Simon Mayo and British speakers

[hifi_dave]

Just heard the Editor of What Hi-Fi on BBC 2's Simon Mayo show. The subject was great British speakers and I was intrigued with his insight into the subject.

His example of British speakers included the likes of Acoustic Energy, Monitor Audio and KEF.....:scratch:

Now, forgive me but aren't these companies' products made in China ?

He also said that a good speaker should have an 'incredibly dead cabinet' and a 'good crossover to give realistic voices' or something similar.

Any comments ???

[Beechwoods]

:doh:

Says it all doesn't it? Maybe Rogers, Harbeth, Spendor, Tannoy to name a few just aren't hip enough to appeal to Mayo's 'go-getting' Radio 2 audience?

[The Vinyl Adventure]

There's nothing wrong with monitor audio speakers.... .... .... As long as you buy them at the end of their production run when the price is a better representation of thier sound quality.... Ie about half the original rrp

[Jonboy]

Mayo's 'go-getting' Radio 2 audience?


Can't stand the twat so i never listen to his shows, but says it all about the BBC and there advisors just bugs me its our money they blow on shit

[Barry]

Just heard the Editor of What Hi-Fi on BBC 2's Simon Mayo show. The subject was great British speakers and I was intrigued with his insight into the subject.

His example of British speakers included the likes of Acoustic Energy, Monitor Audio and KEF.....:scratch:

Now, forgive me but aren't these companies' products made in China ?

He also said that a good speaker should have an 'incredibly dead cabinet' and a 'good crossover to give realistic voices' or something similar.

Any comments ???

Are KEF now made in China? Were they part of the raft of manufacturers (Quad, Leak and Wharfdale) that Farad Azima sold to IAG? Were Goodmans included as well?

I get very depressed thinking about the 'family silver' that is now in foreign ownership. :doh:

Regards

[hifi_dave]

KEF have been Chinese for several years.....:doh:

Chinese, Indian, Taiwan or Korean ownership is not really a problem if the quality is kept high and the prices reflect the manufacturing costs of those countries. What I find most annoying and upsetting is that most of these companies pretend that they are still British, when they most certainly are not.

Now, I would expect that the Editor of Britain's biggest selling Hi-Fi magazine would know that the companies he mentioned as being British, have their products manufactured in the Far East and/or are foreign owned.

How many foreign owned companies can we name that pretend to be British ?

[Macca]

KEF have been Chinese for several years.....:doh:

Chinese, Indian, Taiwan or Korean ownership is not really a problem if the quality is kept high and the prices reflect the manufacturing costs of those countries. What I find most annoying and upsetting is that most of these companies pretend that they are still British, when they most certainly are not.

Now, I would expect that the Editor of Britain's biggest selling Hi-Fi magazine would know that the companies he mentioned as being British, have their products manufactured in the Far East and/or are foreign owned.

How many foreign owned companies can we name that pretend to be British ?

Based on that logic can I ask if a British owned company manufactures in China do we classify that as a 'British company' or a 'Chinese company'?

It ain't the 1950s no more lads. Globalization is the name of the game. I work for a company that is registered in Engalnd as a Limited Company but is owned outright by a US corporation - Stock of that US corporation is traded on the NYSE so anyone, anywhere in the world can buy shares which is buying part ownership in that company. Nationality is not relevant. What will matter is - Are they any good? and Are they value for money? That's what matters. Why worry as to who owns what and where they were made?

[hifi_dave]

Because these companies trade on the original company's reputation and pass themselves off as something they no longer are.

I have no problem with any foreign company selling their products here but I don't see why, if their products are good, they should pretend they are still the original British company. Plenty of foreign products sell here under their own brand and are popular, so why the British deception for some ?

[Marco]

Hear, hear, Dave! It's bollocks and does my tits in too..... :rolleyes:

Marco.

[trailer]

Apple : "Designed in America. Assembled in China"

[Barry]

Apple : "Designed in America. Assembled in China"

Yeah, so is my Dell PC. My Panasonic camera is designed in Japan and made in China.

