Sophia Electric > "Virginia, USA" - yeah sure ..

"The quality of the wiring makes me think that this $5500 amp was wired by a wino on New Year's Eve."

Bob, tell us how you really feel!  LMAO........

Yeah, the Chinaman (or Chinawoman) that wired it was probably paid all of $0.55.  

I probably can guess the answer, but do you think the tubes they sell under the Sophia Electric name are worth the prices they ask for them?  Example; 12AX7s made in China for $100.00 each?  Their 300Bs are astronomical.  

Just goes to show you the power of marketing and the role perception plays in the decisions people make to spend that kind of money of these kinds of products.

Let's hope this is the way the build their military gear...

Kevin

I don't know about everyone else, but I was _inspired_ by this. When I looked at the wiring, all I could think was "Hmmm...I bet I can do better...."

I DID do better ... and I didna do all that great!  My junk drawer looks better organized.  

Wonder what the price would have been for the "actual working PT" option ... extra grand maybe??

PS ... those oversize castings that cover the undersized OTs probably cost more than what it would have to just go with decent iron.

This looks bad, very bad.....
Admittedly, not all Chinese products are made as such.....far better examples like PrimaLuna, Icon Audio (both designed in Europe but built in China under supervision of the designers) or Eastern Electric (Alex Yeung) are built to much higher standards. Fact is, four years ago, I started my "tube" listening with Eastern Electric M-156 Mono's. They were OK, nicely built with quality components, BUT....... the EL-156 tube had a tendency to "blow" and after the spare tubes were gone, it was very hard to find new ones as they were only made by Shuguang and EA wins no prize in customer support. A nicely built (and sounding) amp, but not being able to get new power tubes was very frustrating,so, I sold them back to the Belgian distributor after 3 years and today, I am really enjoying my
VTA-ST-120 . Magnificent sounding, fabulous feedback by Bob and the Forum, built like a tank and with readily available tubes (with even the choice between 6550, KT-88, KT-120)
Thanks for this "life insurance" :-))))
A happy ST-120 owner
Marc (Belgium)

Ah. I see the source of your confusion.

Those beautiful transformer covers

are made in Virginia...

Holy cow!      Almost blew coffee on the computer monitor when I saw the gut shot.

The Chinese are known for doing this kind of crap when proper quality control is not enforced.

Years back, assembly of the famous Pentax K1000 35mm SLR camera was moved from Japan to Hong Kong.  Fine; the cameras from Hong Kong were just as well-built, though some changes such as a plastic top cover instead of chromed brass were made.  Then assembly was moved to China and some more parts were made lower-priced.  As long as the Pentax quality control people were in the factory, which was whenever the genuine Pentax product was being assembled, all was OK.  But under contract, the Chinese were also permitted to use the same facility to build cameras for their domestic market under several different names.  None carried the "Pentax" brand but they were obviously of the same mechanical design.  Some even bore names like "Mingka K1000."  This is a frequently-seen arrangment when the Chinese assemble goods for a well-known, legititmate company outside China.  Typically this kind of production occurs in the same factory after regular hours, and it is done under "Chinese quality control."  

While the Pentax-branded cameras were just fine, quality-controlled, checked and adjusted individually by Japanese and Hong Kong technicians, the Chinese off-brand domestic market production was a disaster.  Critical parts in the shutter mechanism were not precisely machined so the shutter speeds were inaccurate.  The gears weren't as well finished so the mechanism felt rough when it was wound.  Adjustments were slapdash.  But the cameras were CHEAP...in the People's Stores, less than 30% of what a real Pentax K1000 would cost.

Cheap enough, I thought, that I could afford one as a curiosity, even if it malfunctioned and became a paperweight.  Once I got back to the USA I was able to fire the shutter six times and then it quit.  I fix my own cameras anyway, so I dug inside this brand-new Chinese wonder, and found that one of the rubberized silk shutter curtains had come adrift from its roller shaft because some make-it-quick Chinese assembler had glued it without wiping off the oil left over from the machining operation.  Glue doesn't stick well to oil!

Easy enough to fix if you've got the skill set...but even after I adjusted it, the shutter is still somewhat inaccurate though barely within Pentax specifications (real Pentax K1000, even built in China, meet their specs handily).  At least it's a paperweight that now goes CLICK.  The lens that came with it, however, is perfectly fine except that it's not as nicely finished as a real Pentax lens.  Sharp as a tack, actually.  I learned later that the glass elements were imported to China as prebuilt modules from Japan.

It is not a large leap for an American, British or other company to have goods built in China but to cut costs by using "Chinese quality control."  On the other hand, Pentax established company-owned factories in the Philippines and in Vietnam, instead of continuing to do business with the Chinese.

There are so many examples of horrid, Chinese quality control. Getting a working DVD was crap shoot; Dell laptop early failures; Bizzy Bee abandoning the TAD-60; massive tire stem failures. On and on.

Kevin, FIY, the Chinese are using US and European sub-assemblies, e.g., Cummins engines, in their military systems.

It's not just a matter of quality being poor, such workmanship brings real risks of electric shock, or worse, fire.

if you want cheap Chinese, then buy a Yaquin, at least you get what you pay for (a $400 amp for $400).
Maybe those tranny covers are made in Virginia USA ?
So you tell me, are those Sophia tubes they sell for $200 worth it . . . ? I'd rather pay $200 for an AC power cord.
You can get the same tube labeled Sino instead of Sophia for about $8.
Gee, now I wonder if the Sophia Electric people have a forum we can post pics and comments on !!
So bottom line is, you pay $5000 for the amp, $200 is for parts, $20 for labor, and $4780 for the Sophia execs and advertising budget.

