Orsefon C-22 Review

A McIntosh C-22 Copy

Orsefon is a label recently adopted by a Chinese manufacturer of tube amplifiers and preamplifiers modelled after McIntosh designs. I have seen both the MC275 and MC75 on the pages of Ebay and Aliexpress. Both amplifiers look exactly like McIntosh originals of about 10 years ago right down to McIntosh labels and cast metal nameplates. About 3 years ago Ebay and somewhat later Aliexpress started cancelling listings and sellers of these items. The manufacturer responded initially by removing the cross on the "t" in McIntosh, labelling the equipment as "McInlosh", an artifice that extended the clone domain for a few months before Ebay and Aliexpress caught on. At this point the name "Orsefon" was adopted and the equipment was thus rebranded with screened printing and new cast metal nameplates, otherwise looking as before.

There are a few discussions of the cloned MC275 in various enthusiast bbs threads, with many points of view being expressed. I have never seen a direct comparison with original equipment or even anyone who claims to own both authentic and cloned equipment. It is clear that a lot of people are looking for guidance and that there could be a real market for these items in Western countries. I have both and will offer my views as to performance and how they compare schematically and sonically.

The Orsefon C-22 is a recent addition. It is a good looking free spirited preamplifier that takes strong design influence from the current McIntosh C-22 V. Despite the resemblance, I doubt anyone would confuse it for an authentic McIntosh design and I have never seen it represented as one. Calling it a C-22 shows a certain intent but for which this preamplifier might well stand on its own as an authentic design with genuine merit.

Regrettably the Orsefon C-22 I have is a false starter. The unit arrived well packed and looked good. I installed it in a system with balanced connections to my MC275 and connected a balanced high level source. The result seemed good and I quickly moved to connect my Oracle Premier/SME V/Koetsu Rosewood Signature to the MC input. The signal to noise on this input was at best 0dB, with 60 Hz and harmonics dominating, along with hash and radio interference matching the volume of the playing record. I repeated this with an MM cartridge and a different turntable on the MM input with the same result. I performed every external check and nothing helped.

The manufacturer was very slow to respond. After several months I received a schematic of the unit, with which I tried to diagnose the problem. The conclusion is that the main circuit board itself is faulty. There are bodge wires on the board suggesting revisions in manufacture that could easily go wrong. I asked for a new board. Time went by without reply. Wanting to get this thing working, I offered to pay for the board and shipping. Nothing. It is now one year since my purchase and I have lost patience. The fact that Orsefon failed to secure their name with a .com domain has given me a chance to bring this to wide attention.

The Aliexpress seller "Song of the Wind Store" has continued responding to me and tells me the manufacturer is unresponsive. The truth is I don't know who is stalling me, but what I can say is that this C-22 produced noise that damaged my new McIntosh MC275 which McIntosh offered to replace or repair at my option, and had the repair completed within 3 days. This preamplifier could have been a good start for Orsefon, but it is not until this Chinese manufacturer takes service seriously that it will have any hope of finding acceptance in Western markets.

Orsefon C-22 评论

麦金托什 C-22 复印件

Orsefon 是中国一家仿照 McIntosh 设计的电子管放大器和前置放大器制造商最近采用的标签。我在 Ebay 和 Aliexpress 的页面上看到了 MC275 和 MC75。这两款放大器看起来与大约 10 年前的 McIntosh 原件一模一样，包括 McIntosh 标签和铸造金属铭牌。大约 3 年前，Ebay 和稍后的 Aliexpress 开始取消这些商品的列表和卖家。制造商最初的回应是去掉 McIntosh 中"t"上的叉，将设备标记为"McInlosh"，这是一种在 Ebay 和全球速卖通流行之前将克隆域扩展了几个月的技巧。此时采用了"Orsefon"这个名称，设备因此重新命名为丝网印刷和新的铸造金属铭牌，否则看起来和以前一样。

各种发烧友论坛里有一些关于克隆MC275的讨论，表达了很多观点。我从未见过与原始设备进行直接比较，甚至从未见过任何声称拥有正品和克隆设备的人。很明显，很多人都在寻求指导，这些产品在西方国家可能有真正的市场。我两者都有，并且会就性能以及它们在原理图和声音上的比较方式提出我的看法。

Orsefon C-22 是最近添加的。这是一款外观漂亮、自由奔放的前置放大器，受到当前 McIntosh C-22 V 的强烈设计影响。尽管有相似之处，但我怀疑有人会把它与真正的 McIntosh 设计混淆，而且我从未见过它作为一个代表。称它为 C-22 显示了某种意图，但此前置放大器可能作为具有真正优点的真实设计而独立存在。

遗憾的是，我拥有的 Orsefon C-22 是一个错误的启动器。该设备包装完好，看起来不错。我将它安装在一个与我的 MC275 平衡连接的系统中，并连接了一个平衡的高电平源。结果似乎不错，我很快将我的 Oracle Premier/SME V/Koetsu Rosewood Signature 连接到 MC 输入。此输入端的信噪比最多为 0dB，主要是 60 Hz 和谐波，以及与播放唱片音量相匹配的散列和无线电干扰。我用 MM 墨盒和 MM 输入上的不同转盘重复此操作，结果相同。我进行了所有外部检查，但没有任何帮助。

制造商反应很慢。几个月后，我收到了该装置的示意图，我试图用它来诊断问题。结论是主电路板本身有故障。电路板上有 bodge 线，建议在制造过程中进行修改，这很容易出错。我要了一块新板子。时间过去了，没有回应。为了让这件事发挥作用，我提出支付食宿费和运费。没有。现在我购买已经一年了，我已经失去了耐心。 Orsefon 未能使用 .com 域保护他们的名字这一事实让我有机会引起广泛关注。

速卖通卖家"风之歌店"一直在回复我，说厂家没反应。事实上，我不知道是谁在拖延我，但我能说的是，这架 C-22 产生的噪音损坏了我的新麦金托什 MC275，麦金托什愿意根据我的选择更换或维修，并在 3 天内完成维修天。这款前置放大器本可以成为 Orsefon 的良好开端，但直到这家中国制造商认真对待服务后，它才有希望在西方市场获得认可。