Lol my bad. Time to bust out the FR graphs. :theface:
Edit: This was the chi-fi conversation we could never have until now.
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I always enjoyed my xDuoo TA-20. I think what really kept the amp from getting traction was the fact that the Liquid Platinum dropped in price to the point where it was a much better amp used than buying a new TA-20. It also lacked a little bit of power, just not the same “UMPH” when needed but just a general well balanced amp.
If you find a steal used for around the $250 range it’s definitely worth it, especially if you don’t have very demanding headphones.
Interesting. I always liked the look of the xDuoo amps and thought they seemed well built for the price. Guess I’ve gotta put the source gear tag in this topic now. 
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Could be a good choice now considering the plat is now back to og price. I do wonder how the xduo mt series compare
Line Magnetic, allot of their stuff is pretty exact updated replicas of old Western Electric products that perform dandy at a relatively reasonable price point when compared to the market they chase after. Purchased from authorized US dealers will cost you a bit more but is the only way to really guarantee you are not getting a fake or incorrect voltage on your unit built for a different market.
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Does that actually count as chifi? LM is a pretty established higher end company, imo chifi is different from a known quality chinese manufacturer
I guess that would be a good question in general, what separates a chinese manufacturer from chifi?
I’d personally say established brand image with decent brand history, having dealers/retailers, having strong customer support and qc, original designs and strong R&D, and generally operating in the higher end markets tends to separate chinese manufactures from the label chifi. So thinks like cayin, line magnetic, matrix, denafrips, etc wouldn’t fall under that label
I guess chifi just has a negative connotation to me, basically a company that pops out of nowhere, either clone designs or throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks, cheap prices, bad qc and little support, operating at the budget market, follows trends, shady promotion/reviews. At least that’s what I think of when I hear chifi imo
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Very fair comment and distinction but I will add that I have visited high-end top dollar stores where many if not most products from the Asian market were referred to as cheap Chinese crap. The biased remarks and poor salesmanship shown by individuals is alive and well in stores across the US.
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Very true. It’s sad cause there’s great manufactures in china that do produce great things and do care, but I think they get drown out by the larger quantity of crap
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And I believe that the term was first coined in response to much higher end items like the stuff from Jolida, when the market first started to globalize.
Funny you should mention Jolida by name, I was in Miami visiting a dealership with some serious gear worth a a great deal in a very large warehouse space and the owner was showcasing a particularly impressive pair of speakers when I noticed the DAC he was using on the set-up was by Jolida. I was stupefied at the choice and said so. He schooled me and did so by making sure I trusted my ears much more than my eyes during that visit.
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My primary CD player is an old Jolida with a tube output section.
Modifying those output sections was where Lampizator started.
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I tend to see it this way too. I see chi-fi more like an audiophile casino of QC and upstart brands with little or no history and questionable or nonexistent customer service that depend solely on hype in order to move product.
So established brands with good business practices don’t fall into this category in my mind. Brands like Cayin, iBasso, and Dunu come to mind as ones I would not classify as chi-fi but some might disagree.
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Important distinction! I take back my mention of Hifiman.
Ah intersting question, then. Do SMSL and Topping qualify as a ChiFi? They certainly meet some of that description.
I personally think so, because they are known to have poor customer service, aim at the more budget market, ride trend waves and push shady reviews, and have little real r&d in their designs imo. Also they are both owned by the same parent company. I guess a better way would be to differentiate: do they care about quality of sound and their customers? If yes, not chifi, if no, then chifi. And imo smsl and topping fall firmly in not really care
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What you say makes perfect sense to me. Also, the whole catching on fire thing. That is always a bad sign.
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I can forgive a bad batch, but both the fact that it was due to pretty obvious design oversight, along with how shitty the customer service was after (them blaming the customers themselves, refusing to pay for the damage their amps caused, generally handling it extremely poorly), is a definite no from me lol
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The three pillars of chinesium are:
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Copied, without questioning or understanding the Why’s and How’s of the original design
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Cost is the ONLY target. Everything just bows to the BOM cost (including safety).
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QC & Customer Support, good luck!
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I always saw it as something that I would enjoy owning but could never recommend to a friend due to the inconsistency in products.
I have really liked products from Mangird and Moondrop though.
If we are talking about good iems for the price the moondrop SSR is something I find very underpriced and good to the point where we have a small cult prasing the SSR everyday.
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This. I love my little SSRs, been listening to them a bit over the past couple of days and they still hold up.
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