What a marketing machine! And they offer an extended warranty, up to a year, on their tubes for an extra charge, of course.

MontanaWay wrote:its not just the Sophia, I just cannot get my head around some of the tube amp prices out there.
Sure, there is engineering & design time, "high" quality materials & components, yes, even allow for the uniqueness that it is a tube amp.....but for goodness sake, $3K to up $10K????????????....really?
There are too many people out there with more money than brains....oh and the so called status symbol I guess........what a farce though!

Couldn't agree more. If someone wants to spend that much money, then go for a McIntosh,
which is built with pride and can be owned with pride.
Personally, I could be no more proud then I am with my ST-120 which, by the way, sounds just as good
as a Mac

As Bob said ... not all Chinese made amps suffer from crap workmanship.

Melody amps are beautifully wired point to point.

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/melody/melody_2.html

MontanaWay wrote:its not just the Sophia, I just cannot get my head around some of the tube amp prices out there.
Sure, there is engineering & design time, "high" quality materials & components, yes, even allow for the uniqueness that it is a tube amp.....but for goodness sake, $3K to up $10K????????????....really?
There are too many people out there with more money than brains....oh and the so called status symbol I guess........what a farce though!

Of that, how much "engineering and design," REALLY? Most of them use old circuit designs. Not much new, there. I would guess that far more time and effort go into the cosmetics of the product, which goes to show what the target market is: the golden eye backed by a golden pocketbook; NOT the golden ear. The kind of customer they are after is the one who can't hear that nothing happens when they throw that pentode/triode switch; they only THINK they can.

oh gee, I say this everyday!! There are too many people out there with more money than brains....
Take note - before you start throwing money at the lastest hi-end amp of the month that costs $5000 or more (or even a $500 tube kit)
please use some common sense and also don't ask ME questions that are just as easily answered by using GOOGLE (google??? what's that??)
ooh!! I'm sorry, you're trying to do that on your "smartphone" instead of using a real computer . . . .   

This amp was something else..I upgraded it with Russian teflons,35uf polypro bypasses on each filter cap which are three of them,Schotkey diodes, grid resistors on the tube sockets as opposed to wire extensions and it improved it a lot but now this amp was not anywhere near the performance of the Latino amps which are 95% American made and they are a fraction of the cost of this atrocity.

In this review the author says "Opening up the 126S chassis I saw a well laid out clutter free interior with point to point wiring." Click>> What a Joke

pedrocols wrote:In this review the author says "Opening up the 126S chassis I saw a well laid out clutter free interior with point to point wiring." Click>> What a Joke

Of the three versions, he says ". . . I prefer the later."

Hmmmm. Illiterate too.

$12k for the self biasing version? I am in the wrong business.

You guys have it all wrong:

The black inner cover hiding the tiny transformer is made of proprietary Ferro-Electromagnetic-ionizing ceramic infused composite.  Combined with the special brushed Zirconium aluminum heat trapping outer tranny cover, ions produced by the inner cover catalyticly purify 99.76503% of all electrons passing through the precision transformer windings resulting in better depth, wider sound stage, more natural mid range and extremely clear but non fatiguing highs.  Impure, dirty electrons are the cause of dirty sound!!  

As with all Virginia USA amps, bass is tight, clean and non boomy.  (Unless, of course, you happen to prefer boomy bass, in which case one simply flips the special low damping inductor-flux switch located on top panel to "boom-bass" mode)


(My apologies:  Sitting in car on return drive from family trip with nothing better to do than type this blather ...)

(Virginia USA - if you need a copy writer I have about 4 more hours of drive left....)

vtshopdog wrote:The black inner cover hiding the tiny transformer is made of proprietary Ferro-Electromagnetic-ionizing ceramic infused composite.  Combined with the special brushed Zirconium aluminum heat trapping outer tranny cover, ions produced by the inner cover catalyticly purify 99.76503% of all electrons passing through the precision transformer windings resulting in better depth, wider sound stage, more natural mid range and extremely clear but non fatiguing highs.  Impure, dirty electrons are the cause of dirty sound!!  

As with all Virginia USA amps, bass is tight, clean and non boomy.  (Unless, of course, you happen to prefer boomy bass, in which case one simply flips the special low damping inductor-flux switch located on top panel to "boom-bass" mode)

You missed your calling. You are a True Artist {of B.S.}.

I might enlist the services of VT'Dog to re write the copy on my professional website.

Tube Nube wrote:I might enlist the services of VT'Dog to re write the copy on my professional website.

Too late.  Virginia USA called and hired me.  We are doubling the price of all products now that the prestigious Institute of Ionic Electroflux Purification has confirmed the efficacy of our patent pending technology with a very scientific study that cannot be released to the general public.  

pedrocols wrote:In this review the author says "Opening up the 126S chassis I saw a well laid out clutter free interior with point to point wiring." Click>> What a Joke

Not only does review author A. Anthony Nicosia have no standards for build quality, he also lacks criteria for evaluating electronic design:

"... The 126S...the ‘S' standing for cathode self-biasing, always a plus when dealing with tube amplifiers. I have one amplifier where you must take off the bottom to get inside to adjust bias, another is done on the rear of the unit while a third is self-biasing, and I prefer the later. (sp)..."

What he is saying is, "I like it because I like it."