Ornec - anyone used before?

Hello everyone,

Browsing throught the net trying to find more on Shanling CD-T80 (after last month's review in hi-fi world) I discovered a company based in Oxford that sells all kinds of Chinese brands (MingDa, Shanling, etc) for what seem to me extremely good prices...

The name is Ornec. (website is: www.ornec.com)

I must make it very clear that I have no affiliation with this company or interest other than potentially buying from them. This is what brings me to ask you if any of you knows of them or has done any business with them. Are they trustworthy? Do the products have warranties etc?

They are sooo much cheaper than other retailers that it makes me a bit nervours...

Any help appreciated.
Thanks everyone.
Jack

 

Well, I recently e-mailed them about acquiring an Esound CD-E5, and they wrote back with a slanderous reply about the player, commenting about how "unreliable" it was.

The sole E5 distributor, Cattylink, said they did this just to prevent them losing Shanling CDP sales - the E5 is in fact very reliable.

Not sure if I'd want to deal with someone involved in "dirty tricks" myself.

However, apart from this, they do seem to have a fairly solid reputation. Mr. Law of Cattylink seems to have a superb reputaiton though and given the choice, I'd rather deal with him.

DT

PS, you really ought to read up about the E5. The US forums are absolutely buzzing over this player. I'll be ordering mine soon. Looks like absolutely stonking VFM, even by chinese standards. OK, so it's a bit ugly, but I'm more than willing to forgive them that, if its as good as they say it is!

 

I bought an amp of them and it was straight forward enough so cant complain really. DT's reply would be off-putting though. Check out www.chinese-hifi.co.uk too.

DT, I actually think the E5 is quite good looking, I thought about one myself but thought Id wait for others to have a go first........

 

Hello all. I've just registered and this is my first post.

I have been researching Chinese gear recently, and have inevitably come across both Ornec and Cattylink.

I recently bought a second-hand but very fine Jadis Symphonia CDP, as an upgrade on an old Arcam Alpha 5 which I was running thro' a new (Jan. 2005) outboard Musical Fidelity X-DAC v3 - now for sale if anyone's interested!

The chap who sold me the CDP was initially going to concentrate on his v. upmarket vinyl front-end but soon decided he needed a CDP and bought an E-sound E5 from Cattylink, unheard, on the basis of web reviews. Result: very good/quick service from Cattylink inc. free and apparently vg interconnects; & an excellent player (I've heard it and it's damn good for the price - HE thinks it's as good as the Jadis!). As it's only a few weeks old, the jury is still out on reliability, but build quality seems very good.

Ornec look pretty keen on price but seem to be selling knock-offs (esp. "PMC"-type speakers) as well as original designs, and knocking the competition is a bit off, so I'd have my doubts.

I also came across www.aaa-audio.com (US distributors of a number of Chinese brands) via 6-moons (Audio Asylum and Enjoy the Music have covered them too), and have been in correspondence with their Mr. Ping. They handle XLH amongst others, who make an interesting pre-/monoblock combination and a very retro. Heath Robinson-looking horn speaker, and are allegedly the highest high-end brand in China. Mr. Ping says some kit has recently been sent to the UK for magazine review. I gather reviews may not appear for a few months yet, but if anyone has seen reviews in print or online of any XLH products - or has any other information about them (e.g., European distribution details) - I'd be v. interested to hear about it.

Cheers!

 

Cattlink is very trustworthy if you deal with Snowy Law. In fact, as I have said to people before, if you mention my name (Simon Ashton) you may get even better service as I have had some good dealings with him in the past and he has helped other people out on my behalf. I haven’t got anything from them in a long while now but I would still recommend them.

 

Not surprised. This giant-killing CDP seems to be one of Hi-Fi's better-kept secrets ATM. Gagging to get my hands on one!

Please God, let my bonus be half-decent this year!!

