Xone:92 "Made in UK" vs. "Made in China" - any difference?

[loop]

A friend of mine has a good offer for a brand new Xone:92. Unfortunately, all the new ones are made in China and the rummors say that they're not on par with what they used to be, when they were made in UK.

Is there any true difference in the sound quality or the durability or some of the specs between the UK and the Chinese variants (e.g. weight)? It seems that the UK ones are silver, and the graphite ones are the Chinese?

I hope some of you guys have played with both variants and can share some first hand experience.

Cheers!

[sarasin]

I would not buy directly from China.....

It it says MADE in CHiNA....i would beware....

Grey Imports...and fakes fro that area....are just NUTS!

[IznremiX]

A friend of mine has a good offer for a brand new Xone:92. Unfortunately, all the new ones are made in China and the rummors say that they're not on par with what they used to be, when they were made in UK.

Is there any true difference in the sound quality or the durability or some of the specs between the UK and the Chinese variants (e.g. weight)? It seems that the UK ones are silver, and the graphite ones are the Chinese?

I hope some of you guys have played with both variants and can share some first hand experience.

Cheers!

lol 90% of what you own is probably made in china. as long as its still made under the direction of original company, and is not a bootleg, it shouldn't be a problem

[loop]

@sarasin - dude, it's a legit & original A&H product.

@IznremiX - The 92's superb reputation comes from the original units made by A&H in UK. And ... it's not enough if a unit is made under the direction of an original company in China. What's made in Europe is usually much higher quality, but it costs much more

The main difference is that we (as europeans) somehow value and honor these pieces of technology. We love them and want them to be made as perfect and durable as possible. For a chinese guy, that is just the next product on the line for the next couple of weeks before the next contract comes in place. It's all about personal attitude, it's not that chinese cannot make quality stuff, they can, of course, but only if they care ... well, they usually don't ... at least not as much ...

[Steve Zorilow]

I heard the Gray/Silver one are made in UK, while the Black model are made In China.

Well, it's A&H, I wouldn't be affraid.

[BigUns]

http://www.allen-heath.com/xoneforum...?TID=3583&PN=2

An admin posts on that thread:

Folks

The misnomer about China built unit is warring a bit thin and, tbh, borders on xenophobia.

Units built in China use the same components, are subject to the same production standards and go through the same Q&I procedures as our UK built units.
The high volume of units manufactured, however, inevitably means that, sometimes, products can get out into the field with some minor problems. Unfortunately, this is something that all mass production processes can suffer from, though this is something we always try to address.
It is, however, less to do with geography than it is logistics of high volume production.

If you have purchased an Allen&Heath product that you believe isn't up to standard, please contact your supplier who should be able to check the unit out for you and make any arrangements to have problems addressed if necessary.
If you feel that they can't help, or if you also have a problem with more than one unit, then please let us know (especially if it's a replacement for a previously faulty item); You can do this either by contacting our distributor in your region, or by contacting us, directly, via the established A&H support systems HERE giving us details of your unit's serial number.

This way we can ensure any concerns are addressed and fully resolved and if the problem was in any way due to production issues, it would give us the opportunity to ensure Q&I are made aware.

Unfortunately, spurious comments, anecdotes, or claims about what you've heard 'on the grapevine', or posted here can't be substantiated by us and may often be completely without foundation.

We're proud of our products and both sound and build quality are well established. We also want our customers to feel the same so, if you have a problem with your A&H product, talk to us about it and we'll help to get it resolved.

On the other hand, if you have issues with 'China built' products, you might want to have a look at the other electrical goods you use...
or if you're complaint is about how the global manufacturing industry has developed, you might want to talk to your local political representative (about 30 years ago) rather than perpetuating some, westernised, urban myths that don't hold water when considered objectively.

Thanks

[IznremiX]

@sarasin - dude, it's a legit & original A&H product.

@IznremiX - The 92's superb reputation comes from the original units made by A&H in UK. And ... it's not enough if a unit is made under the direction of an original company in China. What's made in Europe is usually much higher quality, but it costs much more

The main difference is that we (as europeans) somehow value and honor these pieces of technology. We love them and want them to be made as perfect and durable as possible. For a chinese guy, that is just the next product on the line for the next couple of weeks before the next contract comes in place. It's all about personal attitude, it's not that chinese cannot make quality stuff, they can, of course, but only if they care ... well, they usually don't ... at least not as much ...

lol thats a bit ego centric. im sure the guy working at the a&h factory in europe doesn't give a rats ass about the mixer either. why would he care about the mixer more?

[Ando]

because they do feel like this is their company and the mixers is theirs. if the management did everything right the people identify themselves with the company they work at.

unbelievable but true, some of them love the job they have and feel like they have to give it there all. experienced some people like that in factories and shops in germany at least, i doubt that this is different in the uk.


edit: spell check

[loop]

@BigUns: Thanks for the reference! It's an expected statement by a company representative. We still hope to get some real first hand feedback by an actual user!


@IZN, having 10+ years of professional experience with various companies in the high tech industry, I can only second Ando's post.

Most of my HiFi equipment originates from Germany and is mostly from the late 70s/early 80s - I have Telefunken, Grundig, Braun, Revox units. Man these are all built like tanks - they are amazing. I've also had UK built staff over the years and they are also great, engineering and manufacturing wise.

Working for a company, it's all about the feeling that you are part of the thing - involvement. Think about it, A&H has never been a company to produce tons of gear. Their Studio series are mostly custom built - R&D engineers sits with the technicians and work together, side by side. The DJ division is probably producing a bit more units, but not that much for sure. It's like a higher-scale workshop. The engineering team, the production team, the marketing, the support - these guys drink their beers together, very likely they know each others families too. They are all involved. Well, what would that involvement be when speaking for a remote factory in China - it just can't be the same.

When working with Chinese, it's a very different story. They want to get the job done and "eventually" meet the expectations (read the westernies demands). It usually takes several iterations before the customer says "i'm satisfied, please proceed". This is a very irritating process, just because the level of involvement is not as high as one could wish and expect it to be. In most cases, after many demo units flying back and forth, you just get an "acceptable" quality assembly/product at some point and you sign the "proceed" statement with it. Can it be better - "Yes", is it the same quality as we were doing it before - "it's close, and it's times cheaper. let's move on". And believe me, it's a tough job to negotiate with Chinese from China - quite often, they just don't get the point (or pretend to not getting it). But you always end up satisfied with something "acceptable for less".

[BradCee]

because they do feel like this is their company and the mixers is theirs. if the management did everything right the people identify themselves with the company they work at.

unbelievable but true, some of them love the job they have and feel like they have to give it there all. experienced some people like that in factories and shops in germany at least, i doubt that this is different in the uk.


edit: spell check

someone has never worked in mass production...

trust me, no one gives a fuck in factories (more so in food production) and everything is just seen as that thing i need to assemble/fill/pack/seal etc...
there are the odd 'sick' individuals that somehow enjoy it, but few and very far between