JaideepGiridhar
Active Member
Let me get the caveats out of the way first: No speakers to speak of, no solid state amplification components that stand out, no analogue sources to harp on, no cabling that warrants mention, and no technological innovation that qualifies as pathbreaking.
If you get past those riders and examine what the Chinese have achieved over the past decade by way of products that elevate the upstream (digital) segment of audio, I’d think they score on five counts: build quality, price, engineering, technology (there’s a qualifier here that I’ll get to), and marketing.
First, build quality: the products that come to mind are Denafrips, LHY, Lumin, Silent Angel, Line Magnetic, Matrix Audio and HiFi Rose. All of these match brawn with the best of what the rest of the world has to offer without having to scrimp on any aspect of the nuts and bolts that constitute the gear they produce.
Second, because they’re either proximate to the point of manufacture, or they sell direct to customer, these producers peg costs down to levels that are untenable for manufacturers elsewhere in the world (almost all of whom locate their production in Mainland China or (geo-politics apart) Taiwan – which is great for us, of course.
Third, and this is intricately linked to the point that follows (and, to a certain extent, the point above), all the manufacturers I’ve listed craft products that are engineered to exacting specifications – milled aluminium blocks, point-to-point wiring, immaculately laid-out circuit boards, thoughtful technical design, and parts of the highest order of quality.
Fourth, and this is where it gets a little murky, the technology employed in all their products – from pre-war-design amplifiers to R2R DACs to silent-as-mice streamers, stands up to the many of the big-hitters from the west. The nebulousness issues not so much from the salience of the technological prowess contained within the equipment as it does from the provenance of innovation – I’m not sure any one of these manufacturers can lay claim to breakthroughs like ring DACs, FPGA-driven audio conversion, word-clocking, I2S ports or even source formats like SACD, DSD or MQA. They’ve addressed this by what the Chinese do best (reverse-engineer, to use a banal term, or Anu Malik-to-kingdom-come, to be blunt).
Fifth, I think outfits like Vin Shine, Kitsune and Beatechnik (which is a breakaway firm, I think), have achieved as much for these brands as the heavies like McIntosh and Focal have been able to do with their far greater marketing might.
PS: I’d like to add a small, non-patriotic note; why is it that, despite all the noise about self-reliance, I cannot locate a single Indian audio company that compares to what the Chinese have achieved?
If you get past those riders and examine what the Chinese have achieved over the past decade by way of products that elevate the upstream (digital) segment of audio, I’d think they score on five counts: build quality, price, engineering, technology (there’s a qualifier here that I’ll get to), and marketing.
First, build quality: the products that come to mind are Denafrips, LHY, Lumin, Silent Angel, Line Magnetic, Matrix Audio and HiFi Rose. All of these match brawn with the best of what the rest of the world has to offer without having to scrimp on any aspect of the nuts and bolts that constitute the gear they produce.
Second, because they’re either proximate to the point of manufacture, or they sell direct to customer, these producers peg costs down to levels that are untenable for manufacturers elsewhere in the world (almost all of whom locate their production in Mainland China or (geo-politics apart) Taiwan – which is great for us, of course.
Third, and this is intricately linked to the point that follows (and, to a certain extent, the point above), all the manufacturers I’ve listed craft products that are engineered to exacting specifications – milled aluminium blocks, point-to-point wiring, immaculately laid-out circuit boards, thoughtful technical design, and parts of the highest order of quality.
Fourth, and this is where it gets a little murky, the technology employed in all their products – from pre-war-design amplifiers to R2R DACs to silent-as-mice streamers, stands up to the many of the big-hitters from the west. The nebulousness issues not so much from the salience of the technological prowess contained within the equipment as it does from the provenance of innovation – I’m not sure any one of these manufacturers can lay claim to breakthroughs like ring DACs, FPGA-driven audio conversion, word-clocking, I2S ports or even source formats like SACD, DSD or MQA. They’ve addressed this by what the Chinese do best (reverse-engineer, to use a banal term, or Anu Malik-to-kingdom-come, to be blunt).
Fifth, I think outfits like Vin Shine, Kitsune and Beatechnik (which is a breakaway firm, I think), have achieved as much for these brands as the heavies like McIntosh and Focal have been able to do with their far greater marketing might.
PS: I’d like to add a small, non-patriotic note; why is it that, despite all the noise about self-reliance, I cannot locate a single Indian audio company that compares to what the Chinese have achieved?
) and such endorsing audiophile stereo products in India…. Yet.
