In my opinion, the real question is how they manage to make such a good sounding amp with components that some describe as poor quality.
1. Because the components are not poor quality. This isn't 15+yrs. ago when shoddy fake parts were rampant in the direct-from-China market. China now makes almost everything for everyone. Resistors, mosfets, caps, wiring - everything. So the parts cost is extremely low. Quality *control* is another story as these products don't seem to come from a single factory and there is no middleman to standardize production. Which is why only stores w/ strong reviews are recommended. But once again $800 vs. $25,000 (or whatever retail equivalent price).
2. The NHB-108 was originally a diy design. The designer even published the process in Stereophile. The diy community has tinkered with it for over a decade now and China has audio designers like anywhere else who also peruse forums. So this isn't out of nowhere. The original NHB-108 is not a complicated amp per se. In fact the original/retail has far fewer safety measures in place IIRC and needs to be re-biased a few times a year. Yes it has better quality parts probably with much tighter tolerances - but one would expect no less from a $20,000 amplifier.
3. I think it's easy to forget that these analog components aren't made from some cheap chip that comes with a stock design you can download with the datasheet. A lot of these amps, preamps, tube gear etc. are made by people who love the hobby and view imitation as a form of flattery as well as a springboard to improve and innovate. There are a heck of a lot of other ways to make money than 30kg power-hungry amps for $500-2k. Like, say, build yet another AKM/ESS dac like Topping, SMSL and many others
.
4. There's no getting around there is higher risk. I view buying this gear as the same as buying someone's well made build on diyaudio. Same trade-offs.
