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What is still truely British today?

I am a wannabe Brit - born in raised in Canada but with a deep seeded love for UK built kit.

My various systems currently include:

Naim
Linn
Audio Note
Quad (ESL 63s)
Rega
Harbeth
Tannoy (Monitor Golds so still applies)

and have in the past owned:

LFD
Sugden (regret selling and on the hunt for once again)
Neat
Castle
Naim (lots of different kit)
Nottingham Analogue
Systemdek
Graham Slee
Arcam (UK built only)
Spendor

Only pieces that I own or have owned in the past 8 years that have NOT been UK designed and built include:

Dynavector
McIntosh
Snell (predecessor to Audio Note J speakers)
Pro-ject
Klipsch

In my opinion, British gear just gets to the heart and joy of music. It is not boring or sterile in any sense.
 
But what about some of the names bandied about here, as being 'totally British' and yet making certain of their products ....in Asia? I can easily think of two. Tannoy and Quad.
 
My self-built valve amplifiers :)

Brilliant service too :p

Andrew

My self built transistor amplifiers, most of the parts by cost are U.K including Enclosures, Transformers, PCB, PSU caps, Power FETS and design.


Not sure about service, they have not gone wrong yet:)
 
No one's mentioned Musical Fidelity? It used to be all-British, but it would not surprise me if bits are now manufactured off-shore.
 
HP sauce is made in The Netherlands.

Henderson's Relish is made round the corner from me.

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I don't care a stuff where a hi fi product is made. What I care about, is the standard of it, the final build quality presented , what it can actually do, known reliability, and the price asked. Does one expect a little man to jump out and wave your country's flag in front of a purchased article for good measure to aid your listening experience? I would like to know how much 'nationalist patriotic thinking' could go into something made elsewhere, that may be in fact been robot -assembled? The acid test is to take a microscope to the mirror finished panels on some two pieces of similar 'high end' HI Fi equipment from two different countries - east & west.. I know of one person who did such a test. Finding human screw driver 'unattractive burr marks' on the 'patriotically wound screws' of one, and none on the robot flawless- assembled unit. One supposes the lack of human fatigue and error, or a worker being pissed off and just grouchy on the day, does help, sometimes.
 
I will not abide by any part of my hi-fi being produced or assembled by anyone other than a tweed-jacket clad gentleman donning a bowler hat, who sips tea at 3 p.m. and mutters quite, rather, indeed and pip-pip-cheerio while hand-winding chokes and trannies.

Joe
 
It's interesting, you look at a modern Monitor Audio or Epos, and yes, they're nicely finished, nicely packaged, and the design might be done in the UK, but they just don't have the look or feel of the older UK-built products.

Maybe it's the shiny lacquer?
 
I will not abide by any part of my hi-fi being produced or assembled by anyone other than a tweed-jacket clad gentleman donning a bowler hat, who sips tea at 3 p.m. and mutters quite, rather, indeed and pip-pip-cheerio while hand-winding chokes and trannies.

Joe

I think Sir means,

A Chap
 
I like to think Epiphany Acoustics is, but then it comes down to where you draw the line. Enclosures, PCBs, soldering are all British. Actual components come from a whole host of countries, often far eastern ones. Where does the copper on the PCB come from? I don't think we need to go that deep into it, though! ;)

I always considered Wharfedale to be very British but of course they are now owned by IAG.
 
I will not abide by any part of my hi-fi being produced or assembled by anyone other than a tweed-jacket clad gentleman donning a bowler hat, who sips tea at 3 p.m. and mutters quite, rather, indeed and pip-pip-cheerio while hand-winding chokes and trannies.

Joe
Made of course by that insufferable British cooking show woman I nick-named 'Tits Mc Gee' for pushing her boobs at TV screens while exclaiming how she likes T....'s Tea. Frankly,. tea is a British made conspiracy.. TEA!!!! It is masqueraded rat poison, disguised as brown colored urine :D No wonder your tweed gentleman sounds ga-ga.
P.S But then, I once saw on the side of a box of rat poison - recommended ,the antidote: 'Lots of strong tea to produce an emetic effect!'
 
No one's mentioned Musical Fidelity? It used to be all-British, but it would not surprise me if bits are now manufactured off-shore.

IIRC, the AMS range is all 100% British beef. The rest is a mixture of parts made on machines in Asia then assembled in the UK, which in my book is just as good. The machines don't get all patriotic and don't start insulting each others cultural backgrounds and beliefs ;) it's a real cosmopolitan world they live in.....
 
ter,

Cool, I didn't know that Seven of Nine -- aka Booblar of Borg -- got a cooking show.

Joe
 
ter,

Cool, I didn't know that Seven of Nine -- aka Booblar of Borg -- got a cooking show.

Joe
Well we know what happened to those poor British things out in the Colonies that became fragile and mentally 'white anted', trying to supervise the growing of quality Tea on plantations for the Homeland. Hope it also does not happen to such similarly, delicate expatriates, while they try to make sure Asian -Pacific assembled British Hi Fi is up to scratch. By going mad in those hot steamy midday suns. ;) We giggle seeing reports of English people 'suffering heat waves' at 25 to 28C and people laying on stone pebble beaches 'sun tanning'.
 


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