View Full Version : Yet another Classic British Amp goes to China
Wierdhowler
15-03-2014, 15:30
Just sold my Leak Varioslope III mono valve, unfortunately the buyer is from China.
How much other stuff has gone to the far East I wonder? What is your experience?
The Barbarian
15-03-2014, 15:49
My 'LS3/5a' went to Singapore, put it this way i was clapping my hands for how much the buyer paid
:eyebrows:
dantheman91
15-03-2014, 16:25
Seems the far east loves classic British gear such as Tannoy , Leak , Quad , Rogers. I suppose it there tiny room that the rogers have a cult for and will go for high prices also check some videos on you tube and see the amount of British gear 1 guy has :eek:.
Mr Kipling
15-03-2014, 16:38
The Japanese were snapping-up British hi fi back in the '70s and '80s when quite often it was ending up in skips and going to landfill.
The odd thing is that both the US and the UK have a really strong market for vintage Japanese kit (lets face it, much of it is superbly built) and the Japanese have a very strong market for British hifi, particularly Tannoy and EAR. The Prestige range exists primarily to satisfy demand in Japan and Singapore where it's estimated that 80% of sales go, and not for the UK which makes up a small minority of sales for Tannoy. China is fast following suit with their "industrial revolution" fuelling economic growth making a lot of wealthy people. Those people don't just look towards the West for what's "cool in hifi, they look to markets such as Japan and Singapore which have a strong tradition of high quality hifi since the 1960s.
Just sold my Leak Varioslope III mono valve, unfortunately the buyer is from China.
How much other stuff has gone to the far East I wonder? What is your experience?
Why unfortunately? The only difference is potential language barrier and postage cost.
Imagine selling something to a Brit, years later they die and it goes to landfill because their relatives aren't into hifi (as might well happen to 70% of people's kit on this forum in the future..).
No difference to where it's sold to unless you were hoping to buy them back any time soon. The world is a small place..
The odd thing is that both the US and the UK have a really strong market for vintage Japanese kit (lets face it, much of it is superbly built) and the Japanese have a very strong market for British hifi, particularly Tannoy and EAR. The Prestige range exists primarily to satisfy demand in Japan and Singapore where it's estimated that 80% of sales go, and not for the UK which makes up a small minority of sales for Tannoy. China is fast following suit with their "industrial revolution" fuelling economic growth making a lot of wealthy people. Those people don't just look towards the West for what's "cool in hifi, they look to markets such as Japan and Singapore which have a strong tradition of high quality hifi since the 1960s.
Many UK maufacturers all but abandoned the UK market for Germany and the far East as long ago as the 80s..
Mr Kipling
31-03-2014, 19:35
Years ago I was listening to "The Money Programme" on Radio 4. There was an interview with a woman who was in buisness manufacturing something. She said that all of product went to Germany. The interviewer asked why was that so? Her reply was the Germans appreciated quality and were willing to pay the extra for it. On the other hand, she said all that mattered to us Brits was Price. Price .Price.
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