The press, always the press... (consumption robots?)

[hifi_dave]

IMO as the profit goes to a Chinese company it must be Chinese. Same as KEF, Cambridge Audio, Audiolab and many others now.

[EricW]

IMO as the profit goes to a Chinese company it must be Chinese. Same as KEF, Cambridge Audio, Audiolab and many others now.

Agreed.

You could always buy Canadian gear, which is generally owned by Canadians unless you're talking about Classe, which I believe was bought out by B&W a few years back and hence is British by Dave's yardstick - unless B&W is also owned by the Chinese, of course!

Bryston and Simaudio/Moon are good bets, as is Blue Circle if you want to get more esoteric.

[Vlado]

IMO as the profit goes to a Chinese company it must be Chinese. Same as KEF, Cambridge Audio, Audiolab and many others now.

Exposure - Malaysia, Spendor - India, Luxman - China? (the sales department is located in Hong - Kong, very unusual and suspect for a Japanese company....) Creek & Epos producing in China, B&W producing in China except series 800, Musical Fidelity producing in China

If you have accurate information, please ad to listing

[hifi_dave]

Cambridge Audio, Audiolab, KEF, Celestion, Quad, Wharfedale, Acoustic Energy are now all manufactured in China, I believe.

[denjo]

Increasingly, more and more audio equipment will be made in countries where labour costs are not crippingly high! This makes me appreciate Harbeth more and more! The speaker labels should read, "Still entirely created, manufactured and assembled in England, with pride!"

[Vlado]

Luxman - China? (the sales department is located in Hong - Kong, very unusual and suspect for a Japanese company....)

OK, The Luxman is still Japanese - confirmed by local distributor

[GregD]

OK, The Luxman is still Japanese - confirmed by local distributor

There are several errors in this thread about ownership/manufacture of audio equipment.

All QUAD gear - electronics and speakers - are made in the huge IAG factory in China, the II Classic is not assembled in UK and never has been. In fact QUAD flew out the whole UK production staff to China at the time to help show the IAG staff about how to make the II Classic monoblocks. Also the QC24P and QC24 were designed by Tim deP, as was the II Classic Integrated amplifer, but the II Classic monoblocks are Peter Walker's original design with changes to socketry and very minor changes due to modern safety regulations and old-shaped components being unavailable.

Also Luxman (although maybe not at the time of the original post) is now owned by IAG too! This accounts for the re-invigorated product range. Their SACD players are very impressive build-quality wise. Their products are still "Made in Japan" though. IAG seem to see Luxman as their 'premium brand'.

I think it is rewarding to own equipment that is made by crafts-people with care and a genuine interest in the stuff they make. It gives a nice warm feeling that we are all working together towards a common goal, which I find comforting.

The earlier comments about the Japanese looking inside the case/cabinet first and assessing the designer's personality through looking for details...I have always done that kind of thing!

I often find myself inspecting the workmanship on all sorts of things and considering whether the people who produced these things realise that some people (like me) really do look closely at details and make judgements based on these details - financial or otherwise.

If I struggle to find fault in the finish of a hi-fi component I respect the manufacturer and designer and it makes me feel that "I am in safe hands".

From reading the HUG for some time (although not yet being an owner) it seems I do not need to worry at all about Harbeth, Alan or his staff's diligence on this issue. We are most definately all in safe hands!