The GuangZhou Hi-Fi Show

Posted by: Robert Harley at 8:08 am, December 3rd, 2007

Another example is Shanling, whose budget and mid-priced CD players are imported by Music Hall. Shanling makes a staggering number of models of CD players (in particular), preamps, power amplifiers, and integrated amps. Apparently, the importers believe that the U.S. market wants only budget Chinese-made gear.

Going around the show, talking with manufacturers (through the capable interpretation of my guide, Ping Gong of U.S. distributor aaa-audio), and hearing the sounds produced, it was apparent that the Chinese manufacturers are divided into two groups.

The first, which is by far the larger, is composed of electronics manufacturers who build hi-fi gear because there's a market for it. The second group is made up of musically sensitive listeners who tweak their designs until they are happy with the sound.

It's easy to tell the two groups apart by when walking into an exhibit room. The audiophile-oriented companies know how to set up a system and put on a compelling demoâand the others don't. Consequently, the range of sound quality, from poor to great, is exceptionally wide at this show.

In this environment, the good products really stand out. I heard a number of systems that were remarkably musical, and when I was told the price, was bowled over. For example, one of the show's better sounds was produced by a good-sized floorstanding speaker from a brand called Elite that I thought would cost about $5000 based on the sound and finish quality.

The speaker with Kevlar-sandwich drivers is a dual-cabinet design, finished in gorgeous piano-black lacquer.

The price in China: $1600. I encountered several other companies that produce truly outstanding products that would sell well in the U.S. if they had distribution. For instance, a company called Dugood makes a line of innovative digital products. (Think Oppo with a higher-end implementation and more forward-looking designs.)

Dugood showed a component that can be an audio or video server, and contains a disc drive (it will accept CD, DVD, Blu-ray, or HD DVD drive), hard-disk, Faroudja DCDi 1080p upconverter and scaler, and integral software for managing a music or video library. The unit is completely modular, allowing you to configure it for your specific needs.

With so many "me-too" tubed amplifiers at the show, Dugood stood out for its technical innovation. The designer was very focused on sound quality, and told me something interesting: The most important part of a digital-to-analog converter stage is the timing precision of the clock, something that I've experienced recently with the Esoteric G-0Rb rubidium clock. He's a very smart guy with an interesting product that has much potential.

Many of these manufacturers want very much to gain a foothold in the U.S. but have no idea how to go about it. The U.S. and European markets are the pots of gold at the end of the rainbow for small factories looking to grow their businesses. I was the guest at a special meeting held to elicit my view of how Chinese products are received in the U.S., and what Chinese manufacturers can do to increase their presence in the U.S. market.

The meeting was held by the show organizer, and included representatives from a number of leading manufacturers and the editors of the major hi-fi magazines. Incidentally, the magazine business in China is very different from that of the U.S.; in GuangZhou alone five audio magazines compete with each other.

Back on the show floor, I saw a number of intriguing products that are destined for the U.S. Among them is an entirely new line of turntables called Amari, designed by a Canadian company and built right in GuangZhou, about 15 minutes from the White Swan hotel. There are five models in the line, starting with a unit that will sell for roughly $2000 with a Rega arm, and going up to a dual-motor model with a double-plinth.

I'm visiting the factory after the show and will have a full report.

The Beijing-based manufacturer of Bill Firebaugh's new Well-Tempered Turntable, Opera Audio, showed a prototype of the new turntable. The design builds on Firebaugh's radical ideas about turntable construction. The table and arm are unmistakably Well-Tempered, but this unit uses some cost-saving techniques that reportedly improve the performance.