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[Jonathan Kok]

4. I wouldn't be suprised if you could find these if you looked in the right place.  In most metropolitian areas there are "import" businesses that cater to almost exclusively to certain ethnic groups.  If you ever chance to go into one you might be amazed at some of the stuff you find, especially if you get to go  in the "back room".

Look in the fly-by-night clubs; you're sure to find plenty of knock-off components there.  The last club I did wanted us to put up a bunch of speakers and lighting fixtures they got off the slow-boat from China.  We convinced them the speakers were crap, and told them we would have nothing to do with the lighting fixtures, as not one of them was CUL listed.  And while they did have a UL listing, even if I were in the States, I wouldn't actually trust it to be legit.

Not if you use big slow ship, Grasshopper.
My old boss, a Chinese Kiwi, just loves to troll around the factories in China (It helps to know the lingo) looking for goodies for his Corporate AV business. Lataly he has been bringing in all manner of intelligent lighting, movers etc, and he reckons the only difference between "Name Brand" lights and Chop Suey ones is which packing department they ship out of at the factory (and, of course, the size of the invoice).
Re speakers, I have done bench tests on Chop Suey 2241s vs JBL, and it's kinda hard to tell the difference. As for SRXs, the 'nese have a head start as they own the lions share of the world neodymium supplies.
M

Does your old boss also get a special electrical inspection of those fixtures?  Not sure what's required in Aussieland...but here in Canada, I'd have to bring in an inspector to sign off and sticker anything I got off the slow boat.

[John Roberts {JR}]

If the product has a UL sticker, you should be able to find a UL listing for the product. I guess it's possible to counterfeit a UL sticker but if somebody is, UL would probably like to hear about it.

Regarding the theory that UL and non-UL products just ship from different loading docks in the same factory, it is possible but UL also involves a certification chain for all the critical components used inside the product. If the factory production is dominated by UL business it may not be worth bringing in cheaper parts, but if the product is up to UL grade, it seems silly to not sticker it. The benefit of having a real UL sticker surely exceeds the cost of the sticker.   

JR

[Stu McDoniel]

Not if you use big slow ship, Grasshopper.
My old boss, a Chinese Kiwi, just loves to troll around the factories in China (It helps to know the lingo) looking for goodies for his Corporate AV business. Lataly he has been bringing in all manner of intelligent lighting, movers etc, and he reckons the only difference between "Name Brand" lights and Chop Suey ones is which packing department they ship out of at the factory (and, of course, the size of the invoice).
Re speakers, I have done bench tests on Chop Suey 2241s vs JBL, and it's kinda hard to tell the difference. As for SRXs, the 'nese have a head start as they own the lions share of the world neodymium supplies.
M

Wifey likey big slow ship too!

[Jamin Lynch]

Has anyone *ACTUALLY USED* the knock off SRX(725 etc) replica speakers out of China. I'm curious because a local disco installer is bringing in chop suey 2241s by the bucketload and is getting excellent service out of them and an almost zero failure rate.
Lets ignore sinophobic issues.
Cheers
M

Just replace the components with real ones when they blow up.

[Joe Breher]

Two SRX712M's for $375 total? I'm sure they're every bit as good as the US ones...
http://www.chinesedepartmentstore.com.cn/osc/product_info.php/cPath/500/products_id/9129?osCsid=krjlbl3dfaa5ph03bnj3dmevq6

I checked out the link, and got quite excited. Being well into the planning and execution of
 a monitor upgrade, I thought maybe I ought to look deeper into these. About $500
delivered for a pair seemed like a decent amount to risk for what could have been an
excellent deal.

Doing my due diligence, I sent a message to CDS:

Code: [Select]

Hello -

I hope English will work for our communications - I know absolutely  no Chinese.

I am very interested in your China Version JBL SRK712m speakers as  seen at:
http://www.chinesedepartmentstore.com.cn/osc/product_info.php?products_id=9129&country=223&QTY=5

Your website seems to imply that these are made in the same factory  as JBL SRX712m
speakers destined for the American market, and that they are identical in all respects to
the JBL SRX712m speakers  destined for the American market. Is this correct?

Do they have actual JBL 2262H LF drivers?

Do they have actual JBL 2431H HF drivers?

Are they constructed from the same birch ply material as the JBL  SRX712m speakers
destined for the American market? In the identical dimensions?

Are the crossovers identical in design and components as the JBL  SRX712m speakers
destined for the American market?

Is there an English-speaking person familiar with this product that  I could speak with?
What time GMT/UTC is good to Skype?

I see a Wells Fargo logo on your site. Can I pay with my Wells Fargo Visa?

Are the DHL shipping charges fixed? And the quote is per order of  two speakers?
I got a friendly and informative reply within hours. That's the good part. The bad part
is that these seem to be nothing like what you may think of as  JBL SRX712m:

Code: [Select]

Hi
You asked many questions and i will try to answer.

