British made Hi Fi equipment manufacturers
- Thread starter voxx
- Start date
Alex S
carbon based lifeform
Regardless of ethics, can be a real problem when it breaks.
canonman
pfm Member
Exposure assemble kits imported from Asia. Some UK content though.
Tony L
Administrator
Audio is a very mature technology. There is so much great kit knocking around and so little real forward movement in design I see no need to buy anything made by people I view as arseholes, from brands using cheap or child labour, or anything that is not repairable and long-term sustainable. There is just so much stunningly good kit that is made by decent folk with pride to last for a very long time, why compromise?
Jodet
pfm Member
Harbeth? Well...that depends on if we're talking about cabinets or not.
paulbysea
pfm Member
I agree about not using child labour, what in my post suggested that I support it? There are many reputable companies based all around the world that manufacture and sell excellent kit, some of which I own, that being said most of my hi-fi is made by UK companies, not because they are UK but because I think they make the best sounding equipment at my price point.
paulbysea
pfm Member
You are assuming that is not a concern for me. I was thinking about EU, US, Japanese etc manufacturers. I have owned hi-fi made by reputable brands from all over the world. My point was that it is not only British companies that make excellent hi-fi.
Tony L
Administrator
I wasn’t suggesting you did support child labour! I do try to go further than that and avoid say China wherever I can as it is a communist dictatorship with an absolutely appalling human rights record. That said I’m typing this on an iPad so I am far from successful in that aim! I can certainly avoid it with hi-fi as so much great stuff is/was made in the UK, EU, America, Japan etc, in fact pretty much all of the really good stuff. Same with guitars, amps, synths etc too. The areas I inevitably fail at are computers, TVs, phones and other ‘disposable’ tech.
paulbysea
pfm Member
Thanks for your clarification. I also agree it is difficult to be totally ethical in your buying choices because you don't always know exactly where items or components are manufactured. The Chinese gov is definitely not a good one, but many if not most Chinese people are hard-working honest people and a fair proportion work for companies that pay them fairly etc. Of course, there are many examples unfortunately of other companies who don't treat employees well. Apple did have an appalling record in this respect, I believe now they have taken steps to address this due to consumer demand. However, who knows where the screw that holds something together comes from?
Shane2468
pfm Member
I know of a US speaker driver manufacturer who gas the entire un magnetised driver assembled in the far East. Imports these to the USA, then magnetised the motors. Voila a USA made loudspeaker driver because prior to magnetization it was not a loudspeaker.
No idea if anyone in the UK operates like this, but it's an obvious loophole to label something for desirability. I've no doubt similar happens in the uk in many sector's of manufacturing.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
No boards to slap in a Croft.
No idea where he buys all the wires and funny lightbulb things.
