[klenkar]

Even the Stello DA220MKII had some china....so I returned it to sender

My Philips does not just have components from china it's made there.
dom

 

[Cankin]

If it is a good product, it is a good product no matter where it's made

and......I think German products are not as reliable as before (eg, German cars).

 

[BushGuy]

re comment German Cars - you must have meant Mercedes.

 

[Jan Meier]

Dear Headfellows,

Just a few clarifications:

Yes, the CANTATE will replace the ARIA. It will have exactly the same functionality but it will have a better sound quality due to a better DAC-chip (PCM2702) and due to the balanced ground concept. Unfortunately also price will be (slightly) higher.

The CANTATE is not an OPERA with just a few features less. The OPERA is clearly the more powerfull and better sounding amp. But it should be, given the much higher price!

I only have very few (around 20) ARIA amplifiers left and there will be no new series produced. This amp indeed has been made in a series of 500 pieces only.

Over the years MEIER-AUDIO has grown rather rapidly. Originally all amplifiers were made by hand. However, the current sales do not allow me to do so anymore and I simply don’t want to take the risks and I don’t have the financial means to employee people to do the job. Outsourcing in Germany is really very expensive and most customers are very price-orientated, so the only real option for me to “survive” is to produce in ASIA. Shanling is one of the most renowned factories over there and I’m honestly very satisfied with the quality of their work.

All amplifiers were designed in Germany. I also select/specify the parts that are to be used (made by renowned manufacturers like Nichicon, National Semiconductor, Burr-Brown, Cirrus Logic, WIMA, ALPS, NEC, ….) and only the enclosure and the assemblage is made/done in China.

Defective rate on the amplifiers has not really raised but because the number of amplifiers sold has increased so rapidly of course the total number of defects has increased. There have been some real quality issues but those were caused by the parts supplied by other manufacturers than Shanling. Especially (a small percentage of) the opamps used (LM6171 made by National Semiconductor) do tend to become noisy sometimes (addressed in the new amplifiers by socketing of the opamps which allows for an easy exchange or by using a different opamp) and with the OPERA there have been some problems with the CS8420 receiver during power-up (made by Cirrus Logic, addressed by introducing the OPERA-analog). Such problems are not uncommon in any product brought to the market.

There are many arguments pro and contra selling products made/assembled in Asia. I will not repeat them here, as I feel people should decide for themselves whether they want to do so or not. I only can tell you that the value of the goods that I export outside Germany is much higher than the import value. My profits are invested in Germany (Next year I will start building in order to be able to expand) and I pay a rather high amount of taxes. I don’t feel people over here have any reason to complain.

But that’s just my opinion!

Cheers

Jan

 

[lerio]

Thank's Jan for all you explanations

Personally i don't care if component came from Asia, what is important for me is to know that they are well selected and build in the a way that make the Amp have a good reputation which is the case for you Amp.

Also a very good thing important for me (make me buying my first Amp Bithead) is the customer service, and as i read here you do a good job for that too, so just one word [size=medium]Can't wait to buy my Cantate[/size]

 

[reil]

well i was contemplating purchasing an aria but now i have to wait to see the cantate.

as for the whole made in asia thing, as long as the manufacturer is reputable and willing to back the product with a warranty, i have no problems purchasing it. just because its made it asia, doesn't speak at all about the quality.

i can only relate this to pc components as that is my main interest. for pc power supplies, there are only a few factories that produce them but the specifications and quality of components chosen in the contracts will cause a huge gap in quality from something like a powmax to a pc power and cooling/zippy/seasonic. just for seasonic, they supplied power supplies to antec, pc power and cooling, corsair and also under their own brand each with different specs resulting in vastly different power supply qualities (antecs aren't so good while the pc&c and corsair's are awesome).

from everything i read, i trust Dr. Meier in his selection of components and i won't hesitate to buy an amp from him, made in asia or not.

 

[klenkar]

thanx,Jan! Always a Gentleman......maybe It'll be a Cantate after all.......it was just the initial shock....Hande Made in Germany....not more

dom

 

[d-cee]

yeeeeesssssssssssss

the doctor himself speaks!

any other details about the cantante?!?! ETA? price?!!?

 

[ecclesand]

Uh-oh...my wallet is starting to whimper...

 

[itsborken]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jan Meier /img/forum/go_quote.gif Shanling is one of the most renowned factories over there and I’m honestly very satisfied with the quality of their work.

You aren't the only one. The workmanship in the Opera an Move are great.

 

[cooperpwc]

If I understand correctly, the CANTATE will only have a USB DAC, not a coaxial in like the OPERA. Jan, is this right?

(I had not realised until now that the OPERA has coaxial in. That means that with a $15 optical to coaxial converter, it can run off any optical source: H140, PCDP with optical out etc. That is a fantastic feature!)

 

[klemchang]

Jan, thanks for the kind statement. I always like the way you make things clear.

Also, from my experience, most of the IC company, for example National Semiconductor or Analog Devices, have their product lines in south or east Asia- Philippines, Malaisya, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Korea...etc. There is no way you can purchase an electronic device without any Asian-made components.

I think under a global economic system, QC is getting more and more important rather than where the products are made.

Just some personal opinions.

Edits: National Instrument should be National Semiconductor. If you order components from those IC company they'll ship directly from Asia.

 

[Orcin]

Hopefully, Dr. Meier will post once more and give us an idea of the ship date for the Cantate. The OP mentions a delay of 1-2 months; I assume that means August-September availability?

Also, I would love to hear a rundown of the input/output options for the Cantate - will it be the same as the Aria? And it would be great if Dr. Meier could "un-fuzzy" that picture of the Cantate on his website.

This amp is very interesting... I may have to raise my personal alert status to RED if the ship date is near enough.

 

[lerio]

I asked few days ago and he said by the end of July or the beginning of August

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hopefully, Dr. Meier will post once more and give us an idea of the ship date for the Cantate. The OP mentions a delay of 1-2 months; I assume that means August-September availability?.

 

[MuseMan]

This amp needs more attention, it is August now and hopefully that means it is not far away!

I want it I do.