Made in Britain? Sadly, not.

[Andrew Everard]

Lugs:I can only confirm from a musicians point of few that the chinese made valves sound wrong. They have the wrong tone.

Matter of opinion - you're doing fine so far...

Lugs:As
for the chinese made valve amplifiers being dangerous? Are you kidding
me! You have not heard the horror stories? Would you let your children
sleep in a house with one of those things in it? Doubt it?

Now you are on much trickier ground - a reputable source of evidence, please...

Lugs:Doubt it? And as for
the italian made electronics. Have a look at some of the hifi coming
out of Italy. Notably the speakers. FANTASTICO! Oh and what company
wins F1 year in year out?

Italian constructors have won 15 F1 WCCs, British constructors 32.

 

[John Duncan]

Andrew Everard:
JohnDuncan:God being Roman, obviously.

Greek, surely?

(and no, I didn't just call you Shirley)

Depends on whether your tastes are orthodox or catholic.

 

[Andrew Everard]

JohnDuncan:

Depends on whether your tastes are orthodox or catholic.

Ancient, in fact...

 

[Anonymous]

My German car was actually made in Finland!

 

[Andrew Everard]

thfcwestlower:My German car was actually made in Finland!

Boxster or Cayman?

 

[John Duncan]

No, Finland.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:

thfcwestlower:My German car was actually made in Finland!

Boxster or Cayman?

The latter (if I escape the credit crunch in one piece I might think about purchasing something made in Zuffenhausen) . I think the Finalnd plant is being abandoned for yet another plant shortly

 

[timwileman]

Solomon1:JohnDuncan:If I wanted a Ferrari, the last place I'd want it made is Italy, frankly.

Funny fact: Italian cars' electronics are usually their greatest weakness, even though it was an Italian who invented electricity.

discovered, as in described scientifcally......kinda hard to claim he was the first to notice lightning?

 

[Lugs]

In lets say in the 1950s valves were better for the very simple reason that they were used not only in sound but everywhere! The mainstream electronics industry was vacuum tube orientated, so the quality control, testing and also the building and materials were far superior. That's not a matter of opinion Andrew its a fact. The resurgence in the interest in using valves was more to do with the collapse of the USSR anyway not rip off china factories. I don't have access to Llyods insurance records and i'm quite sure the old chip pan causes more household fires but i do work in an industry where I have repeatedly questioned the quality control of chinese sourced products. As for British racing success, its only because newly qualified engineers don't have an indigenous car industry. Like the fact you grouped them all together too. Where's Lotus in F1 nowadays?

 

[timwileman]

off topic but i know about pharmaceuticals and i would never ever buy them from for eg China....

 

[John Duncan]

Why not?

 

[timwileman]

i have intimate knowledge of the numerous issues many factories have meeting GMP as understood in the USA and the EU. on the FDA website you can review some warning letters that have been sent and they are scary....

warning leters for GMP do go to US and EU sites also but no where near as often and direct regulatory action can and is taken by the autorites as thay have the ability to do so in their own territories, in many nations there is not the sophisticated regulatory framework and high levels of inspection carried out to ensure quality and GMP compliance...

Japan also has sophisticated systems in place so would have their drugs no worries, South Korea is rapidly catching up also.

EDIT: we have these because of disaster by the way ...

 

[Andrew Everard]

thfcwestlower:The latter (if I escape the credit crunch in one piece I might think about purchasing something made in Zuffenhausen) . I think the Finalnd plant is being abandoned for yet another plant shortly

Apparently that Finnish plant is going to start making these instead, but there's nothing about how different mains cables may affect its performance.

By the way thfcwl - this just in from our colleagues with the string-backed gloves...

 

[timwileman]

bet the freebie one is rubbish ;-) lol

 

[Anonymous]

timwileman:Solomon1:JohnDuncan:If I wanted a Ferrari, the last place I'd want it made is Italy, frankly.

Funny fact: Italian cars' electronics are usually their greatest weakness, even though it was an Italian who invented electricity.

discovered, as in described scientifcally......kinda hard to claim he was the first to notice lightning?

As a scientist you're right, but you're missing the point- you're focussing on details instead of the meaning.

 

[John Duncan]

I was focussing on the meaning of the word 'invented'.

But I knew what you meant.........

 

[Anonymous]

JD, what kind of German car? My fave (german car)is an audi a8. If money's no object, I'd still rather have an Aston Martin db9 though. It's pure speculation -never driven the thing- but saw it in the flesh- it's just soooooo beautiful.

 

[JoelSim]

timwileman:Solomon1:JohnDuncan:If I wanted a Ferrari, the last place I'd want it made is Italy, frankly.

Funny fact: Italian cars' electronics are usually their greatest weakness, even though it was an Italian who invented electricity.

discovered, as in described scientifcally......kinda hard to claim he was the first to notice lightning?

I've had several Italian cars, and I can confirm this as fact. As is rust. Great engines and great to drive though. Worth sod all after a couple of years mind

 

[Anonymous]

Italian Hi-Fi is where it's at too - Sonus Fabers are beautifully crafted objects and one must expect them to sound just the same!

 

[robg1976]

hi guys is leema british does anyone know they are new to hi-fi and all the geasr has had 5 star reviews i think its made in wales if so im pleased anyone know cheers

 

[Andrew Everard]

Read back in the thread - it's covered there

 

[Alec]

Gor blimey what a thread!

I've heard Russian kettle leads are good.

Ahem.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Though they're probably samovar leads in that case...

 

[Clare Newsome]

Andrew Everard:Though they're probably samovar leads in that case...

 

[Anonymous]

Taksinridgeback:
I recently went out looking for speakers and a new amplifier, and was shocked to find that very little seems to be made in Britain, or indeed Europe, these days. My information may not be accurate, but apparently such great names as KEF, Wharfedale, Mission, Mordaunt Short, Audiolab, and some B&W, Arcam and Quad are no longer made in the UK.

Now, I'm not xenophobic, nor am I arguing about the quality, it's just that I wanted to support the local industry. When I expanded the net to Europe, I found that even the nominally Danish speaker component manufacturers such as peerless and scanspeak are also made offshore.

Are there, apart from Naim and Rega, any purely local manufacturers left? I've also got the horrible feeling that some fine names are no more than labels now.

I have just come across this thread. For the record Arcam maintains a full production facility in the UK, and the company continues to manufacture much of our range here. This includes all of our stereo amplifiers, plus all of our DVD players and related products like the Solo Movie models and the CD37.

John Dawson (Arcam)