Sonus Faber to build speakers in China

[MylesBAstor]

I think this whole made in China thing maybe a psychological thing and needs getting used to.

In the future, if Wilson, Von Schwekert, Magico, Genesis, Audio Research, Conrad Johnson are all made in China, then there will not be a problem to anyone, I think.

Gotta like Magnepan's slogan-"Made in the USA and sold in China."

 

[jadis]

I bought a Nikon Coolpix in my last trip to SF and it surprised me a bit when I saw it was Made in China. The great Nikon of Japan. And I wonder if their top end SLRs are made in China too. Workmanship is top rate and so is performance, no different from the previous Made in Japan cameras I had bought before.

 

[asiufy]

I bought a Nikon Coolpix in my last trip to SF and it surprised me a bit when I saw it was Made in China. The great Nikon of Japan. And I wonder if their top end SLRs are made in China too. Workmanship is top rate and so is performance, no different from the previous Made in Japan cameras I had bought before.

That is until you drop it on the floor or put 1-2 years into it. Then it'll start falling apart, like all shoddy chinese-made cameras.

At least until a few years ago, most cameras under about $300 were made in China, and the better quality stuff (thus more expensive) were made in Japan.

 

[Bruce B]

Gotta like Magnepan's slogan-"Made in the USA and sold in China."

or Manley - "Made in Chino, Not China"!

 

[puroagave]

Wu Liang Ye in Gotham is actually pretty serious - but it is owned by a Chinese liquor company, which, i believe, is in turn owned by the Chinese government. If you ever come to NY, let me know and I'll take you there.

invite accepted:b my korean friends tell me the best korean bbq is in L.A. not seoul and visitors make a point of having it here when they travel to the US.

 

[puroagave]

or Manley - "Made in Chino, Not China"!

some would debate that point, have you been to Chino? it adjacent to east san gabriel valley, the largest asian (primarily chinese) community in So cal. VTL is also based there just ask Lukes chinese spouse!

 

[flez007]

I have no issues if any good is built in China, their quality has grown up over the years, I am sure we will see high-end stuff (including audio gear) made in China in the comming years with incredible price/quality ratios. That is inevitable

 

[JackD201]

Hyperion and Aurum Cantus are real performers.

 

[KeithR]

I have a pair of those Chinese quads--sound is great, but reliability not so much. For 2k though, I accept that risk. I won't buy a pair of 10k Chinese made amps.

In fact, I have a desk two years old that is falling apart from an Arkansas company where everything appeared to be made in USA---but turned out to be Chinese crap (on the box) as well. I am now very, very specific in furniture stores about stuff.

 

[Frank750]

My last 2 pairs of mono block amplifiers were built in beautiful Plymouth, Minnesota and I have had nothing but trouble with them.
I don't think it's where they're built, it's the company doing the building that matters.

 

[Robh3606]

I don't think it's where they're built, it's the company doing the building that matters.

Yes I couldn't agree more. I have been using Emotiva gear for a couple of months and fit and finish is great it's sounds good and it's inexpensive compared to many other companies. Wonder what it would cost to build here??

Rob

 

[mep]

What some audio companies have found that have set up manufacturing in China is very problematic. I have read of counterfeit parts being substituted for expensive parts. Companies that have learned that lesson have every part cleared out of the production area before their production run starts and they have to watch production like a hawk to ensure no monkey business is taking place during production. Intellectual property rights have the same status as the tooth fairy with the Chinese as they just don’t seem to believe in the concept.

 

[taters]

My last 2 pairs of mono block amplifiers were built in beautiful Plymouth, Minnesota and I have had nothing but trouble with them.
I don't think it's where they're built, it's the company doing the building that matters.

Which Audio Research amps do you have?

 

[treitz3]

Intellectual property rights have the same status as the tooth fairy with the Chinese as they just don’t seem to believe in the concept.

Hello, Mark. Until I hear otherwise, unfortunately, this is the case more often than not. A "Need to know" basis, multiple manufactures and strict quality control can combat this aspect.

 

[Frank750]

Which Audio Research amps do you have?

I have the Ref610s though I'm in the process of trading them. Had the Ref210s before them and the Ref600 before that. Had what I would consider more than routine problems with all of them. I just loved ARC sound so much I lived with the constant repairs. I'm done with them and tubes in general. I commented on that in another thread last week. Getting rid of the Anniversary preamp, Ref 2, the amps and the CD8 all at once. Took a while but my patience finally wore out.

 

[DaveyF]

I have the Ref610s though I'm in the process of trading them. Had the Ref210s before them and the Ref600 before that. Had what I would consider more than routine problems with all of them. I just loved ARC sound so much I lived with the constant repairs. I'm done with them and tubes in general. I commented on that in another thread last week. Getting rid of the Anniversary preamp, Ref 2, the amps and the CD8 all at once. Took a while but my patience finally wore out.

Frank, I see you own the Sonus Faber 'Fenice' or THE Sonus Faber. I have heard some amazing things about them, care to elaborate on your thoughts on these speakers.

Sorry to hear you are now less than enamored of your ARC gear, although ARC has long had a reputation as being a little 'fidgety' and prone to reliability issues, the sound that one can get is hard to beat, IMO.

I look at their gear as akin to a race car...needing constant attention, BUT when you get it right....

