In a word, YES.

It is not much of a stretch to realize that volumes that an Onkyo or D&M contracts for creates a situation where both the inhouse designers and the production oriented engineers have an incentive to "cheapify" parts that a smaller firm is not going to bother messing with.

Save a few bucks on a run of hundreds of units won't amount to saving the same on tens of thousands of units.


My highest regards,

renov8r