DT

 

I listened to shanling T100, T200 players and STP 80, ST80 and mkII solidstate amp with manger and my dynaudio speakers.
I think T100 is very good for the price and their tube amps are not so neutral and with some speakers their pace and timing is not good.
their stage is like all tube gears good but once again they have alittle charachter and are so rolloff.
they are electronic matching sensitive and they are best when work in all shanling system.
if you like tube sound for it's good stereoimage i recommend to listen to shanling amps with a dynamic and easy drive speaker like manger and if you like extension, pace and neutrality it's not your case.
in good system matching shanling stage and transparency is good for the price.

 

They look very like the PMC originals don't they

The VIFA drive units used by PMC are manufactured to PMC's specifications and are not the same as the one's you or I could buy from e.g. Wilmslow. I think it unlikely that these chinese speakers will sound or perform exactly like their PMC counterparts.

Having said that, they may still be good value for money at their price point.

 

I've decided to try out one of the Esound CD-E5 players, and see for myself what all the fuss is about. I've ordered it from cattylink, for a price that seems silly, even allowing for any import duty & VAT payable. The specification seems very high indeed and most users express their deep satisfaction with their player. I've ordered the export Euro version, for 240V/50Hz and fully CE marked.

I'll post a review on the player itself and the ordering process/delivery once it has arrived & settled in.

 

Damn, you beat me to it

I wanted to have the first one on Zerogain

Its crazy - a CDP with THIS spec, plus a premium RCA cable, for £500 delivered!!

Please let me know if you have any problems re Duty or operational issues etc. Very close to ordering one of these...

DT

 

Thanks Everybody.

I got the same feeling as many of you here when I gave Ornec a ring.
Didn't fill me with confidence and at the time I didn't really know about some of the things said here.

Basically the deal is: they order it for you and deliver. If it is working fine then that's it. You have one month cover and after that you're on your own. If you want one year UK based cover, they will arrange it for you but costs (I forget now) something like forty percent more or something like that. It would still be cheaper than buying from a UK dealer, I remember comparing that... but I didn't feel very confident about it.

Chinese Hi-Fi shop were very good responding to my email and seem a lot more trustworthy from the outset. I enquired about the Consonance SACD 2.0 as I have been researching it since it was suggested to me here in this forum.

I had never heard of Cattylink but it is good to know they are reliable.
Will have a good look at their range and at the E5 cd player you mention, DT.
I hate to buy without listening first, though...

Thanks Amir for the feedback. Always good to know what people think and I know you have been trying out lots of kit from your posts here. I guess there is no such thing as a free lunch, and your thoughts make me even less willing to buy without listening...

Thanks everyone!
Ilidio

 

Well, the CD-E5 arrived only four days after order, which is very good by anybody's standard. I didn't opt for the offered 120 hour test, as this struck me as simply being a method of masking stock problems. Perhaps I'm over cynical.

Communication with Snowy at Cattylink was very good and I was kept fully informed throughout the order process. I didn't have any duty or VAT to pay on delivery, but I may receive an invoice later. In any event, Cattylink declare a low value. This is both good and bad; good that taxes are lower but bad in the event of loss, as I would imagine the carrier (DHL) would only pay for the decalred value.

The CD-E5 arrived extremely well packaged and triple boxed. It was supplied with some interconnects called Golden something or others; these are silver plated copper thingies (looks like the mil-spec wire that's popular at present) with locking RCAs. I'm trying them, but I suspect that I'll be resorting to others. It also comes with a silver fuse, but I'm not going to use that ~ I refuse to belive that a centimetre of wire is going to make any difference at all!

Initial impressions are of a very solidly built and heavy CD player. The casework and machining on this would cost a fortune over here. I haven't looked inside myself, but there are loads of internal shots on the 'net; the transport is located on a solid aluminium bed and the layout is very neat & tidy. The specification of this player is tremendous ~ see the web for details.

It worked first time. The CD drawer opens and closes very nicely indeed. There is a fine tolerance between the drawer and the case, which adds to the air of quality. The player is quiet in operation and all track functions work quickly and smoothly.

There are RCA and XLR outs ~ I'm using the SE as I've read that the balanced is of a lower quality, compromised by the op-amps in the signal path. I'll check this for myself later.

