Chinese Clones - Good value for money or rip off?

[wee tee cee]

The automotive and aeronautical industry have had huge problems with fake parts.

Brake pads made out of compressed dried grass!!!!

Bearings made of shit getting put into safety critical components on passenger planes!!

Not good.

My wife bought a door handle the other day at b&q the screws were made of cheese- they chewed just by staring at them!

[RothwellAudio]

... those wouldn't even measure right, so you'd be hard put to fool anybody.

How many people measure capacitors before using them? And how is it even possible to do a non-destructive test of voltage rating? Those fakes - if they're "genuine" fakes (if you get my meaning) - could be dangerous.

[walpurgis]

How many people measure capacitors before using them?

I do.

[RothwellAudio]

I do.

And do you test the voltage rating?

[walpurgis]

Nope.

[hifi_dave]

Is that a genuine 'con', or has someone cobbled it together as a joke? Hard to imagine why anyone would go to all the trouble of hiding an inferior-spec'd capacitor within the empty can of a better one.

Love that pic, though I doubt it would fool anyone because of the different values and to go to the trouble of buying cans and jigging it together with the shrink sleeve etc, is a bit unlikely. IMO. It was originally posted to rubbish Quad amps, suggesting that was standard Quad build quality.

[RothwellAudio]

Nope.

So, you're only half-testing them, and not for the bit that applies to safety.

Love that pic, though I doubt it would fool anyone because of the different values and to go to the trouble of buying cans and jigging it together with the shrink sleeve etc, is a bit unlikely. IMO. It was originally posted to rubbish Quad amps.

I think they would fool plenty of people. One person has declared they measure caps before using them, but doesn't measure the voltage rating. There are seven billion more people on the planet.

Yes, I agree, it does look like a lot of trouble to go to just to fake a component that isn't terribly expensive to start with. Probably a fake fake.

[Haselsh1]

Pretty much like most of us I can only speak from personal experience of Chinese gear. In 2006 I imported a Yarland Pro 200 SE amplifier at a cost of around £450 which appeared really good value. The amp was a 300B single ended integrated weighing in at around 28kg so when I first lifted it I was impressed by the sheer solidity of the thing. Sound quality was stunning and very 'single ended' as you would expect. Also, the sound had every hallmark of the 300B valve.
After about two years of very occasional use the 300B's developed blue flashes and cracking sounds on power up. I had a friend of mine check it over in his work shop only to find that all of the internal voltages were all over the place and way higher than they should be. I informed my friend that I had bought the 230V version to which he informed that I very definitely hadn't. I eventually passed it on for 60 quid to someone as a bare bones project. It has not put me off valves, it simply never would but it did put me off cheap electronics that are just not compatible with our UK mains supply. It also made me very wary of CE stickers.

[Macca]

My experience is forever clouded from listening to a system with a 20 grand front end and some very good speakers (all of which I had heard before) powered by a Chinese made valve amp. It was so bad it was shocking. Now before anyone writes in, I know not all Chinese valve amps sound rubbish, but this one was exceptionally poor and personally put me off. It did look the business with big transformers.

if you are on a budget you are better to buy something that is a known quantity on the used market than take a chance, no matter how good the deal looks. Or if you must have a punt, and I admit it is tempting, when it arrives take the amp to a qualified EE and get him to check it before you even plug it in.

[struth]

Yes you get good and bad but I would run them off 230v