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Leak?

BMW re-imagined the Mini and called it MINI.
To my eyes ( and the eyes of many others ) it is an appalling thing.

Yep, I'm sure that's true, I quite like the original mini. I'm sure the new Mini has its fans too.
Where people like myself will choose to own and maintain a classic bike or classic car there's evidently a lot of people who like to buy new products with a retro or classic styling, should that be cars, fridges, food mixers, etc. Obviously this preference is filtering through to Hifi and other audio products and has been for some time, kitchen table top radios, etc.
Harley Davidson was saved by its Heritage and Fatboy Evo bikes in the early 90's, bikes that were styled to mimic the classic Harley's of the 50's and 60's and earlier in the case of the springer models and have continued to do so, same with Triumph and the launch of the Bonneville range, the styling echoing Triumphs best bikes from the late sixties.
So while opinion may be divided on aesthetics, country of origin or manufacture, along with everything else, it may be a popular and successful product.
 
We can be picky about the graphics, some don't like retro at all, but these are a range of products that are very very good sounding, well made, well designed and most at a far cheaper price than their home made competitors.

Do we know these products are very very good sounding? Not in my experience. With the exception of Luxman which is still made in Japan, the other brands are not well made. We don't even know they are well designed! Who would know? Certainly not the Hi-Fi press. OK, if Tim or Andy designed them fair enough, but if not...

I don't care who made them.

So you don't care about the health & safety of the workers in Chinese factories.
So you don't care about the international property rights and plagiarism of products flagrantly copied by the Chinese.
So you don't care about the use of fake parts used in a lot of Chinese made goods.
So you don't care about the illegal monitoring of software/equipment in their phones and technology to track user inputs and personal information.
So you don't care about the industrial pollution that has made cancer China's leading cause of death.
So you don't care about the ambient air pollution that killed hundreds of thousands of citizens.
So you don't care about the 500 million people in China that are without safe and clean drinking water.
So you don't care that only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic grey shroud".
So you don't care about lead poisoning or other types of local pollution that continue to kill many children in China.
So you don't care about a large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water.
So you don't care about the pollution that has spread internationally from China: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo.
I could go on...


China is still a communist regime, which many seem to forget. You just have to look at what has happened over the last 6 months with Covid-19, where it was originally covered up and look at what is happening in Hong Kong at present! I for one will never buy Chinese again and would encourage everyone to break this reliance on Chinese made goods. I will do my utmost to support UK and EU brands and products, as I always have.
 
The Sandwich speakers were awful and the Troughline not much better...

The Stereofetic tuner (Delta FM the same) was pretty good and still be picked up cheap and the 2000 series tuners were good.

Agree with you on the Troughline (over-hyped, IMHO) and the Stereofetic (far better than it's ever been given credit for)

Disagree with you on the Sandwiches!
 
It is extremely hard to not buy Chinese.

Your smartphone? - almost certainly built in China
Your laptop - probably
Your PC - full of Chinese parts
Your car - modern car has many computer systems - probably Chinese, or Chinese circuit boards at least

Probably half the stuff on Amazon
All the stuff (well almost) in High Street stores - walk into The Range for instance, or B & Q
 
Do we know these products are very very good sounding? Not in my experience. With the exception of Luxman which is still made in Japan, the other brands are not well made. We don't even know they are well designed! Who would know? Certainly not the Hi-Fi press. OK, if Tim or Andy designed them fair enough, but if not...



So you don't care about the health & safety of the workers in Chinese factories.
So you don't care about the international property rights and plagiarism of products flagrantly copied by the Chinese.
So you don't care about the use of fake parts used in a lot of Chinese made goods.
So you don't care about the illegal monitoring of software/equipment in their phones and technology to track user inputs and personal information.
So you don't care about the industrial pollution that has made cancer China's leading cause of death.
So you don't care about the ambient air pollution that killed hundreds of thousands of citizens.
So you don't care about the 500 million people in China that are without safe and clean drinking water.
So you don't care that only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic grey shroud".
So you don't care about lead poisoning or other types of local pollution that continue to kill many children in China.
So you don't care about a large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water.
So you don't care about the pollution that has spread internationally from China: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo.
I could go on...


