British Hifi

It crossed my mind that British Hifi equipment is very much like Bristish Sports cars. We build highly engineerd, but tempremental, products in a cottage industry stylee, which create a loyal fanbase. the Americans build muscle cars and muscle hifi. The Japanese build mass produced hifi and mass produced cars - some of which are very good but they aren't going to create the same kind of emotional attachment.
i think it must be something to do with the British psyche - we don't care if something takes an age to set up and is likely to go bang if the wrong oil/speaker cable is used. We do care that the car/hifi has soul!
Just a thought - a badly articulated thought - but a thought none the less

Kind of see where you're coming from, although I've had many many British components and not one has ever failed, in fact I've never even had a day's trouble. American hi-fi is also incorrectly viewed, it's no longer about muscle and thunder, it's actually some of the finest hi-fi made these days.

Maybe the British psyche is that we just EXPECT British hi-fi to be as you've described.

I'm told that Rolls Royce were often in awe of american cars and the engineering involved.

But British coachbuilders are the essence of pre-war Brit motoring style.

Although I didn't own much of it, I'm told Radford was good Brit hifi.

My earliest real hifi was Quad ll's in stereo config with the control box and dedicated cabling, driving big, flat, square Wharfdale thingy's. (pre-esl57's).

I sold the lot in the late '80's for £85. and bought new Quad stuff.

Na British Hi-Fi equipment was mega reliable, isn't this why people wanted british gear? You'll find the original, Quad, Radford, Armstrong, Leaks still running as strong 40 years down the line. I don't think of British equipment these days in the same light of by gone days...There's just something about the old british gear, the sound, the asthetics what ever british was the best choice you could ever make...Just as an example i bought an A&R Cambridge 'A60' in 1983/4 i think it was, i still have the same unit now & believe me it's has some serious use in it's time, still works as good now as the day i bought it, how many amps today would you place a bet on will still be functioning in 25 years time let alone 40 years of the older gear still in use...i wouldn't

When I started buying hifi, the word on the street was, British speakers, American amplifiers and European sources, My first serious system was KEF, McIntosh and B&O CD (their first)...

Next system, Sonus Faber, Bryston, TAG processor, Arcam DVD, then new SF, BelCanto amplifier, Krell processor, Theta DVD, only the American amplifier rule survived...

Now, speakers are German, Schallwand, Chinese amplifier, LINN DVD/processor...

I guess it means there are no rules any more, there is good and bad kit from every where, I still tend to prefer European speakers, every thing else I dont really care, if it sounds good and the price is right...

I wouldn't say Accuphase was mass-production hi-fi.

...or Esoteric.

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Originally Posted by Filterlab

...or Esoteric.

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I think that's the first time 'Esoteric' has been mentioned. Is an A&R A60 or a set of Quad II's more esoteric than an Accuphase amp then?

No, I mean the manufacturer - i.e. Teac Esoteric.

Ok popint taken. I was a bit pissed when i wrote the initial post! I think the point i was trying to make was that British hifi, like british sports cars, concentrates on the end product be that getting an exhilerating performance from a small engine or superb sound. What it isn't about is bells and whistles! There are obviously going to be exceptions and i'm well aware this is a massive sweeping statement!
For the record everything i own is British and my first real system was predominently British - Musical Fidelity The Preamp, Crimson Electric amp, Wharfedale Diamonds oh and a Technics SLDL1 linear tracking turntable.

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No, I mean the manufacturer - i.e. Teac Esoteric.

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Oh, I understand now. :)

I think every country had it's range of products from mass market to high-end low-volume brands. Britain I see as a country of great innovation and diversity. But I feel the past success of British Hi-Fi owes as much to post war austerity and the relative difficulty and high cost of bringing foreign products to the UK as it does the quality of British Hi-Fi itself. Exactly how do you profitably market foreign made products against products stamped with "Made in Britain" when that was considered a byword for the 'best in the world'? In effect Britain was a closed market for such a long time.

