Chi-Fi or British?

[Hibster_2000]

Should there be any concerns over buying a product from a Chinese manufacturer like Sabaj, as opposed to someone like Audiolab, which is designed in the U.K., and made in China?

The only thing I can think of is customer support.
The Sabaj D5 DAC has caught my eye, as it looks pretty good, either that or a D50S or D70 from Topping.
I guess the cheaper price makes the difference between customer support, or not.

[Opti-cal]

There's certainly value to be had in a lot of the chinese manufactured products. Compared to buying British its always going to be more of a risk regarding warranties/support/general quality issues. Until there are more home-grown reviews/buyers its hard to say if a product is well supported or likely to suffer quality issues.

I would think its unlikely you would be able to get that much actual customer support in regards to helpful customer stuff, questions etc. However the larger companies (Topping etc) do have support to a point. Better support I have found, is usually from the vendor of the product be that Ali Express/Ebay etc. I have recently had a faulty "Breeze Audio" amp go bad and they are replacing it for me free of charge, even though its a few months old. This is via the messaging center on Ali Express.

I have found the vendors helpful whenever I have had an issue.

I too am interested in the Topping D70. Very useful features for me like AES/EBU in and balanced output as well as a superb DAC.

[Opti-cal]

Oh and I forgot to add, its worth checking if some of the products are available via Amazon which usually offers some extra buyer protection and support. Especially if you're lucky enough to find it on "prime".

If I've ever had any issue they just replace asap (sometimes before I've posted the faulty product back) and sometimes just refund me.

Cheers

Chris

[Hibster_2000]

I was looking at the Sabaj D5 from Amazon, or the Topping D70 from them as well, as if it is no better than what I have, it will go back.

[scotty38]

I have a Ming Da amp sourced from Mark Manwaring-White (Ming Da in the UK) and his service/warranty is absolutely first class, as good as any you'd get on any product.

[oldius]

The British had the same concerns about Japanese motorcycles; there is no reason to assume inferiority whatsoever.

[struth]

Some Chinese stuff isnt very well made, but I guess you can say that about other countries too. Ive had stuff that hasnt been earthed properly for a start.
Companies like Ming Da are very good tho, and i'm sure there are others too.

[griffo104]

I recently bought the Sabaj PHA3 headphone from Amazon. For £40 I didn't really see it being much of gamble. The build quality was very good and it came very well packaged. It has been a very good buy. What is the after sales like? no idea but at £40 I doubt I'll worry too much about it. At some point there are a couple of SMSL and Topping kit that I quite fancy to put a small little bedroom system together. Whether I worry about the after sales then may well be different.

Looking at the spec of some of this chi-fi and then seeing the cost against what the UK companies are doing and it becomes a little of a no brainer.

I decided to go against the Sabaj usb dac/headphone amp simply because Richer Sounds were selling the Cyrus Soundkey for £49 on Black Friday but I was very close to pressing that buy button for the Sabaj.

[Jimbo]

I think Chinese quality can easily match UK but electrical compliance maybe an issue. Also it is difficult to listen and evaluate stuff before buying. The wait for some Chinese goods can be 8 weeks and returning stuff could be an issue.

However the price is often so ridiculously cheap it is often worth the gamble. My personal experience buying thing from China has been excellent apart from the long wait!

[Hibster_2000]

This is in stock at Amazon, as well as in the U.K.
Currently on sale as well.

[paulf-2007]

Some Chinese stuff isnt very well made, but I guess you can say that about other countries too. Ive had stuff that hasnt been earthed properly for a start.
Companies like Ming Da are very good tho, and i'm sure there are others too.no earth on a valve amp I have has been the only issue I've ever had with a fair bit of Chinese kit.

[Sir Real]

I've used an SMSL M6 DAC for a couple of years, bought from a Chinese seller on Amazon. Compared to the established hifi manufacturers' DACs, I thought it was a bargain at about £150. The improvement in sound quality over the (cheapo) DAC I had been using was jaw-dropping. I think the electronics were definitely 'as described'. It's been in regular use ever since, with no probs.

Only issue I've had with it relates to design - it uses a 'joystick' control for all functions - volume, input selection etc. Coupled with the Chinglish user guide provided, it made the initial setup unnecessarily challenging. I've also used 4 different Nobsound (where do they get these names from?) amps, (mono and stereo, power and integrated) with no issues, as well as a Nobsound pre-amp.

