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Reliability and build quality of Chinese Vs. Western Amps and DACs? Can you reliably get 15+ years out of a Topping Stack? Or SMSL? Singxer?

You'll like the new thread I'm about to start.
I can't wait

I must be incredibly lucky: my old Yamaha 2600 AV integrated still works impeccably despite being more than 15 years old - it's finishing its life at a friend's house without the money and it's on all day to play music.
My old Yamaha Aventage 3020 AV integrated, despite being 15 years old, still works like a charm at my brother's house, who inherited it. And my Denon 3600 AV integrated, which must be 4 or 5 years old, still works like a charm... and it's turned on every day for hours on end to listen to music (it's my kob)... Ditto all my power amps...
there's only one 15-year-old HK 1.0 preamp, whose power supply heats up enormously and starts to send noise into the amp (under warranty, it had been changed) so it's in its box.
And, of course, CD, Blu-ray and SACD players (Sony (3 models), Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, Panasonic and Cayin) that have broken down or are starting to break down, due to unreliable laser mechanics... In fact, I've just ordered a repair kit for a Sony XA9000ES (sold at a very high price when it came out, and a magnificent machine)... But I'm not even sure that a Sony station will be able to repair it...

I've got a collection of them whose combined new prices would enable me to buy a pair of Genelec 851s and a cabinet... including a blue-screen-sick PS3, reconditioned by Sony free of charge under warranty... but which didn't last more than 3 years after this refurbishment...
Even an old Airport terminal that's been permanently switched on for I don't know how long hasn't broken down... My satellite TV demodulator, like the one for IPTV which heats up like a boiler (it's hot!), has not broken down, nothing...

So the fact that a small Chinese DAC breaks down after 4 or 5 years bothers me less than not being able to repair a CD player sold for 4000 or 5000 euros when it first came out... or not being able to buy an original lamp for a Panasonic projector because the brand no longer sells them... 5 years after the last model to use it was discontinued...
A projector sold for 4,400 euros some 15 years ago... And still perfectly functional and excellent... when I wrote to Panasonic the reply was joking: “we no longer sell parts for this projector. We recommend you buy one of our new models.”
 
Though many through hole components are no longer available, soldering SMD's is difficult for many DIYers as the components can be the size of a pin head (or smaller).

I have built my own DAC and amplifiers.

I'm happy to 'only' pay a few hundred pounds for state of the art equipment from Topping and the like, knowing the problems of repair and possible lifespan.
If Topping were charging £3000 for an amp or DAC I could understand people's frustrations.
Topping could easily offer a 'free' 5 year warranty though they would have to add £ 100/150 to the cost of each item.

Benchmark include a 5 year warranty in the US for the AHB2 £ 3500, tis your choice.

Technology moves at such a pace that most things are obsolete within a few years (apart from anything made by Apple).

Anyone who has ever run a business would know why repairs are not economically viable after a few years, even if the parts still exist.

The part in bold really is not that much of a thing.
Sure the SINAD gets better, but many amps and preamps from ~1/2 a century ago were actually very good sounding.

The new ones can be cheaper, and use less power, but the older speakers with 8 Ohm drivers are not like “modern” speakers with sometimes 2 ohm drivers.
So one could run them with a 40W amp and they work fine.
The new jobs with 2 ohm then would require a massive amp, and then we justify the modern equipment with lower idle current as being greener and more friendly for 500W or kilowatt amps.

So yeah technology is evolving, I guess.

At least with a 40 year old tube amp, I can bring it to a place to get fixed.
However for the topping, I needed to bring to a place that recycles waste… which was done using an Amazon return policy.
 
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It's more chinese made cheap amplifiers that seem to be an issue ... . I am sure there is not much that can go wrong with a DAC.
 
Only the manufacturer will truly know failure rates, electronics sometimes fail, ime it doesn’t particularly matter their country of origin or price band.
What is more important is the attitude and response of that manufacturer when something does go awry.
Keith
 
I am late to the party, for what is worth, I had a Peachtree amp, lasted 5 years, an emotiva lasted almost 6 , it developed a noise on the right channel and then I have an smsl that has little more that 10 years and still runs perfectly.
So there are no ways to know what will last 15 years.
My old Samsung plasma TV lasted 8 years.
And then I have a Sansui (one of my friends has it now)amp from the 70 (has a radio in it too) still running, I just replaced some transistors that blowed a couple of times, but still is running, my friend is very happy with it, it drives a couple of Infinity towers speakers.
 
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