Wherever possible, I try to buy products that are NOT made in China - it's very difficult, often you find out it is made in China after you have bought it and found the declaration hidden away in small print! :doh:

Regards

[The Grand Wazoo]

Trouble is, guys, the minute the directors or owners of a company make the decision to float the stock on the market, they have effectively given away the family jewels to the highest bidder.
We all agree it's a shame to see brands ownership leaving the UK, but who is guilty of causing it? The original owners who try to squeeze that last extra penny out of the value of their company, or the investors who take advantage of something being for sale?
Agreed that misrepresentation by trading on a brand name's past glories is bad bad bad, but that happens here, not just China - always has.

[Beobloke]

Were Goodmans included as well?



Goodmans Industries (i.e. the Goodmans name that you see on cheap plastic electronic tat in the Argos catalogue) are owned by Harvard International Plc, previously Alba who, ironically, are a UK registered company. No prizes for guessing where their stuff is all made, though....

Goodmans Loudspeakers (a separate company since the late 1980s) closed in 2005 but were owned by TC Group of Denmark after they bought out TGI (Tannoy Goodmans Industries) in 2002-ish. I assume they still hold the rights to the name. The car loudspeakers they made were manufactured in England, Hungary and Mexico prior to their closure. I worked there from 2000-2003; best job I've ever had. :(

[Peter Galbavy]

I've always maintained "advertising buys editorial". Or in this case "advertising buys editors".

[DSJR]

Mr Mayo will be almost too young, but there was a whole loudspeaker *way of thinking* which was SOLELY developed by the BBC at their long gone research dept at Kingswood Warren (I think it was).

The thing is, the BBC legacy lives on in Spendor and even more in Harbeth,, the latter almost slavishly devoted to the "thin-wall-but-damped" passive speaker ideal.

Bloody WTF, I thought they'd packed it in by now as the cover looks all but identical to What AV.

The interesting thing is that the current Tannoy Prestige models (the smaller ones I've heard anyway) are just like hyper-efficient and slightly "raw" versions of current Harbeths. MA, KEF, B&W etc are the tinsel, screech & boom opposite..

[Macca]

You are assuming that anything made in China is inherently inferior. Whilst that may be regarded as an accurate generalization it is still a generalization.

Hi-Fi Manufacturing nation whipping boys - by decade:

In the 60's 'Made in Japan'
In the 70s 'Made in Hong Kong'
In the 80s 'Made in Taiwan'

Now it's 'Made in China'

[hifi_dave]

If the products are good, surely there is no reason to hide behind a respected brand name !!!

[Macca]

If the products are good, surely there is no reason to hide behind a respected brand name !!!

If the products are good, then it's a leg up. If they aren't, then time will tell.

Also bear in mind that any British name carries cachet in the Far East. The Chinese have domestic markets that may already be larger then the UK is alone - if not now then they will do in the future.

British built Hi-Fi has to be the best at the price if it is going to compete. Get that right and sales will follow.

[REM]

I'm deeply suspicious of any hi-fi made in China, how is any one to be really sure that one batch will be the same as the next, it's an impossibility IMO.

And looking at the prices they are able to churn out computers, plasmas and the like (I know it's all about economies of scale etc, etc) I fail to see how any one can ask for more than say £500 for any bit of Chinese hi-fi.

:rolleyes:

[hifi_dave]

I have heard (on the grapevine) that one ex British company has, for some time, been cheapening the components in it's products. Where once there were high quality bits, these are now being replaced by far cheaper copies, yet the prices remain the same....:scratch:

[Techno Commander]

I fail to see how any one can ask for more than say £500 for any bit of Chinese hi-fi.

:rolleyes:


180lb Mono blocks aint cheap, even Chinese ones.

http://www.xlh-av.com/images/amp-b-4.JPG

[REM]

Bet it costs more to ship 'em than make 'em:lol:

As for the ex Brit gear being filled with cheapo caps and things I'm reminded of the liner notes to an old Niel Innes tune,

....to be forewarned is to be forearmed,
to be four legged is to be a QUADruped.....


:cool:

[DSJR]

one after 909......

[hifi_dave]

:lolsign:

[Rare Bird]

You lot will buy modern gear :lolsign:

[DSJR]

Dada Electronics are thinking of marketing a cap upgrade kit for the latest 909's. There's been a lot spoken on the Yahoo Quad forum about it ;)