I'll post a review on the sonic performance one it's settled in and I've done some serious, critical listening. But first impressions are very favourable indeed. This player is obviously performing way above what you'd expect for £500 in the UK.

As to warranty, well that's a significant factor influencing any decision. It depends on how risk averse you are. If you want the comfort of a local dealer then this player is not for you, as it's only available from China. The only problems I've read of with this player relate to the transport, which is a common problem for all players, irresepective of where they're made. Cattylink will provide parts in the event of a breakdown, but you'd have to fit them yourself. As the only problems that may arise are with the transport, then this is not really an issue. The transport is a breeze to replace (no soldering!) & is widely available (Philips VAM1202/12). Bear in mind that you would be buying a new player with a performance that's above what you'd normally get for your money. OK, you could buy a secondhand player, which is another method of maximising the sounds per pound, but you then have a used player, that could equally (probably more likely) have problems. I would place a purchase of this player as laying between buying secondhand and buying new from a UK dealer in terms of risk, but top in terms of VFM.

I think that this player may well turn out to be the stonking bargain of the year, for me at least! If you're in my part of the world, PM me if you'd like to come 'round and audition ~ beers are on you!

 

Masking stock problems? Do you mean he uses this period to filter out faulty units? If so, I think that's great - at least you get the machine run-in for you and can be pretty sure that you haven't got a lemon.

Yeah, he's pretty good with the e-mails! What value did they declare for the unit then? I know chinese hi-fi pick up the tab if there is any duty. I think they can reclaim it somehow.

Golden raincoat! I've heard they're pretty average RCA's. I'd rather have some speaker cable off him (Xindak SC1 would do fine - around the same price but would increase the shipping weight I think). That silver fuse is actually supposed to make an improvement. Think about the quality of the copper in a standard fuse - i'm guessing it's oxygen-rich copper! Might as well use the silver fuse instead...

From the pics I've seen, all it needs, are tracks and a turret....

You mean its better than CD73T? Heresy!!

Sounds like a sensible compromise to me. Anyway, I'd rather get it repaired independently here, rather than send it all the way back to China. It would also provide an opportunity to replace caps/diodes around the power supply/single ended & balanced stages etc.

I'm still waiting for a "thank you"

DT

 

When I talked of the 120 hour test possibly masking stock problems, I meant stock availability, not reliability issues! My lack of clarity ~ sorry.

This has now been in use for a few days and it is performing very nicely indeed. Its physical presence and such class in operation (the CD drawer positively glides in & out) add to the air of an expensive player, but at a very sensible price. Initial impressions would suggest that this is performing in the £1500-£2000 player mark. I kid you not.

 

Well, your sentiments would seem to echo that of many other purchasers - they all think its a giant killer.

If I didn't have to buy a new power amp/ monoblocks (which will be chinese of course!) I'd definitely be buying one...

DT

 

Thanks for the info guys - been looking at this lot cos they have a lot of headphone amps and want one for my HD600.

Think I'm going to go with the Graham Slee Solo after reading your comments.

 

If I were you, Id get something like this http://www.cattylink.com/CAT-VALe10.htm

 

LinearMan,

I managed to find a second-hand seller of an E5 for £400. Its a generation 6 model, but from what I understand the latest gen 7 (which is what you have) modifications have been limited to making the transport more resistant to external shocks, rather than modding anything in the signal path.

Looking forward to recieving it soon.

Also, received my MC67-HA from Chinese-hifi.co.uk in good order. Ming-Da stuff actually looks much better in the flesh. I thought the tacky gold trim would look....tacky, but it doesn't. Can vouch for the build too - stunning stuff for £380!

Will be ordering the matching MC300-C monoblocks from them soon.

Rgds,
DT

 

look foward to review of the monoblocks.

 

I'm pleased to hear they're holding their value!

Yes, the only difference is the shock protection on the transport. Mine is now performing fabulously. It really is very good indeed. I found it responds to cable choices (sorry to the nay sayers, but the differences are clearly audible and repeatable). The class A output on the SE is the best; no doubt about it. I'm using RS Audio Illume I/C (a belter), which works well for me in my system.

Hope you enjoy it ~ I'm sure you will!