want the bass below 40Hz. And I have a SE amp that is only 3 watts but is flat at 1W to below 20Hz and doesn't lose much at 3W. Most of my PP amps are between 10 and 25W so not BIG power, but they are all good at bass below 40Hz.
 
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