China is still a communist regime, which many seem to forget. You just have to look at what has happened over the last 6 months with Covid-19, where it was originally covered up and look at what is happening in Hong Kong at present! I for one will never buy Chinese again and would encourage everyone to break this reliance on Chinese made goods. I will do my utmost to support UK and EU brands and products, as I always have.

Yes it's fantastic isn't it. Long may it remain.
 
As I understand it Audiolab, Quad & Wharfedale (all IAG owned brands) still carry out all there design & engineering work here in the UK & just farm out the manufacturing to there Chinese factories. Seeing as this new Leak amp/CDP appear to be closely related to the Quad Vena & Audiolab 6000CD it would therefore be highly probable that the design & engineering for these was also carried out in the UK (including the typeface).
 
It is extremely hard to not buy Chinese.

Your smartphone? - almost certainly built in China
Your laptop - probably
Your PC - full of Chinese parts
Your car - modern car has many computer systems - probably Chinese, or Chinese circuit boards at least

Probably half the stuff on Amazon
All the stuff (well almost) in High Street stores - walk into The Range for instance, or B & Q

And don't forget most of the electronic components that make up proudly "British" hi-fi will have come from China.
 
I think we should be more humble. We (Europe) have 1/3 of the surface of China and 1/3 of the population roughly. We have always been more creative than adaptive, so that is the direction we should take rather than moaning about China.
 
We have always been more creative than adaptive...

No, historically we've had the creativity to sail a couple of gunboats up the local river and royally f*** the natives and their country.

Curiously, that doesn't seem to have worked so well in the last 100 years or so.
 
Do we know these products are very very good sounding? Not in my experience. With the exception of Luxman which is still made in Japan, the other brands are not well made. We don't even know they are well designed! Who would know? Certainly not the Hi-Fi press. OK, if Tim or Andy designed them fair enough, but if not...



So you don't care about the health & safety of the workers in Chinese factories.
So you don't care about the international property rights and plagiarism of products flagrantly copied by the Chinese.
So you don't care about the use of fake parts used in a lot of Chinese made goods.
So you don't care about the illegal monitoring of software/equipment in their phones and technology to track user inputs and personal information.
So you don't care about the industrial pollution that has made cancer China's leading cause of death.
So you don't care about the ambient air pollution that killed hundreds of thousands of citizens.
So you don't care about the 500 million people in China that are without safe and clean drinking water.
So you don't care that only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic grey shroud".
So you don't care about lead poisoning or other types of local pollution that continue to kill many children in China.
So you don't care about a large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water.
So you don't care about the pollution that has spread internationally from China: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo.
I could go on...


China is still a communist regime, which many seem to forget. You just have to look at what has happened over the last 6 months with Covid-19, where it was originally covered up and look at what is happening in Hong Kong at present! I for one will never buy Chinese again and would encourage everyone to break this reliance on Chinese made goods. I will do my utmost to support UK and EU brands and products, as I always have.
These kind of blanket condemnations of China annoy me, don't get me wrong I won't for one moment defend Chinas human rights record which is indeed appalling but I don't see how boycotting Chinese built consumer goods could in any way improve the lot of the average Chinese citizen. What Graham & people who share his POV seem to forget is that we in the West attained our wealth & ability to afford these consumer goods by doing exactly what China is doing to the environment & workers rights over 200 years ago. People calling for boycotts on Chinese goods on the basis of enviiromental concerns & human rights should also reflect on the fact that they are probably driving cars that are spewing pollution from oil dug out of the ground in Saudi Arabia.
 
These kind of blanket condemnations of China annoy me, don't get me wrong I won't for one moment defend Chinas human rights record which is indeed appalling but I don't see how boycotting Chinese built consumer goods could in any way improve the lot of the average Chinese citizen. What Graham & people who share his POV seem to forget is that we in the West attained our wealth & ability to afford these consumer goods by doing exactly what China is doing to the environment & workers rights over 200 years ago. People calling for boycotts on Chinese goods on the basis of enviiromental concerns & human rights should also reflect on the fact that they are probably driving cars that are spewing pollution from oil dug out of the ground in Saudi Arabia.

We are well aware of the points you raise, they are pretty obvious. It will improve the lot of the average Chinese citizens in the long run by weakening the regime which may eventually lead to their overthrow by the populace. No change is going to be easy, but it has to start somewhere and weakening their economic outlook is a good first step, as their economic growth is what has given them strength up to now.

