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Do you stream hi-res music or download hi-res tracks? We want your opinions!
Only in a (British?) Hi Fi Company...
- Thread starter SteveR750
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chebby
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- Jun 2, 2008
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Why "(British?)" with a question mark?
I can't think a more British company. (Many of Linn's arms, for example, are made in Japan or the Czech Republic).
Rega even make their own mid-bass drivers and cabinets in-house and make their own cartridges.
The story of the Rega RB300 (and subsequent arms that were developed from it) can be found in the latest Hi-fi News and Record Review on page 120.
I can't think a more British company. (Many of Linn's arms, for example, are made in Japan or the Czech Republic).
Rega even make their own mid-bass drivers and cabinets in-house and make their own cartridges.
The story of the Rega RB300 (and subsequent arms that were developed from it) can be found in the latest Hi-fi News and Record Review on page 120.
chebby said:
Exactly, and simply is it a British engineering thing to extol complexity, in a world where manufacturing companies strive to make it simple as disciples of Kaizen, so as to eliminate the possibility of mistakes.
Me, I love this sort of off beat eccentricity, but not the appearance of the boxes, which sadly to my eyes are mostly just ugly. The turntables on the other hand are works of art, maybe I have never really come to terms with them making anything else other than turntables.
Frank Harvey
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- Jun 27, 2008
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Are they trying to push that as something positive? To me it sounds more like a risk...SteveR750 said:
MajorFubar said:
Well current convention would lead you to that conclusion, but the results suggest otherwise, the forums are not full of tales of patchy quality, probably the opposite. Quintessentially British perhaps, but I sense a bit of a renaissance in UK manufacturing, a sense that it is possible to compete and make stuff in this country, and make it well.
We've had the Japanese way bashed into us since the mid 1980's when the first of Chirac's "aircraft carriers" arrived in Sunderland in 1986. Seems like we owe them a debt of gratitude for rediscovering a bit of pride and self belief which 20 odd years later is bearing fruit, but with our own unique flavour, and do you know what, turning what might be conventionally perceived as a risk on its head and making it a positive feature just might be the thing that really does give UK plc something unique to market itself again as a credible place to make things as well as design them. Chapeau to Roy Gandy for sticking that out there, even if it's not deliberate, it has a much deeper resonance with our national psyche right now than ever before.
Rega ugly! Yes I think some of the early stuff was beaten with the ugly stick!
The current stuff is very quirky, which I like!
SteveR750 - will you still be considering a rega DAC if you think they are ugly, I actually think function over form is the case here!
what has most surprised me about Rega is the RS1 speakers, they weigh next to nothing, only have I set of connections which are not even brass and they mange to sound fantastic!
Yes I am a Rega convert, only by incidence though!
The current stuff is very quirky, which I like!
SteveR750 - will you still be considering a rega DAC if you think they are ugly, I actually think function over form is the case here!
what has most surprised me about Rega is the RS1 speakers, they weigh next to nothing, only have I set of connections which are not even brass and they mange to sound fantastic!
Yes I am a Rega convert, only by incidence though!
chebby
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SteveR750 said:
You'll have to explain to me how Chirac (French PM from 1986 - 1988 ) has any connection with 'the Japanese way' and if his "aircraft carriers" included the Nissan plant in Sunderland being built in 1986.
Confused.
I'm sure all is clear in Sunderland regarding mid-1980s, 'Japanese way', Jacques Chirac and aircraft carriers.
Did you mean the old Peugeot Coventry factory - originally Rootes - that started making Peugeots in 1985? At least that would almost fit, being mid-1980s, a French company and almost contemporaneous with Chirac being the French PM from 1986 - 88. (Although it's nowhere near Sunderland.)
Or The Clemenceau? Chirac agreed for the aircraft carrier to go to 'Able UK' on Teesside to be broken up, but that was in 2009, not the mid 1980s, and I don't see a 'Japanese way' connection, so I still don't get it.
