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Mark Levinson Fake Copies
- Thread starter watchnerd
- Start date
ROTFLMAO
This is the first time I've seen semi-vintage high end electronics blatantly copied, complete with replica logo:
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...vinson-ML2-output-25w/331129_32423451027.html
Are there other examples?
Ironically, there's one of these for sale, locally, in my area at the moment. The guy is asking $300 for it. Hmm... worth a try? Or, invest in it, send it to Amir, get embarrassed by the test results?
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I don't know how it is with amplifiers, but sometimes customs officials will impound this sort of thing if the original manufacturer complains. Gibson did that over fake guitars. I mean, if you want an inexpensive Gibson model, you can buy an Epiphone without guilt or possible confiscation. I guess you can't do that with a Mark Levinson.
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If the thing was small, desktop size, cute and cuddly, that would be kind of neat. But still trademark infringement. If you could buy a matching mini LNP-2 to sit on top, how cool would that be? Sort of like collectable car models.
When I was in China I bought a phony Rolex as a gag gift for someone. But it didn't cost three hundred dollars, either. Might have been three dollars. On the street someone was selling shrink wrapped 'official' copies of Windows XP for the equivalent of five dollars. Looked real, down to the hologram stickers. But I didn't think XP was worth five dollars, so I passed on that.
When I was in China I bought a phony Rolex as a gag gift for someone. But it didn't cost three hundred dollars, either. Might have been three dollars. On the street someone was selling shrink wrapped 'official' copies of Windows XP for the equivalent of five dollars. Looked real, down to the hologram stickers. But I didn't think XP was worth five dollars, so I passed on that.
Good choice. LOL
Well I tried to find information on that amp too. Apart from being an obvious fake and very much unlike the real ML2 it still looks like a well built power amp and the price seems reasonable. Right now I am on the lookout for a somewhat portable, good sounding amp to test different speakers on before I buy them and also quickly hooking up speakers in my basement I want to sell.
This one is on the shortlist. I tried class D in the past and although they can be great with the right speakers they didnt always yield satisfying results. So now I am looking for a sturdy one size fits all solution.
This one is on the shortlist. I tried class D in the past and although they can be great with the right speakers they didnt always yield satisfying results. So now I am looking for a sturdy one size fits all solution.
I dont much care honestly. Everybody into hifi will know its not a real Mark Levinson, everyone not into hifi will not even know what Mark Levinson is. That being said, what is value in hifi? May I remind you of Mark Levinsons "red rose" affair?
I am looking at the amplifier, I think it has a great chassis, the internal wiring and components look clean and if they actually used good components this will make a great cheap amplifier for what I am looking for.
I am looking at the amplifier, I think it has a great chassis, the internal wiring and components look clean and if they actually used good components this will make a great cheap amplifier for what I am looking for.
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Brings up an interesting point... If Mark signs the front panel of my Dyna PAS 3, does that mean I own a Mark Levinson preamp!
You can't be sure about anything with these knock-offs, I've seen where the components were copies of name brand parts like capacitors and resistors, etc; you just don't know about anything here. The whole thing might go up in smoke a week later and the warranty disappear.
IMHO you'd be much better off just getting a name brand piece from someone like Marantz or Yamaha.
Good luck partner.
Indeed very meta. So what is value in Hifi? These last couple of years a lot of great hifi gear came from china. A lot of companies innovate, others replicate and some steal (brand names). Often a mixture of these. Now I mostly collect vintage gear and sometimes buy new stuff I believe is interesting. Ive heard boatloads of stuff and for me brand names arent that important, although they sell better. A lot of the best gear I owned came from small and obscure companies.
This forum Ive been reading for a few months and quite like the myth-busting approach by actually measuring. Made me buy a Khadas Tone Board for instance. So for all I care put another Brzhifi logo on front and get rid of the ML, would still be an interesting power amp.
Anybody actually heard this one?
@watchnerd, think of the fake Rolexes (and other famous watch brands) that come out of China. Compared to these, this mini-Mark is your average garden-variety fake.
OP
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #35
@watchnerd, think of the fake Rolexes (and other famous watch brands) that come out of China. Compared to these, this mini-Mark is your average garden-variety fake.
But fake Rolexes won't potentially electrocute you, catch on fire, or burn your house down.
Well I guess that might be something I wanted to know too, regarding this ampBut fake Rolexes won't potentially electrocute you, catch on fire, or burn your house down.
Nerd Audio.
Yeah Purifi is something I might want to test in the main system, the ready-made NAD C298 looks espacially tasty. But I am actually looking for a portable amp I can throw in the car, drive around with, put in the basement, use with all kinds of old, possibly faulty speakers etc. So it has to be cheap, easy to fix if broken and able to take a beating while at the same time have an audio quality I can somewhat judge a speaker by and not think "this sounds terrible" all the time :-D
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Some of the gear is first rate. The problem, as Sal pointed out, is how can you know for sure? And if you ship something half way around the planet, on your own, and then encounter a problem, can you solve it satisfactorily? At a reasonable cost?
If I could afford to live in Shenzhen I'd be all over some of the Chinese stuff you read about, here at ASR. Then, if there was a problem it would be easy to fix. But I don't, so I won't.
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