Chinese Tube Amp & DIY .. Pro & Con

[zxx123]

Pro: Anybody remember Jadis' 8 X KT88 PP amp?
It is a monster-like amp. I love it!

Some months ago, I saw its chinese version
had been sold $500 in Ebay. The price included delivery
charge. All tubes are included.

Well you may say that it is creapy. Well, it is not
hi-end like real Jardis, however, it is not low-end, either.
Some people in ebay seemed to be satisfied. What a good
luck!

Besides, we can re-use made-in China amp for
another DIY project. For example, I would purchase
made-in-china EL34 pp for my next EL34 project. It is
because amp has good quality of parts with reasonable
price.

Con:
Let me tell you something. My friend bought a tube amp...Well,
it looks like thousands dollar paid hi-end amp.

However, its delivery was delayed. No response was heard
although my friend sent dozen times. Finally, he threatened
the chinese guy he would report to ebay's fraud alert center
and had a written apology. Overall, it took a month to be delivered, although my friend had already paid international express delivery service charge.

I never forget his face when he turned on the amp.........
because nothing heard. Instead, we smelled some poisonous
scent and saw fog rising inside the amp. Then the amp burn down!

My friend got upset and filed a protest. The answer was shocking because it blamed my friend. [Why do you connect the amp
to 220V?] Hahaha, we replied [It is because you advertised so in the ebay auction and its specification paper
also showed it works in 220V. And, we already connected to 117V in order to burn tubes (but no power shown.)

No reply was sent since then. My friend reported this
case to ebay. However, unfortunately, ebay cannot do
anything about this case. Finally, he gave negative feedback
to this guy and the guy also gave the same thing to my
friend.

Some weeks later, ebay warned this guy and stopped
his account. He sent email to my friend. He would repair
everything if my friend returned to Hongkong. Hahaha,
It cost more than $100 to send to Hongkong. How can my
friend trust this guy? He lied so many times.

That's it! My friend decided to stop claim
and refer the burned amp to me for DIY project.

My impression is that made-in china items are not so bad. However, when some unexpected situation happens, those sellers are not so responsible. They often lied..
like [Oh, your address are not correct.]
[we sent mail to you hundreds time]
[Delivery Accident! Nobody's Fault!]

[Kenneth Zhu]

I do not come to trumpet the quality of made-in-China product. I come to blame the middlemen who are spoiling the reputation of made-in-China goods. In fact, in view of the limited market size of tube amp and the high expenses of local after-sales services, it is a fact that it is hard for Chinese tube amp vendors to satisfy the aftersales service demand of foreign buyers.

[SY]

I never forget his face when he turned on the amp.........
because nothing heard. Instead, we smelled some poisonous scent and saw fog rising inside the amp. Then the amp burn down!

Maybe it WAS an authentic Jadis!

[BHD]

Maybe it WAS an authentic Jadis!

Yeah, when the Chinese copy a design, they really COPY it! ROTFLMAO!

Jadis build quality isn't bad (all point to point), but the designs are - at least from the few people I know that have had experience with their products. I've heard them several times and they don't sound bad, but why pay so much for something that isn't reliable or innovative? They sure are purty, though.

As far a buying from a foreign vendor on ebay, you're rolling the dice with basically no recourse if the vendor turns out to be dishonest. There's some great stuff coming out of China, but I'll either buy it from a vendor I can trust or not at all.

But hey, dishonest people are everywhere, not just in China. Do a search for a scumbag named David Lucas. He's ripped off plenty of people and he lives right here in the good ol' US of A. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, and if you get that "funny feeling" when thinking about buying something, close your wallet.

[percy]

In fact, in view of the limited market size of tube amp and the high expenses of local after-sales services, it is a fact that it is hard for Chinese tube amp vendors to satisfy the aftersales service demand of foreign buyers.

Isnt that supposed to be the sellers problem ? Why should it become the customer's problem ?

[BHD]

Isnt that supposed to be the sellers problem ? Why should it become the customer's problem ?

Hear, hear! However, you get what you pay for. You buy cheap, you get cheap, even if the chassis is polished real nice.

It's not as though the guy that bought the amp didn't know that he'd need to send the amp back to China if it died. It was another POS from the PRC, he gambled and lost. That's all.

Now he has a pretty chassis he can use to build a real amp.

[zxx123]

yap..i agree.