Chinese Clone Amplifiers

First up, I should clarify that most Chinese clone amplifiers are copies of high end designs that manufacturers have let their copyright/patents lapse. So as long as the clone doesn’t carry original branding, they should be legal.

Many of these amps provide an affordable way to get a taste of what high-end gear sounds like. Now I am positive that the genuine product would sound better, but would it sound three to ten times better as that is often how much more genuine amps cost over these clones?

So far I have clones of an FM Acoustics FM711 MKII, a Burmester 933 MKII and a Dartzeel NHB-108. Note, my reference amp is a Hypex Nilai500DIY Stereo that I have converted to dual mono.

The FM711 (SUQIYA-Reproduction FM711 MKII) has been big a disappointment. It was damaged in transit requiring a replacement left channel amplifier board. It works after fitting the new board but has a lot of interference coming through the speakers. I suspect it could be due to poor cable management in the power supply (bundles zip-tied together) that I will attend to in the near future. Sound wise it is tube like with rounded off highs, detailed mids and slightly sloppy bass. There are several manufacturers of these so maybe I just selected a bad one.

The 933 (AMXEKR 1:1 Replica Burmester 933) is a lot better. Zero background noise with an input load. It is a warm sounding amp with nice detailed highs and mids and a fuller bass. I put this down to the 933 having less bass control than the Hypex. Otherwise it is a nice sounding amp and is great for those older recordings with thin bass.

The NHB-108 (D9 Clone Dartzeel NHB-108 Hi-End)  is the standout. It is also silent under input load and produces close to Nilai levels of detail and accuracy. It could be it’s marginally less analytical nature that made it a joy to listen to. The only negative is that it gets quite hot, 40ºc on the cooling fins after 3 hours play. The case has minimal cooling holes so I will be adding some additional cooling vents.