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Originally Posted by stupinder

Ok popint taken. I was a bit pissed when i wrote the initial post!

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:lol: And that one by the looks of it. ;)

I can think of examples of cottage industry and large scale hi-tech manufacturing in all the countries mentioned. I also don't go with the stereotypes of sound that each country goes for, except in as much as the local products frequently cater for the types of homes that are typical for that country.

So small SET amps and horn loaded speakers are a cult in Japan because their homes are so small (trust me, some are hardly larger than shoe boxes). The diametric opposite are American homes with large rooms but mostly timber construction, which need larger speakers to energise the space, thus giving them the reputation for muscle amps. British homes fall somewhere in between and have mostly brick construction, requiring a different kind of speaker and lower power overall.

The stereotype but wayward enthusiasts (e.g. American huge bass, German boom 'n tizz) are in a small minority in comparison with the large majority who all appreciate good, neutral, sound quality.

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Originally Posted by stupinder

We build highly engineerd, but tempremental, products in a cottage industry stylee, which create a loyal fanbase.

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It can apply to most French hifi manufacturers...

I would have imagined that by definition, most cottage industry products only ever really sell in their home market, so we barely ever see those from other countries.

patriotism plays a big part i would think as well as dedicated followers in the know

Backing up some to the first post, I have always looked at British styleing as pure & simple My favorite cars are in fact all Brittish with nothing else in the top 10 at all.
My last Bike was a 1979 Triumph Bonni. After the Jaguar E type I'd be happy with any of the TR3 to TR6 Triumph cars.I often wonder why Lucus built such horable switches and made all the wireing harness an inch to short? Then it was explained they had to meet very low price points.Sad even in later modle high end cars like Jaguar they where plaged with electrical problems.My uncle told me when you own a Jaguar,you learn part of the personality of the car is one day the driver side window won't roll up the next day it will for no reason,but your tail lights won't come on.
I used to have the wireing harness come unplugged makeing turns in my bike till I removed the head light bucket and extended every single wire by two inches.
Brittish rubber tends to rot faster because it's mostly real rubber with little else mixed in.

The Brittish seem to go with old standards,the time tested approch more than the U.S. we are always trying something differant mostly to make it cheaper these days.

Noone has ever made a coach on any auto that compaires to the classic Brittish styles of Rolls Royce,Bently,Jaguar,Rover,ect...

Off topic from hifi & cars there is one more thing the Brits make I think is truly brilliant and I am a huge fan and I have over bought a whole lot of it.

Avent/Phillips for babys is the most advanced thinking for a compleate system that interchanges to grow with child.It is horrably expencive in the US compaired with other simaler products but well worth every doller I've spent.
I'll bet I have spent at least $1,000.00 US dollers on 20 bottles,3 sippy cups,the steralizer,2 formula dispencers,2 bottle brushes,more than a dozen pacifires,4 packs of sippy handles,the breast pump,and extra valves & parts,20 extra nipples for each size 1,2,3,4 meaning over 80 totle not mentioning yet the sippy soft spouts 20 of those extra,also 12 bottle caps,10 extra bottle rings,10 extra lids and last 10 extra caps so we could pre make ring,nipple ,cap set ups,2 teething rings,my wife also liked the breast pads we where getting a new box every 2 weeks.

I like that all there bottles 4oz, 9oz, 11oz can all be made into sippy cups by just adding a set of handles and swapping the nipple for a soft tip.

My son was able drink from his own bottle at 5 months because the little 4 oz. bottle with handles was just perfact for him.No one elses product is so well thought out.

They also clean up easy as hell unlike some US bottles and they really vent off air so babys don't get gas.

But some whinny Americans are always complaining they leak,Because there to stupid to put the lid on streight,insert the nipple while wet and not over tighten like King F ing Kong.

We like idiot proof products here in the US. for the most part because commen sense is out of fashon here.