China is infamous in forgeries, they forge everything and anything they can make some money from.
I'm not ignorant of that fact. So should I feel a little guilty each time I listen to this head amp?
I don't know what head amp you are referring to and what it has to do with forgeries from China.
Generally speaking, as long as any amp sounds good to you, that should be all you concern about.
AFAIK, according to Chinese law, as long as any product is no more than 98% similar to another one, it isn't being considered a forgery. The Chinese government doesn't care at all about the way it's citizens are making money, as long as it's in accord with the Chinese laws. The more money they make, the better, especially bringing in foreign currencies. It appears to me that this is the main reasons that forgeries are so common in China – what we consider a forgery, the Chinese government and the Chinese people consider legitimate products, that doesn't imitate 100% another products. Having a Chinese product labeled as a well known Western product isn't considered by them a forgery, as long as there is at least 2% difference between the Chinese product and the original brand name product. The difference can be in appearance, or in the performance, or in the packaging, or any combination of those. In photography, electricity and electronics, especially NOS electronics, most of the products sold on eBay by Chinese or Hong Kong dealers are fakes, with few exceptions of really cheap electronics parts.
The Chinese forgeries on eBay are so successful because of greed. Many people are happy to purchase on eBay products with fraction of their cost in the West, or purchase products that aren't available anymore in the West. Many people don't stop to think how is it possible that those products are sold for such low prices, or how is it possible that those products aren't to be found anywhere in the world, other than China.
Even decent dealers on the West are at times victims to Chinese forgeries, without knowing it beforehand. It happened to the largest Israeli photography supplier. Few month ago they purchased (what they thought to be) original Canon grips for DSLR cameras from their supplier in Hong Kong. Only after local customers pointed out to them that those grips are faked, they realized, it. They trusted their Hong Kong supplier, with whom they worked for some time.
Also, at times there are Western dealers on eBay who sell faked products that they bought on eBay from Chinese dealers. I have no idea if those Western dealers are aware of the products being fake, or not.
Some time ago I purchased from Parts Conexion power plugs labeled "Oyaide", for just a little less of their street price in the USA. Later on I found out that those power plugs were fakes. Parts Conexion didn't know that those plugs were fakes when they bought them and sold them. They found it out only later, when the USA Oyaide distributor brought it up to their attention.
Well, you just jumped into the Marsh headphone amp thread from Mr. Marsh's article in Linear Audio volume 3.0 where we are discussing construction of his headphone amplifier. And which I hope to have up and running quite soon.
Some of the parts he specified from his build 2 years ago are no longer available - MIA, kaput, obsolete. So the only source for some parts is ebay now. I had to source some parts from ebay otherwise it would have been somewhat problematic to build his design.
Again, I am aware of what you speak of and also aware of the problems with Parts Connexion as I've been on the forum some years now.
But I'm very baffled on why you've jumped into this thread with your comments and the point.
Mr. Marsh is giving his input and providing valuable info so that we have an amp that runs to his general specifications.
Some of the parts he specified from his build 2 years ago are no longer available - MIA, kaput, obsolete. So the only source for some parts is ebay now. I had to source some parts from ebay otherwise it would have been somewhat problematic to build his design.
Again, I am aware of what you speak of and also aware of the problems with Parts Connexion as I've been on the forum some years now.
But I'm very baffled on why you've jumped into this thread with your comments and the point.
Mr. Marsh is giving his input and providing valuable info so that we have an amp that runs to his general specifications.
…
But I'm very baffled on why you've jumped into this thread with your comments and the point.
…
I responded to a comment by another member here.
The only part which is somewhat difficult to source is the 2N5457 -- and it's not as if sourcing an N-channel JFET with these specs is that difficult. There is a surface mount version and a strip of 25 will cost less than a pack of cigarettes. The 2n5460 isn't difficult to source -- Mouser has over 3,000 in stock.
I know, this is the nth time it's been stated on here about alternative parts, but I'm OCD and first wanted to build it as Mr. Marsh did, so when he said he bought the parts on ebay, I did that as well. (yeah, very OCD!)
However, I have bought the smt versions as well and will also try that in the near future. With all these amps I will be building, I'm gifting them away to my kids and my nieces and nephews who would appreciate something like this.
Linear Audio at AES in SF
BTW, I will have a shared booth with Elektor USA and AudioXpress at this weeks' AES convention in SF.
If you plan to go there, be sure to stop by at booth 1230 for a chat or some serious auduio discussions!
I will also have Bob Cordell's VinylTrak prototype from LA Vol 4 on display.
jan didden
BTW, I will have a shared booth with Elektor USA and AudioXpress at this weeks' AES convention in SF.
If you plan to go there, be sure to stop by at booth 1230 for a chat or some serious auduio discussions!
I will also have Bob Cordell's VinylTrak prototype from LA Vol 4 on display.
jan didden
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