This is a gross generalisation. In China, as everywhere else, you get what you pay for. If you want quality, it costs, but the Chinese can manufacture to very high standards if required.
I have visited electronics factories in China where a worker can stop a production line if they are unhappy about something - perhaps something like an assembly error, or needing parts. This prevents the type of manufacturing issues that you describe.
The issue is that with China being so large with a large number or manufacturers and with a large available market, there will always be those who are willing cut corners to reach a lower price, sometimes at the expense of safety and / or reliability. Too many brands, retailers, and often consumers, make their product choices based upon price rather than on a requirement for quality or on an understanding of what is inside a product.
The Chinese factories that you got to visit have lines that can be stopped by a worker, and that was most likely exactly why you got to visit it. They don't get you to visit the vast majority of the rest in that country where quality and decent business ethics are far out of window.
As of Ming Da products, it appears, from the input so far in this thread, that they have no problem using fraudulent/fake/immitating brand name parts, or using 400V rated parts where 450V operating voltage presents, and that to me is a laud and clear warning sign of avoidance.
Ming Da's cosmetic design, in general, is no design at all. They simply pile up stuff that have "legendary" fame, polish the rough corners a little, and dish them out for people who worship the fame to worship.
I have to agree with you and Lo_Tse. The factories I visited in China when I was working there and most recently when I was working over here were rather substandard and health and safety were of a lower concern than output (performance car parts, very high tolerance electric motor housings, kitchen tools, die cast cars, to stamped metal using everything from 60 year old presses made in Pennsylvania to high pressure die cast machines and the latest in CNC mills/lathes/multi-axis machines, and awesome water cutters). It is a Chinese mentality of sorts. However, the excellent ones were comparable to the ones over here, but those were few and far between. As a note, I would only eat Danone yogurt and never Danone cookies in Shanghai and all because I got to visit both factories and both same company, but vastly different in their habits. Same goes for their electronics.
When I was living there, I had a friend who was sick of poor quality tube sets, so I told him to get it from Hong Kong. Same set, but "adjusted" for the HK market and since I was in HK every 2 months, i offered to help him. I would be lugging back 30 pounds of well packed metal and some tubes in my backpack. The Hong Kongnese would take Chinese made Music Angel, strangely named brand Chinese manufactured tube amps, and rework them with better caps, resistors, diodes, and sometimes wire and sockets. It was a rough stop on the MTR line (Shum Shui Po), but those guys knew what they were doing and charged fairly (more fair than the Mong Kok shop guys at times). They were critical of the garbage, albeit good looking garbage, that was coming in flooding across the border and hated that they would have to re-work the schematics and the components -- but all HK'ers who were two or three generations removed from China complain that way.
And the amps? They would sing with better lows and sweeter highs in that warmth. Best part? They wouldn't blow up, catch fire, or stop working all of a sudden.
Interestingly enough, no one liked me on either side of the one country two systems. Born Canadian of Chinese descent, at the time can't speak proper Putonghua, only speaking dialect Cantonese (I could understand EVERY word HK'ers were saying though), and very haggle minded.
Nope. I've seen those too (where they build cheap cr*p for our supermarkets). But I would never let my company buy products from them.
I totally agree with you - you have to pay for quality. Unfortunately, the motivation behind moving manufacturing to China years ago was "low cost". Very quickly, everyone got used to paying low price for goods manufactured in China. With this mind set developed, no one ever wants to pay higher prices for items made in China anymore, even though the item was made with quality and the price charged is fair based on Western standard. ANyway, I have no doubt that China can manufacture great quality products cause I have seen them.
Back to the Ming-Da amps, I have listened to a few of them briefly and they sound OK to me. Whether you like the external appearance is personal. The chasis sure use a lot of metal. Some of the point to point wiring and star grounding were actually quite decent. As Wavebourn has pointed out earlier, their amps are at least good for their transformer and chasis. Actually, I really hope damonbaker would buy that amp and then give us a brief review from first hand experience.
Regards,
Got my MC300-PRE and listened to it 3 or 4 hours every day and now it is in perfect running situation!
No"Rudaycon" capacitors, LOL. I did concern about the issue that published in hi-fi world in UK. But the manufacturer solved the problem last year.
OK, for the sound, it is very nice. I really like MC300-PRE much better than my friend's MC34-AB. It is warm, pricise in playback with high resolution. Good transparency and dynamic in response with the benefit of an added nice deep bass. Treble was also fine. And this 300B preamp is very good for vocal.
Anyway, it was my happy experience of purchasing directly with Ming Da!! And thank you for the guys here.
No"Rudaycon" capacitors, LOL. I did concern about the issue that published in hi-fi world in UK. But the manufacturer solved the problem last year.
OK, for the sound, it is very nice. I really like MC300-PRE much better than my friend's MC34-AB. It is warm, pricise in playback with high resolution. Good transparency and dynamic in response with the benefit of an added nice deep bass. Treble was also fine. And this 300B preamp is very good for vocal.
Anyway, it was my happy experience of purchasing directly with Ming Da!! And thank you for the guys here.
Mostly I am new to its amp and this forum. I started to the thread to know more about what people are going to say its amp that I planned to buy. I think I will ask MING DA for schematic. Maybe I can upgrade it in the future. We'll see.
I'm puzzled. Why come on a DIY forum (originally in the wrong section) and ask about a commercial amp you had already decided to buy?
Sometimes people do this in a mistaken attempt at free advertising. It is mistaken, because people on here are very good at pointing out the design or construction errors in commercial items (however expensive or glossy they are). However, you have denied this so we accept that.
Sometimes people do this because they seek affirmation, like a small child: "Mummy, mummy, mummy, look what I've done!"
Sometimes people do this because they wish to advertise their (supposed) excellent taste and judgement, as though it is part of an elaborate courtship ritual or male bonding ceremony. Listing their audio equipment in their signature line is evidence of this; mercifully rare on here but common on some other audio sites.
??
Sometimes people do this in a mistaken attempt at free advertising. It is mistaken, because people on here are very good at pointing out the design or construction errors in commercial items (however expensive or glossy they are). However, you have denied this so we accept that.
Sometimes people do this because they seek affirmation, like a small child: "Mummy, mummy, mummy, look what I've done!"
Sometimes people do this because they wish to advertise their (supposed) excellent taste and judgement, as though it is part of an elaborate courtship ritual or male bonding ceremony. Listing their audio equipment in their signature line is evidence of this; mercifully rare on here but common on some other audio sites.
??
Personally I think its being invaded by modders, and I'm one of them
*looks nervous*
Check out this post:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/175786-kt88-se-complete-kit-24.html#post3258741
Last edited:
You hit the nail riiiiight on the head, dear DF96 (by the way, how many years can this battery last?
)At least it makes for an exciting distraction away from the sporting life of discussing the merits of using mdf versus Blatic Birch in better sounding speaker boxes or something as exhilarating as figuring the exact amount of cooling required in a Class A MOSFET/JFET/BobaFET Amplifier without it bloating to the size of the Death Star.
Life would be rather boring otherwise.
* I have always wanted to somehow engineer a "BobaFET" FET for audio purposes -- my kid would be so proud.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.