The past is the past, but now is now, we have better knowledge today and things have changed. The pollution that Western nations have engaged in is irrelevant to the situation and doesn’t justify China’s actions today - if every country did what they’re doing on the justification that the West did it in the past where would the environment be then? We should stick to our ‘principals’ and not deal with them.
 
I think we should be more humble. We (Europe) have 1/3 of the surface of China and 1/3 of the population roughly. We have always been more creative than adaptive, so that is the direction we should take rather than moaning about China.

I think it’s a mistake to say we are more creative than the Chinese, in the past they have focussed on production but to all intents and purposes have now caught up technologically. If it ever comes to a face off with the Chinese we better get rid of our love affair with the service economy and finance because they will pull ahead the way things are going.
 
We are well aware of the points you raise, they are pretty obvious. It will improve the lot of the average Chinese citizens in the long run by weakening the regime which may eventually lead to their overthrow by the populace. No change is going to be easy, but it has to start somewhere and weakening their economic outlook is a good first step, as their economic growth is what has given them strength up to now.

The past is the past, but now is now, we have better knowledge today and things have changed. The pollution that Western nations have engaged in is irrelevant to the situation and doesn’t justify China’s actions today - if every country did what they’re doing on the justification that the West did it in the past where would the environment be then? We should stick to our ‘principals’ and not deal with them.
We do indeed have better knowledge today yet even with this knowledge people still vote for politicians like Trump & Boris who have no concern for the environment, workers rights or democracy itself for that matter. I think your contention that weakening the Chinese economy will somehow lead to the populace rising up & overthrowing the regime is wishful thinking at best.
 
Do we know these products are very very good sounding? Not in my experience. With the exception of Luxman which is still made in Japan, the other brands are not well made. We don't even know they are well designed! Who would know? Certainly not the Hi-Fi press. OK, if Tim or Andy designed them fair enough, but if not...



So you don't care about the health & safety of the workers in Chinese factories.
So you don't care about the international property rights and plagiarism of products flagrantly copied by the Chinese.
So you don't care about the use of fake parts used in a lot of Chinese made goods.
So you don't care about the illegal monitoring of software/equipment in their phones and technology to track user inputs and personal information.
So you don't care about the industrial pollution that has made cancer China's leading cause of death.
So you don't care about the ambient air pollution that killed hundreds of thousands of citizens.
So you don't care about the 500 million people in China that are without safe and clean drinking water.
So you don't care that only 1% of the country's 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union, because all of its major cities are constantly covered in a "toxic grey shroud".
So you don't care about lead poisoning or other types of local pollution that continue to kill many children in China.
So you don't care about a large section of the ocean is without marine life because of massive algal blooms caused by the high nutrients in the water.
So you don't care about the pollution that has spread internationally from China: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo.
I could go on...


China is still a communist regime, which many seem to forget. You just have to look at what has happened over the last 6 months with Covid-19, where it was originally covered up and look at what is happening in Hong Kong at present! I for one will never buy Chinese again and would encourage everyone to break this reliance on Chinese made goods. I will do my utmost to support UK and EU brands and products, as I always have.

Interesting and over emotional smear campaign you run.
In a simple and short answer, I would ask.
Is 'The west' free from everything you accuse the Chinese of doing wrong?
I really can't be arsed going through your list. Your point misses my point. If you honestly think that our governments are free from blame, our nations free from polluting and our industries all peopled by honest artisans, then your blinkers are bigger than they should be IMO.
But that wasn't my point. Which was that these are good products, well aimed and affordable.
Do we know how the wage paid to the makers of the amps in question sizes up to the required living standards in their area? No.
Do we know how the factory concerned is polluting the environment? No
My own guess is that they, just like we, as a developing industrial nation, got many things 'wrong' on the ideal world scale, but it's getting better.
We were appalling. Look at Mill workers conditions, look at a million things we abused, but that's ok isn't it because we are British?
We royally F*****d the world but now we can be standard bearers for the way one should live and be civilised????
Right.
I like Communism BTW. It doesn't work well, and can be abused but at least it has an eye out for it's workers and people. I guess you read the mail and voted Tory however so??
 


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