What is still truely British today?
- Thread starter engjoo
- Start date
hifienthusiast
Vintage by heart
I think some ATC cabinets have been made in China. There are some first generation SCM 7 and SCM 12 available as new items being sold in China. They are probably made with left over ATC drivers housed in newly made cabinets.
mmaatt
pfm Member
Yes they have manufacturing premises in North West London, where I've been to pick up new parts for my turntable.
mat
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
Who remembers that 'dyed-in-the-wool' British company British Leyland ?(!)
Apologies for bringing up the past...
Apologies for bringing up the past...
Barry williams
Banned
Chord yes.
Arcam No.
You are probably right about some of the cabinets, but their facilities are based in Britain, their R&D team is based in Gloustershire too and they employ British staff. Basically all of their products are manufactured in Gloustershire. They use overseas supliers, but everything is done strictly by their specifications and the quality control is second to none.
Audionote (UK) = UK registered with premises in Hove, Brighton; Owned by Peter Qvortrup, Danish, with assembly plants also in Austria which manufacture some components including the cabinets.
Spendor: Indian(?) Owned, UK manufactured and chief designer English. Some talk of recently acquiring an interest in major UK cabinet manufacturing plant (?)
Tannoy: Danish Owned; Prestige drive units assembled in the UK I believe but from outsourced parts (as with many other driver manufacturers). Cabinets I understood were outsourced for Polish manufacture or part manufacture with final speaker assembly at Coatbridge HQ.
Very few companies manufacture 100% of their products in the UK as it isn't either economically viable to do so or logistically viable for mass market.
Most of the custom made kit from cottage industries may be conceived, designed and made in the UK but using parts imported from outside the UK.
Like other small brands posting on this thread, RFC hand builds everything here in the UK and tries to source as much of the components as possible from the UK (eg Claritycap capacitors, some inductors from Falcon, locally grown, felled and seasoned Oak for Hifi furniture etc).
Spendor: Indian(?) Owned, UK manufactured and chief designer English. Some talk of recently acquiring an interest in major UK cabinet manufacturing plant (?)
Tannoy: Danish Owned; Prestige drive units assembled in the UK I believe but from outsourced parts (as with many other driver manufacturers). Cabinets I understood were outsourced for Polish manufacture or part manufacture with final speaker assembly at Coatbridge HQ.
Very few companies manufacture 100% of their products in the UK as it isn't either economically viable to do so or logistically viable for mass market.
Most of the custom made kit from cottage industries may be conceived, designed and made in the UK but using parts imported from outside the UK.
Like other small brands posting on this thread, RFC hand builds everything here in the UK and tries to source as much of the components as possible from the UK (eg Claritycap capacitors, some inductors from Falcon, locally grown, felled and seasoned Oak for Hifi furniture etc).
sunbeamgls
pfm Member
Correct - owned by Focal, and therefore French (probably, unless Focal aren't French owned of course)
Question earlier about Linn - Scottish assembly plant, Scottish owned, use parts made in-house and from many different suppliers in many different countries, including the UK.
Barry williams
Banned
FangfossFlyer
pfm Member
The Naim Focal ownership as announched when they 'merged' or were taken over by Focal & Co.
"United by their passion for perfect sound, leading high-end audio brands Focal and Naim, today announce they are merging to create a new European leader in the audio industry. Focal & Co will own and manage Focal and Naim as independent brands, retaining their unique philosophies and product ranges.
Focal & Co, owned by Jacques Mahul (Founder and Chairman), CM-CIC (long-term shareholder in Focal) and the management teams of Focal and Naim, will employ 325 people at its facilities in Saint-Etienne, France and Salisbury, UK and have a combined turnover in excess of £48 million."
"United by their passion for perfect sound, leading high-end audio brands Focal and Naim, today announce they are merging to create a new European leader in the audio industry. Focal & Co will own and manage Focal and Naim as independent brands, retaining their unique philosophies and product ranges.
Focal & Co, owned by Jacques Mahul (Founder and Chairman), CM-CIC (long-term shareholder in Focal) and the management teams of Focal and Naim, will employ 325 people at its facilities in Saint-Etienne, France and Salisbury, UK and have a combined turnover in excess of £48 million."
sunbeamgls
pfm Member
Naim is not owned by Focal and Focal is not owned by Focal.
Get your facts right.
Correct. Focal and Naim Group are owned by a French investment company:
NAXICAP Partners, co-investing with AQUASOURCA, GARIBALDI and the companys managers, has purchased the Focal and Naim Group. A leading player in the audio market, the Focal & Naim Group generated revenues of over 65 million in 2013, of which exports represented 72%.
NAXICAP
5-7 rue de Monttessuy
75340 Paris cedex 07
Tel: +33 1 58 19 22 20
Fax: +33 1 58 19 22 30
Email: [email protected]
So if Focal own or if Naim and Focal merged is pretty irrelevant now. They are French, not British, which is the point of the OP's question. Thanks for giving me the impetus to go find out
Like my manufacturing company Paul, everything is made and assembled here in Buckinghamshire using suppliers within a radius of 50miles. Only a few parts are imported where I cannot get the quality or specification here. Unfortunately today this means nothing as no one gives a shit anymore where anything is made...
Actually that is not strictly true, people in the far east like to buy western made products, or in most cases western named brands.
topoxforddoc
pfm Member
What I find challenging is the fact that most people vote with their wallets (OK, maybe that's a pretty good idea during there recession) and therefore aren't prepared to support UK manufacturers by buying new. If no-one buys a new UK made hi-fi product, all the wonderful small companies like RFC & TRON will disappear.
If you buy new, yes you take a financial hit. But you only take that hit, if you sell or box swap. If like me, you only buy the occasional well chosen item and keep it for years (in some cases over 35 years), the there is no hit.
If you buy new, yes you take a financial hit. But you only take that hit, if you sell or box swap. If like me, you only buy the occasional well chosen item and keep it for years (in some cases over 35 years), the there is no hit.
Barry williams
Banned
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