My willingness to try these products stems from buying a £20 amp online to replace pc speakers (and make use of some unused TEAC speakers I had). When I moved to my retirement home in Fuerteventura, I integrated my sound system, pc included, so that amp was spare. I gave it to my local café-bar, where it's in constant, quite demanding use. It's now 7 or 8 years old, and still going strong. I'm now thinking about a high-end Chifi amp, to see how it compares to my Cyrus 6a.

Cheers,
Chris

[struth]

I've used an SMSL M6 DAC for a couple of years, bought from a Chinese seller on Amazon. Compared to the established hifi manufacturers' DACs, I thought it was a bargain at about £150. The improvement in sound quality over the (cheapo) DAC I had been using was jaw-dropping. I think the electronics were definitely 'as described'. It's been in regular use ever since, with no probs.

Only issue I've had with it relates to design - it uses a 'joystick' control for all functions - volume, input selection etc. Coupled with the Chinglish user guide provided, it made the initial setup unnecessarily challenging. I've also used 4 different Nobsound (where do they get these names from?) amps, (mono and stereo, power and integrated) with no issues, as well as a Nobsound pre-amp.

My willingness to try these products stems from buying a £20 amp online to replace pc speakers (and make use of some unused TEAC speakers I had). When I moved to my retirement home in Fuerteventura, I integrated my sound system, pc included, so that amp was spare. I gave it to my local café-bar, where it's in constant, quite demanding use. It's now 7 or 8 years old, and still going strong. I'm now thinking about a high-end Chifi amp, to see how it compares to my Cyrus 6a.

Cheers,
Chris

Ive an M6 too. excellent dac/headphone amp. the joystick does take a little getting used to

[Pigmy Pony]

I did buy a Yaqin MS22B phono amp about 7 or 8 years ago, but I can't speak for their after sales service as it's run without issues all this time. Apart from changing mains lead and valves.

[AJSki2fly]

I suspect that there are some very good Chinese manufacturers out there if you can find which ones are good. I have an ALLNIC tube amp which is Korean and it is superb build and sound quality, but I dare say some would turn their noses up at a Korean product, just as they would a Chinese one. Just because we may have been first or early on manufacturers of HiFi equipment does mean someone else from around the world cannot come along with a better or improved design which is built to a high standard.

[Pigmy Pony]

I think when it comes to provenance of component parts, pinning down the origin of a product can be difficult. And I mean this in a good way - one of Mrs. P's bikes is Korean (Hyosung), and the engine used is actually a Suzuki SV650. Goes like stink and no complaints :) No one starts out with a great reputation, it takes time and a bit of faith.

[julesd68]

Big thumbs up for the Topping D70 DAC!

I bought mine from Shenzhen Audio who were excellent - just took a few days to arrive. Of course any gain from the cheap import price needs to be set against postal costs of returning if there are any issues.

[paulf-2007]

I think when it comes to provenance of component parts, pinning down the origin of a product can be difficult. And I mean this in a good way - one of Mrs. P's bikes is Korean (Hyosung), and the engine used is actually a Suzuki SV650. Goes like stink and no complaints :) No one starts out with a great reputation, it takes time and a bit of faith.
I didn't know hyosung were Korean, always assumed they were Chinese. How old is it as they seem to corrode much faster than jap bikes do these days as do Chinese made bikes.

[Pharos]

Germaine Greer said that Chinese engineering was either very good or very bad. Where she got that from is not known by me, but it may be right.

Arthur of funk has had to go to China to get holes in his turntable platters in the centre, he not able to in the UK, and they are cheaper.

I have a new pair of forks on my road bike made of titanium, in China, and I am terrified.

[Martyn Miles]

The Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary model was made in China and they were very good speakers.
Of course, they had British input as they were designed by Peter Comeau.
I owned a pair for a while and liked them.
The new Linton Heritage is also excellent.

[Hibster_2000]

I am thinking of upgrading my DAC, which is why I raised this topic.
I am tempted by the measurements of the Sabaj D5 DAC, but this has limited inputs, as I want a DAC with a minimum of two coax if I can.
My thoughts are it is either the D5, or the Audiolab MDAC+. This is coming from a Caiman SEG.
It won’t be possible to do a comparison between the two.