British Hi Fi

DSM raises an interesting point bringing in globalization, international politics, business and ultimately what the consumer is willing to pay for their purchases. I visited Shenzhen many years ago when it was what seemed like the world's biggest building site and I seem to recall reading recently that the workers at the massive Foxconn factory there which manufactures Apple products are paid something like £1.70 an hour; a pittance by our standards but considerably more than the billion or so Chinese peasants labouring in the fields all day ever earn.

These days one really questions what does "made in...." actually mean anyway - probably just the final assembly point. My old Technics CD player says "made in Germany" but I would be very surprised if the CD transport mechanism and circuit boards did not originate in the Far East.  Sadly the days when the  Quads, Leaks, Rogers and Radfords could compete with UK manufacturing costs are gone. Their quality remains however and I cannot see today's products being sought in the future at the high prices being charged now for these historic items as in most cases there will be no spare parts with electronics moving so fast. How many CD players are out there today where replacement lasers or ICs are no longer available? Yet look at the classifieds in Gramophone or a HiFi magazine and see how many dealers are looking for valve electronics, which can be kept going almost indefinitely, from the aforementioned, plus Garrard 301 or 401 turntables.

I still use in one system the Rogers amplifier I've had for well over 40 years and it stills sounds lovely. In that time it has had one set of new output valves and I took a soldering iron to it for the first time last year when I replaced the silicon HT rectifiers after one failed. As one who has made my own valve power amplifiers and valve phono stages the quality of the workmanship in these old products was excellent (far better than mine!).

There are still some excellent brands made in the UK - J E Sugden is the first that springs to mind but there are many others. Sugden's amplifiers have been a truly superb name in the hi-fi world for many years. They also make CD players and now speakers as well, I believe. Inspire Hi-Fi's turntables are also British - not to mention Rega, who continue to set high standards. There are also many speaker manufacturers in the UK - KEF, B & W, Kudos, Heybrook etc, though many of the smaller ones could best be described as cottage industries. I have always tried to buy British products wherever possible, though sometimes there isn't any choice other than to go for an overseas brand - even if it masquerades under a British "classic" name.

Try and buy British if you can - I am listening to an Arcam FMJ A38 amplifier at the moment and it sounds superb.

Yes, 33lp, the Garrard brand name is now held by Loricraft who not only refurbish the old 301 and 401 models but make their own newer version, the 501 turntable. They also make some of the best vinyl record cleaners you are ever likely to come across. However, this all comes at a cost, and I think you have hit the nail on the head here on the pricing issue. Hi-fi manufactured in the UK may be of a very high quality, but the price puts many people off. We simply can't match the labour costs in the Far East and so we have to compete in the niche area of high qualityt as opposed to price. This, of course, implies that products from China and elsewhere suffer in the area of good quality build and sound, which is patently not the case.

However, I still try to buy British when I can, though with the likes of KEF sourcing their cheaper models from overseas, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. 

Not to forget that Sonneteer are still designed and Built in Guildford Surrey of course.

:-)

Surely H_D your GL75 & TD 150 turntables were both made in Switzerland?

Best Buy set up with some stores in UK a few years ago but were unable to compete in current economic situation & shut down here last year, but they sold very few serious audio items.

Apart from the B&W 800 series and the Nautalus which are still made in the UK. All the rest of the B&W products are made in China. I guess it is to stay competitive as most other loudspeaker manufacturers also produce there wares in China.