Yaqin products

Dear Blair,

I think my colleague has some knowledge of this toy. Give me two days, I will go and ask him on Monday morning when we are back to the office.

CAT

Dear Blair,

I have checked with my colleague. He said if you can get it at a bargain and you want it DIY, it should be okay.

Personally, he thinks the Yaqin 100B is just "okay", not really impressive. Here in Hong Kong, it should be cheap as we got it from our neighbour -- China. I don't know how much it costs you. Will try to get you a quote here in Hong Kong / China. Give me a week or so.

CAT

Blair,

Your target is a KT88 one or you would also consider amps using KT66, 6L6. Which is your concern; price or tubes?

CAT

Hi Blair,

I have checked it out for you. My colleague suggested TWO brands.

1. MEIXING. This manufacturer uses pretty good techniques in constructing their amp. I am not sure whether they have KT88 but they got lots of products. You can check their photos.

Website with English http://www.meixingaudio.com/ENGLISH/about.htm

2. Opera-Consonance. Very beautiful Amp. You can check this KT88 out. http://www.opera-consonance.com/products/cyber10usb.htm

I know that Consonance are available in Hong Kong; 30 mins walk from my office. I am not sure whether MEIXING is available here. Theoretically, MEIXING should be cheaper.

Hope this helps.

CAT

Dear Blair,

Any time.

Frankly, I am teased to get myself a KT88 after searching for these info for you, ha..ha... It is just that I don't have enough green, else I will probably try out one of those MEIXING as their workmanship is pretty nice. The Consonance may be a bit out of my budget tho'. I have heard that they cost around US$ 700 or so even in Hong Kong.

I still still trying to solve the funny S/N ratio thing for my CD33.....  :cry:

CAT

Dear Blair,

I have heard that MEIXING costs around US$ 500 here only. IF that is the case, wow ... it is doubled in the States.

I can afford something close to US$ 500 but not $ 1,000 to $ 2,000 range. Like we Chinese says "I am not having a fever" (won't spend a fortune on Hi Fi).

Will continue to run the CD 33 for another 100 hours or so to see what will happen to the S/N ratio. So far, the music comes out okay; open and clear with sufficient details for me. Of course it is not perfect but at a total cost of around US$450 or less spent including everything, that is already acceptable as an experiment.

CAT

Dear Blair,

I will be going back to Mainland on Nov 9. The shop I get my goods from sells LITE, YAOIN, AUDIOROMY, RELYON products. If you are interested in any of these products, I can get you a quote inclucding shipping to USA. Then I will give you the information and if you want anything, you can deal with them directly.

CAT

Dear Blair,

KK Ho said the SONY 213C is a 100% substitute for the 213Q.

Will try to see if I can find you those Vendors' contact information. One problem I can think of is they don't have many people that understands English (and I assume you don't know Simplified Chinese). Many of these Chinese manufacturers are of small scale. For those that are huge, the prices of their products will be 1.5 times higher.

Your 213C cost you US$ 12? That is not too bad already. I got the lens with the assembly last time at US$ 7.5 or so.

CAT

Dear Blair,

Tell us about your experiment with the lense later after everything settled.

I will be in Mainland on Friday and I will see what kind of contact I can get you with. NORMALLY, they can find someone to do the translation. But you have to use very simple English as most of the Chinese in Mainland are not educated in English.

CAT

Dear Blair,

Our whole school went up to China this morning at 8am. After spending a whole morning there visiting our sister school, we were freed to visit our favourite Hi Fi stores.

I have asked the Chinese Sales whether he got anyone there who understands English. He said "NO". That is terrible. Their shop is the Authorized Dealer in Hong Kong and ShenZhen and he claimed that he shipped most of the MHZS to Hong Kong.

The shop he works in is called RELYON, which is actually a Chinese Brand. Their shop sells Relyon, LITE, Sheng Da, MHZS, Yaoin, XiangSheng, BADA, Audioromy products. For other brands, he MAY be able to get it but the price won't be too good.

He said if you or your friends need anything, you can send me the information and let me pass onto him. He can then collect the information + photos for you together with the price including shipping. In that case, you should be able to save the middleman charge. Their shop is also thinking of doing business in eBay. They will try to see if they can recruit someone that speaks and understands English in the coming future.

CAT

I also asked him about the schematics of the MHZS players. He said the company keeps these diagrams as their trade secret and won't be willing to release them out.

CAT

Dear Blair,

My congratulations to your wedding. My big brother is going to get married as well in Aug 2008.

Glad to hear that you can sell the CD 33 off with some gain. I have heard that there are quite some people making significant profit in N. America and Europe by selling Chinese made products. Actually these products are relatively cheap in the Mainland. If you happened to spot anything you like, I can always check the price for you. Yet, I am not sure how much tax the US government will collect from these toys.

Tell us later about your Musical Fidelity if you indeed got it.

Keep in touch. I will be around .. ha..ha.

CAT

Dear Orbcom,

One simple question. Can you type and understand Chinese (either simplified or traditional)? The Chinese sales we have contact with can't find anyone that reads English..... :cry:

CAT

Dear Orbcom,

If you and your friends can't type / read Chinese, I will have to find some way to arrange what you guys need for you. I can call the sales up in China but he will have to send the package down to Hong Kong first. Then I will send it to you in my spare time as the postal service in Hong Kong is far more reliable than Mainland.

CAT

Dear Orbcom,

It is good that you guys can at least READ Chinese. In that sense, you can tell what the price of the product is.

I am a teacher in Hong Kong. I can help you in my spare time but please be aware that there are certain times that are our "peak" periods (a.k.a. busier than the bee periods).

You can drop me what you wanted directly to my email achan@sjc.edu.hk. I can then ask the Chinese sales to see if he can arrange what you wanted and at what price.

CAT

Dear Orbcom,

Well, we have a more terrifying situation here in Hong Kong. Our typical class size is 40. For some class, the number goes up to 45. Imagine 45 people packed in a 20 x 20 sq. ft room ..... And we have normally 24/40 periods each week.

I specialized in Economics and I also teach Computer Applications in Senior Forms; that is why I am not indeed a "Technical" person. I first started to play around with electronics when I was around 12. But no chance of going into it afterwards.

My setup include a MHZS CD 33 (got it in April 07), A pair of Antique Sound Lab Mono Block 6L6 Amp. To drive the Mono Block, I borrowed a DIY Matisse Reference series Pre-Amp. The Mono Block drive a pair of ProAc Clone 1Sc speakers.

It is hard to say what I would recommend. MIC products are attractive because of their prices. However, their QC is not at all good. If you know how to play with electronics stuffs, you have no problem working around them. One of two of my friends got problems with the MIC products in just a few months after the products were purchased. Normally, we check the toy by opening it up, looking at the Transformers carefully and test it out for at least an hour before the shop pack it for us.

There are a couple of brands that offer attractive products. You have to look at the models yourself. If you and your friend are looking for a particular toy, e.g. EL84 Amp, 2A3 Amp ... I will see if I can ask the Sales in China to open up the case and shoot you some photos. He can also test the product out before shipping it down to Hong Kong.

This is just the plan right now. I still have to consult the Chinese sales on the way of payment, in case you and your friend have something in mind.

CAT