Srajan, lovely work on elite gear from the Far East with your reviews of the Singxer monos and Matrix stereo, even the latest Laiv headphone amp. It's gratifying to read that these things hit hard and furious at the older idea of Chinese hifi not being original but just cheap copies of discontinued American or British circuits, of dubious reliability and no customer service to speak of. That MA-1 from Matrix looks incredibly well made and from your descriptions of it, doesn't disappoint sonically either. What's more, now there are credible European importers with marquee names working with these brands to make sure that we consumers aren't left high and dry when something fails. I'm simply not sure that at these high prices, established US and German brands don't still have the edge because their R&D goes much farther back. It seems to me that getting the basics right and putting those into fanciful solid enclosures is just the beginning. Surely refining circuits over 30 or 40 years adds something that these newer Chinese brands can't catch up with just because they have cheaper labour and more high-tech manufacturing on their side? What's your take on that? Thank you, Charlie
'Mastering the basics' can be surprisingly good as shown by those Singxer monos you mentioned. As far as I can tell, there's nothing unique or really different about them other than having exceptionally low noise; and not costing a lot. But at that level of execution, those two things really add up. Also, much (most?) audio is legacy tech in a new dress. And; some of these Sino firms have been at it for 20 years or more already, including OEM/ODM work behind the scenes. How much time does it take a smart team of engineers to catch up with current performance standards? I'd say they already have; and more seem to be coming. Srajan