 

[LL21]

Frank, I see you own the Sonus Faber 'Fenice' or THE Sonus Faber. I have heard some amazing things about them, care to elaborate on your thoughts on these speakers.

Sorry to hear you are now less than enamored of your ARC gear, although ARC has long had a reputation as being a little 'fidgety' and prone to reliability issues, the sound that one can get is hard to beat, IMO.

I look at their gear as akin to a race car...needing constant attention, BUT when you get it right....

Wow...i have not come across anyone who owns this speaker! Frank - pls elaborate! Would love to know more about your observations regarding vs Alexandria, Arrakis, anything else you may have heard in the past.

And of course...now that you have let go of all your ARC gear...what are you know thinking of??? What a system that is likely to be!!!

 

[Frank750]

Frank, I see you own the Sonus Faber 'Fenice' or THE Sonus Faber. I have heard some amazing things about them, care to elaborate on your thoughts on these speakers.

Sorry to hear you are now less than enamored of your ARC gear, although ARC has long had a reputation as being a little 'fidgety' and prone to reliability issues, the sound that one can get is hard to beat, IMO.

I look at their gear as akin to a race car...needing constant attention, BUT when you get it right....

Davey, I agree with you completely when it comes to ARC. Unfortunately, it took me a while and a lot of $$ to finally realize it.

Yes, I do have the Fenice. I prefer calling them that to The Sonus Faber.
My previous speaker was the Alexandria 2 and I loved them so I was a little hesitant going in. Had only seen pictures of the Sonus Faber and obviously hadn't listened to them prior to taking delivery. I've had Wilson speakers since the mid 80s. Watt/ Puppies, Grand Slamms and finally the Alexandrias. Certainly if I'm being honest, I made the change just to make a change. The Alexandria is a fantastic speaker and I could easily live with them for the rest of my life.

I had read a lot about the Fenice before I made my purchase. Many people saying they were disappointed with Sonus Faber because the speaker was just plain ugly and wasn't in line with the beauty of previous offerings. I gotta tell you, to my eyes, the speaker is absolutely beautiful! Fit and finish are second to none and despite being 700lbs don't seem as imposing in the room as the Alexandrias.

As for the sound, in my opinion, the bass is better defined than the Wilsons. I find image placement in the sound stage to be a little more solid. Voices, especially the female voice is incredible. Side to side, front to back, I would say the Sonus Faber and Alexandria are pretty close. I prefer the mid range of the Sonus Faber slightly over the Wilson and I think the very top end has a little less of an edge than the Alexandria. But, please don't take any of this as a slight against the Alexandria because I have nothing but great things to say about that speaker.

At the end of the day, I'm happy I made the change. I prefer the sound of The Sonus Faber. Even if I didn't, I figured it wouldn't be difficult to go back to the Alexandria. There are quite a few for sale out there.

 

[Frank750]

Wow...i have not come across anyone who owns this speaker! Frank - pls elaborate! Would love to know more about your observations regarding vs Alexandria, Arrakis, anything else you may have heard in the past.

And of course...now that you have let go of all your ARC gear...what are you know thinking of??? What a system that is likely to be!!!

Lloyd, I have already ordered the Pass Labs XS300, XP30 and XP25. Supposed to take delivery some time in August. I have listened to the XP30 and XA100.5 extensively and really like the sound. Liked it with the Alexandrias too. Haven't heard the XS300 but the people at Pass are saying they're a game changer.

 

[mep]

Sorry to hear you are now less than enamored of your ARC gear, although ARC has long had a reputation as being a little 'fidgety' and prone to reliability issues, the sound that one can get is hard to beat, IMO.

I don’t know what ‘fidgety’ means in relation to the performance of ARC gear. I would call some of things that ARC has done in terms of setting bias on particular amps as ludicrous. I also know that on many ARC amps that if you have an output tube blow it will take out a cathode resistor by design instead of a fuse.

On the D-76A, ARC decided to install the ¼” bias jacks upside down so that you had to remove the bottom cover from the amp that has spacers in order to plug in your meter and set the bias. The D-76 had the ¼” bias jacks installed correctly so you only had to worry about burning your fingers when you stuck the jack from the meter between each pair of output tubes.

The D-70 amp is just plain dangerous when it comes to setting the bias and like the D-76A, they (ARC) must have done this on purpose to try and force their customers to give their dealers some business. The VT-100 series of amps has such a crazy bias scheme that Kevin Deal from Upscale Audio refuses to sell tubes to anyone who owns these amps. If you have always wondered what it’s like to be masochistic, read the bias procedure for the ARC VT-100 series of amps.

As far as the statement that “the sound that one can get is hard to beat,” I don’t buy that at all. And this is coming from someone who has a ARC VS115 sitting in my listening room that is a much better sounding amp than the ARC D-70 MKII which I also used to own. I think there are lots of amps on the market that can better the sound of ARC amps.

I look at their gear as akin to a race car...needing constant attention, BUT when you get it right....

I don’t buy this statement either as I don’t think ARC gear is “akin” or any kin that is related to a race car. I have owned lots of ARC amps over the years and maybe I was lucky, but they never needed constant attention. They only needed their bias adjusted periodically. So other than keeping the bias adjusted and replacing tubes when they need to be replaced, there is nothing for you to do in order to “get it right.”