I'm hesitating to even open this can of worms, but here goes anyways..

All the back and forth about manufacturing quality, handwired or PCB, used on classic records or not, cheap versus expensive, blah blah blah is all a sideshow. When we're talking about products for making music all that matters is whether or not it sounds good.

When we're talking about clone products, it's even simpler. Does it sound different, and does it sound different enough to make up the difference in price. Luckily, there are some kind folks on YouTube who can help us out with that, and even more luckily you can use Access Analog to get access to the expensive stuff to do your own testing and use your own ears.

I happened on a video comparing a UA 1176 versus three clones, including the Klark Teknik (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHqVD8A4ldk). I listened, and I used my own ears, and came away with the conclusion that the Klark Teknik sounds pretty damn close to the UA, and while the Purple MC77 sounded maybe a little closer to the UA, at almost $1500 more than the Klark it wouldn't be worth the money for me.

My point here is that unless you guys are actually doing listening tests like this or at least giving these kinds of comparison videos an honest listen, you're basically flipping a coin and praying that because it's handwired/has a certain transformer/isn't made in China/has a certain name on it/costs more, that it's better for you. It's a guess. Whereas if you did actually listen or do comparisons for yourself, you might find yourself as surprised as I was that a $350 Klark Teknik compressor I didn't think I'd ever be interested in might actually help me get a better sound, especially if $2500 for a UA-1176 isn't in your budget.

As for the Klark Teknik 2A clone, well I found this thread while searching for the kinds of comparisons that I was talking about above. I did find one that I thought gave a decent comparison (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTUqahCvrXc) and my thoughts are that it doesn't sound as close to the 2A he was using from Access Analog as the KT 1176 does to the real thing - it's a little woolier and can distort more easily as he points out in the summary. I also find the release to sound somewhat different to the original. I did like how it sounded better than the plugin - more open, where the plugin has a little bit of a "wet blanket" effect especially when using more gain reduction. I'm going to look at some other lower cost units to see if any are closer or sound better to my ears because the difference to me was enough to think that a little more investment might yield better results, whereas I came away from the 1176 comparison thinking there's no reason to spend more than the KT's $350 price tag for that kind of sound.

I have the KT-2a and mine doesn’t exhibit this distortion and a much as I read, all the other users that posted a reply said theirs doesn’t either. Also, I upgraded the optocell in mine to the Kenetek T4b and the release sounds much closer now!

There is also a recent thread here where someone did two mixes of a song using a La-2a and the KT-2a and whilst they don’t sound identical, I think it’s clear to hear how surprisingly good the KT-2a is!

Did you also find this thread, with several direct comparisons?

Expensive vs. Cheap Gear

No, but thanks for tipping me off. I'll have a look.