I have attached 4 pictures.
two of them is the neodymium speakers that we can use with the speaker box, and
other two are not.

The product that i showed in my site is with non neo speakers.

If you wish with neo speakers, the price is different.

Again, I have not seen what you buy in your country and also have not seen what the
factory making these products in my site. We buy from our supplier and he does not
reveal his secrets.

I have sold many of these speakers and I have had people praising the chinese versions
and the savings that they have made.

Maybe better to buy , if you decide, using sea freight.

With neo speakers within, each speaker, not pair, but each will cost you: USD590.00

The neo speaker is:

Low Profile:
Treble: 44 core / 140 magnetic
Bass: 75 core / 190 magnetic

I also can supply the same box with the high profile driver at USD730.00 each:

High configuration:
Treble: 75 core / 180 magnetic
Bass: 100 core / 220 magnetic

You can check your local stores and buy with peace of mind, if my prices with shipping cost
will be nearly the same as what you can get.




Please do not hesitate to ask any further questions and I will happily answer.

I also hope to see you on my MSN messenger

ID: [email protected]

We can use the microphone and chat live.

Just in case you come online and find me not to reply immediately, I may not
be at my PC, maybe due to time difference, or I may be at a meeting. Please
type your inquiry, and when i get back to the PC, I shall reply immediately.


Best regards
Vash

Note:
Please when you send us an email, in the subject of your reply, add "CDS" so
we dont treat it as spam.
(other stuff redacted)

[Joe Breher]

So with neo drivers of any type (e.g. 'Low Profile' {?}) price goes up to $590 _each_, plus shipping. For the
'High Profile' driver set, price is up to $730 each. Not so much of a bargain. Either way, none of those drivers
look like what I'd consider the standard JBL issue ::rolls eyes::

Four minutes later this addtional info came to light:

Code: [Select]

Ohhh One more thing.

Maybe what I have shown you is the same looking as what is sold by JBL, but particles of the metals used for
the driver magnet, purity of the copper used in the coils, the paper quality for the cone and etc, might not be
the same. I am not sure.

But what i can say, is these speakers sound good, nicely made and i am happy to sell them regardless of being
copy or maybe genuine, which, i am not sure.

Please do not hesitate to ask any further questions and I will happily answer.
(other stuff redacted)
Looks like an attempt at plausible deniability. A few minutes latter comes the final dagger to the heart:

Code: [Select]

I must also correct my slisting, since it mentions about neodymium speaker and also birchwood.
My speakers are not birchwood but MDF.My workers inserted this product and I was not aware of the decription.
Sorry. i will have to do this tomorrow since now is time to go home in china.
vash
Let's see.... no-name ceramic drivers, MDF, yup sounds like SRX to me.

As I told him in my reply, they may or may not be fine speakers in their own right. However, I cannot expect them to perform acoustically identically to the SRX 712m speakers distributed by Harman in the United States. As such, they will not meet my needs.

[Joe Breher]

For an alternate viewpoint, these guys seem pretty pleased with their sino Lab Gruppen fp clones:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1334237

Several happy purchasers there. They also seem to believe that the CDS Lab clones come from the same assembly line as the real Labs. Whether or not there is any truth to that is an open question.

Judging by their detailed photos of innards, it looks as if their clone Labs are much closer to the real thing than the SRXs.

[Mike Diack]

Excellent research, Joe - MDF huh ?. Not even useful for firewood.
I've seen the Chinese Lub Grups over here too, and they seem well made and certainly seem to hold together well.
Pity about the speakers....
M

[Seth Steplton]

Sadly I have to raise my hand on this one.. There is a production company in Middleton, or Middletown ohio that brought out small PA for a radio promo show we did.. He brought six of those 712M's. They wasn't like a EAW SM200 we had the day before, but they did the job of a five piece acoustic band playing. My PA was from China also. One double 18" and three 2-10/2 line array boxes on top of that. Again.. I thought it took a bit more tweaking, but as the owner said he couldn't afford to buy the real gear as his clients didn't pay those prices.. Would I use them again... Yeah.. I've heard worse.. Way worse to be honest.. 

[Bob Leonard]

Not even close. If you'll note, every JBL speaker made in the US plant, which is all but the JRX crap, has a machined face to it. That can be identified by the silver colored ring around the cone where the casting has been machined. The back of the casting is then machined face down and that precision machined front surface becomes the reference point for all other dimensions and machining. JBLs are manufactured to tight tolorences and machining the face is critical to obtaining those tolorences.

Another note is that the assemblies shown are not anything like a JBL design, not even close. I would also expect that the frame is not 6061 cast aluminum, but probably pot metal.

[ProSoundWeb Community]