No I wasn't on about quality, I was on about risk. They're presumably boasting that their most exotic tonearm is so exclusive that only their two most 'highly trained and experienced technicians' know how to build it. But to me, were I the business owner, only having two people in my workforce (of presumably more than two technicians) who know how to build my premium and most desirable product is a risk, not an attractive USP. But that's probably just me, looking at it from my perspective of an internal auditor and risk-assessor.SteveR750 said:
MajorFubar said:
Yes I understood that, and that's the irony!
Chebby, when Nissan announced they were going to build a plant in the UK, quickly followed by Toyota (Burnaston) and Honda (Swindon) Chirac who was French president at the time, criticised Thatcher for selling out, and by encouraging this overseas investment described Britain as a Japanses aircraft carrier moored off the North coast of Europe. He was clearly of course voicing his (and probably many other Euro leaders of the day) of the threat to their own domestic markets.
stevebrock said:
As it happens this is what I think too, what it looks like is irrelevant unless something performs identically and there is no other choice criteria left; after all, I wouldn't own a Caspian if I was concerned about the aesthetic appeal!
I probably won't consider the Rega simply because I suspect the improvement over the dacmagic is not sufficient to warrant the hassle and loss of selling one and buying the other, if I'm going to do that, I'd rather make the upgrade really worthwhile. Having heard just how good the Chord DACs are, then the Qute is the obvious route to me to take.
We all know that Turkmenistan is the best manufacturer of quality Hi-Fi, this thread seems superfluous. Turkmenistan speakers polish off the high end for smooth creamy tunes.
There's a similar thing going on in China.
"According to information from Shuguang, the original factory started in 1958 as Changsha Shuguang. The Treasure Series 50th Anniversary range was released in December 2008. In the Treasure Series range there are over 60 parts differences versus the generic Shuguangs. Only a handful of workers have the necessary skills to work on this range. In fact the key assembling process is manually completed by a small number of senior technicians with 30+ years of experience. They operate in a separate division within Shuguang".
Shuguang make about 40% of global valve production.
"According to information from Shuguang, the original factory started in 1958 as Changsha Shuguang. The Treasure Series 50th Anniversary range was released in December 2008. In the Treasure Series range there are over 60 parts differences versus the generic Shuguangs. Only a handful of workers have the necessary skills to work on this range. In fact the key assembling process is manually completed by a small number of senior technicians with 30+ years of experience. They operate in a separate division within Shuguang".
Shuguang make about 40% of global valve production.
This is new. A company promoting the exclusivity and craftsmanship of its goods.
HiFi as a luxury item. Next thing you know people will be trying to sell you "hi end" hi fi...
You'll be happy to know that this happens in Japan, and not everyone follows Toyota's mass production philosophies, although I think the philosophy of kaizen (literally improvement) could as easily be applied to a one man operation as to mass production.
HiFi as a luxury item. Next thing you know people will be trying to sell you "hi end" hi fi...
You'll be happy to know that this happens in Japan, and not everyone follows Toyota's mass production philosophies, although I think the philosophy of kaizen (literally improvement) could as easily be applied to a one man operation as to mass production.
ID. said:
Indeed, but what ther Japanese do in Japan is not the same as the Japanese do in Europe, or rather the way that the Japanese way has been interpreted and implemented. Europeans are so culturally distant from Japan, we might as well live on Mars. BTW the TPS was not necessarily designed for mass production, merely efficient production.
Kaizen actually translates as continually improving.
SteveR750 said:
🙂 OK, to be pedantic, (I love a serious translation discussion).
Kaizen 改善, in its most literal sense translates as improvement (although one could use any number of similar words such as revisions, revamping, remedy fix, etc. depending on the context it appears in). Kaizen in the context of a philosophy/approach for manufacturing means continuous improvement and on their websites and in various materials manufacturers such as Toyota will go into greater specifics as to what that specifically means to them.
SteveR750 said:
kamahen, kamahen. Ayamaru hitsuyou wa nai. Professional translator checking in 😉
SteveR750 said:
No worries!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect
I'd say you've still got more Japanese than many expats I've met here.
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