Help needed to ID British made Hi-Fi components please

[admin_exported]

I would be very grateful if readers of this forum would be kind enough to help me out.

In a moment of madness I decided to build an online directory purely devoted to British made products. (Not a money making thing, in fact its all free)

I dont know too much about hi-fi and need a few more suggestions for manufacturers of Hi-Fi equipment in the UK.

Please could you check the hi-fi at http://www.bestbuybritish.org/british_hi-fi_audio.htm to see who I have missed.

Link fixed by mods

Each suggestion will be fully researched before getting listed.

Thanks in advance

Adrian

Best Buy British Campaign

 

[Andrew Everard]

Arcam, AVI, PMC, Spendor, Sugden...

 

[Anonymous]

Quad? Chord? BKElec

 

[chebby]

Rega

 

[Anonymous]

Fantastic idea!
I am proud of of our British Engineering Heritage and love the fact that so much HiFi is British (at least in design!)

Be careful though much of the British stuff is Chinese owned and manufactured so "british made" may be hard to come by. I.e.Mission, Quad, Castle, Audiolab (post Tag days) are all owned by IAG and doubtless made in China.

What about British deisgned? Or have some distinction on the website.

My Audiolab 8000a off of the 80's was designed in Cambridge and UK built. The re-released product is a Tag Mclaren deisgn and built in China.

Some more suggestions;
- Arcam, Cambridge (not sure where built though)
- Rega are down the road from me in Essex, pretty sure the decks are all done onsite.
- Ruark, been to there premises also in Essex and they still hand buld their cabinets on site. Drivers are mostly Vifa, who are scandinavian IIRC.
- Monitor Audio (Rayleigh, Essex, built in China though I think)
- B&W (Worthing, Sussex, not sure where built)
- Linn (scotland, no idea where built)
- Leema are built in Wales i'm sure

 

[Anonymous]

Well done with the site by the way, very detailed!

I also know a bit about Automotive as I work in the industry.
PM me - oh wait we dont have such a facility!
why not!
😛

 

[chebby]

Not only are Rega's turntables made in their own factories in Essex but so are their loudpeakers. The cabinets are UK sourced and the bass/mid drivers are all made by Rega. (Only the tweeters are outsourced but to Rega's own design.)

Even their cartridges are hand made (including coil windings) by Rega themselves.

Their CD players and amps are designed and made by Rega but obviously many of the internal components will be of non-UK manufacturer. (This will be true of every manufacturer though.)

Be careful with Arcam. Much of their stuff is UK made in their own factory but some of the Solo range and CD & DVD equipment is made by a Chinese partner.

 

[John Duncan]

ashworth_rich:PM me - oh wait we dont have such a facility!
why not!

How long've you got?

 

[chebby]

JohnDuncan:ashworth_rich:PM me - oh wait we dont have such a facility!
why not!

How long've you got?

Can't you outsource it John?

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Chebby.

Has anyone noticed that little HiFi Hamlets have sprung up over the years. Essex being one, Cambridge of course is another.

There are few around London but rather sporadic.

Interesting (well to me it is!)

Also F1 is still UK dominated most of the teams (bar the Italian ones and BMW) have a UK base due to the expertise and testing facilities here. Also you've got Bernie and Max "it was just a bit of fun" Mosley.

 

[John Duncan]

chebby:
JohnDuncan:ashworth_rich:PM me - oh wait we dont have such a facility!
why not!

How long've you got?

Can't you outsource it John?

Then I wouldn't have a job.

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:chebby:
JohnDuncan:ashworth_rich:PM me - oh wait we dont have such a facility!
why not!

How long've you got?

Can't you outsource it John?

Then I wouldn't have a job.

I might have been being obtuse there as I knew there was a reason/tale as to why not.
dont worry...

....but it would be handy in such circumstances 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:Then I wouldn't have a job.

and then you'd have to change your sig!

 

[John Duncan]

ashworth_rich:JohnDuncan:Then I wouldn't have a job.

and then you'd have to change your sig!

Indeed. But the short answer is it's not supported in the current version of the forum software we use, but is available in later versions if we decided to a) upgrade and b) enable it. I can't tell you the answer to either at the moment because a) is not a trivial matter and I don't have a view on the gotchas (if any) of b).

 

[Anonymous]

fanks JD

 

[Anonymous]

ashworth_rich:
- Linn (scotland, no idea where built)

AFAIK everything bar the Komponent range assembled in Eaglesham or Castlemilk (Glasgow). Obviously some parts are bought in from overseas though.

Has anyone mentioned Pro-Ac?

 

[Dave_]

fast eddie:ashworth_rich: - Linn (scotland, no idea where built) AFAIK everything bar the Komponent range assembled in Eaglesham or Castlemilk (Glasgow). Obviously some parts are bought in from overseas though. Has anyone mentioned Pro-Ac?Both linn and pro-ac already listed on the site

 

[chebby]

Spendor (Hailsham, E Sussex)

Harbeth (Haywards Heath, W Sussex)

Stirling Broadcast (Somerset. Only official BBC licensed manufacturer of the BBC LS3/5A)

Leema (There's Wales isn't it?)

Michell Engineering (Borehamwood, Herts)

SME (Steyning, West Sussex)

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent stuff!

Plenty to be keeping me busy. Keep them coming chaps.

If there are any Hi-Fi journalists out there that fancy writing a quick paragraph to use at the top of the listing's page, I would be grateful. Maybe just a couple of lines making an informed comment (positive) on where the British Hi-Fi industry is just now. Thanks.

Regarding the Automotive comment, I believe every car that is made in the UK is already listed. Thanks anyway.

It seems the British Hi-Fi industry is in fact alive and well. 🙂

Thanks for your support. Your suggestions will be researched over the next week and the new listings added.

Kind regards

Adrian

Best Buy British Campaign
www.bestbuybritish.org

 

[Andrew Everard]

Oh, and Meridian, of course...

 

[respe]

Roksan--Avid--SME--Tannoy--Leema--sonneteer--creek,exposure

 

[idc]

Russ Andrews, based near Kendal manufacture products, some with UK sourced components as well as from abroad, the obvious being Kimber cable from the US.

 

[Anonymous]

PMC are based in Luton!

 

[PJPro]

What about Graham Slee?

 

[PJPro]

Oh and Home Audio (Beresford).