I really think the reason for poor speaker system design is simply because many engineers in China designing the mechanism (and the audio components in the chassis) are not educated about the subject. I really don't think cost is the issue. Most models are designed and manufactured in China based on information provided to them by the American companies that subcontracted them to make the models. So yes, many speaker system designs are very poorly done, but sometimes a model or two do have a decent speaker enclosure. For example the Scale Trains Gas Turbines have pretty good sound and proper enclosures. Maybe some engineer does have some basic ideas about designing a speaker system while others just "wing it".
