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Size and position. As China's largest supplier of vacuum tubes, the government-run Shuguang Electron Group hosts an annual party coinciding with the show. The five largest domestic Shuguang accounts are invited. Their table's proximity to Shuguang's might be additionally indicative - besides who was invited and who wasn't. Accordingly, Melody Valve HiFi and Spark/Cayin are China's two biggest consumers of Shuguang valves and the country's largest makers of valve gear. As for the latter, Melody's exhibit space on the 3rd floor was the largest of any Sino tube electronics manufacturer.

Sidebar Shuguang Party: Being hosted by Melody meant we got to crash Shuguang's fete. Rather than minding, their top brass seemed genuinely pleased with our presence and invited us with open arms to visit their facility in 2009. Needless to say, we accepted... continue
Besides springing for a large exhibit, Melody also sponsored a few popular Chinese singers to sign their CDs, leading to truly crammed conditions during those hours and many happy smiles with the Melody crew.


The big news for Melody was the rollout of Audixun, a brand-new line of upscale valve gear exclusive to the Chinese market, with a scaled-up even better export line in the works for 2009.


As well as finished in Melody's trademark 'dripping' Piano gloss, these components were also shown in silver and with a variety of matte and high-gloss wood cheeks to gauge consumer and dealer reaction. New to me too was the P1SX2 valve, a small-signal direct-heated triode which Allen Wang runs as drivers in the Audixun amps.


Another unfamiliar tube was the 5Z8P rectifier in the AN88 integrated. Allen Wang is a very active tube collector and, as I saw during our Melody factory tour, has amassed a colossal inventory of the most varied glass bottles into the millions.


Lest one suspect all looks and no brains -- or muscle as it were in this case -- a naked Audixun transformer begged to differ.


Melody now makes its own i/o sockets, runs transformer-coupled true balanced inputs and employs its own interstage transformers.


An obligatory 'look ma, no cover' stunt of a few Gen II Melody products drove home once again the brand's enviable build quality inside.


If you've never seen the colossal 2 x 845 monos in the flesh, their considerable length will have you at hello.


Full Music's Liu Zhe Sheng had come from Tianjin 's Hebei District to follow some comparative auditions between his new 211 and Shuguang's [below right next to Melody's Allen Wang].


Unlike Shuguang's below, Mr. Liu's 211 don't light up, preferring to keep their emissions contained inside the plate structure.


With Wang junior Alex just graduated from Australia's Melbourne University in Entrepreneurial Economics, his new position as global marketing manager at Melody spells an exciting future for the company's efforts outside China where its dealer network of 380 helps it weather the current economic climate.