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Is the new ARCAM made over seas or in the UK? . DIVA over seas FMJ
the UK?. If you own any of the new ARCAM , A80,CD73,CD192, -
A32,CD33,etc the new stuff .Where is it made? Thanx
Follow Ups:
The FMJ product is made in the UK. The A/V receivers are made in China. Most of the non-FMJ audio products are also made in China.
Just curious: What is the importance of this information?
Perhaps he wants to support manufacturing in his home country?
Perhaps you're right, although there are those who make certain assumptions about the (low) quality of products made in Asia, especially China, which I have not found to be correct.Also, I don't know about the UK, but in the good old USA, if you limit yourself to products made here, it unfortunately will often cost a significant premium to be "patriotic" and will severely limit the available options as well. Sad, but too true.
It's interesting too that one rarely saw reservations expressed about buying high end audio "overseas" when that mostly meant for those of us in the USA products from Canada, the UK, Scandinavia, etc.
I changed out a laser head for an older Arcam 7 CD player which was occasionally skipping. I installed the Sony KSS210 mechanism and noticed it was made in Japan, whereas the original was made in China. The difference in sound was staggering: way more bass and detail. Even the original owner was amazed at the sound difference and called me back to make sure if I had installed the right part (he liked the sonic change but was worried about compatibility).At any rate China historically is where Japan was during the 60's and 70's. A great source for cheap labor and thus manufacturing. Their products are turning from the very cheap and shoddy crap to respectable pieces.
China is moving much faster than the Japanese model, however. Their middle class is just emerging, and the general populace is still in the lower economic range. Wages will still remain low for perhaps a decade or more before they even remotely approach that of the first world countries.
I believe the Chinese govrnment has stated that they will move off the dollar standard over the next decade. That is an indication of how fast they are moving. Japan stayed on the dollar standard well into the 70's, IIRC. Japanese products, too, were similarly looked down upon in the 60's.
Food for thought....
Yes, it might be a fluke. Replacing a worn-out laser (yes, they wear out -- definitely not "perfect sound forever") will always improve the sound quality. So it's not clear whether or not a fresh Japanese laser would sound better than a fresh Chinese laser. It wouldn't surprise me if it did, but your experiment is unfortunately inconclusive.
There are hidden costs of Chinese products, but they are not borne by you, the consumer. Instead, they are borne by the Chinese workers and the people who live there.During my visit to several Chinese loudspeaker cabinet factories, I saw no regard whatsoever for workers' health. The spray booths were the worst. The workers here worked full shifts spraying lacquer finishes with no respirators whatsoever. It's only a matter of time before these guys have brain impairment, liver damage, and probably cancer.
The toxic chemical waste was simply dumped, either in the sewer or the back lot. These chemicals will of course enter the drinking water supply eventually. You may remember the horror of Love Canal in this country. There are thousands of similar disasters brewing in China.
Finally you save money buying Chinese products because the workers are paid around $2 per day. Ignoring any other aspects of this, it is clear that US workers cannot compete with this. So buying Chinese costs American jobs, where we expect a living wage, health insurance, and educational opportunities for our children.
Everything you said is true. HOWEVER, you need to look at the bigger picture my friend.If America is to progress in the 21st Century, MANY of these types of jobs need to move onto lower-cost based countries. The appalling conditions of workers in China shouldn't really be your concern.
If you're truly patrotic, you'll be looking for ways to bring your labour force into the 21st century, not trying to keep them doing manual labour. Leave that to the developing countries.
Mr Hansen, you're not doing your company any service by demonstrating your redneck mentality.
Ohmigod, that was hilarious! But I can't figure out whether you're with the Daily Show or the White House.
... is making the worlds a nicer place for investers, not workers. A lot of these investors made their profits off consumers in countries where there are labor laws, work place safety laws, and anit-polution laws. But now they chose to invest these profits where none of these things apply.They like to portray their investment as helping out the a developing nation. Well maybe in the longer run, but the long run isn't what got them over there, and usually the local workers are the last to benefit.
.., in other words - you are honest.
...exhibiting an awareness that a "wide-open" economy has many perils, like the ol' Wild West in America (or pre-EPA New Jersey!).It's astonishing to me that the same people who beat the drums for Amnesty International and similar organizations of social concern, view any awareness of problems in China and other emerging markets as "racist", even when the concerns are for the health and safety of the workers. I don't get it.
IMO, Third World countries (like China?) that are "in transformation" will abuse workers partly because they can, and partly because they feel like sacrifices must be made for the sake of expedience. They don't want to take the time and care to "do it right" because they feel threatened by Western powers. Still, I won't buy "Made In China", unless I have to.
Fuck you, Han... oops. Sorry. Habit.Way to go, Hansen!
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That is why I do my best to avoid Chinese products and those from other areas where workers pay the price for our price.
nt
I am well aware of everything you say and wish I had the financial wherewithal to limit my purchases to American made products-or at least to those countries with far more enlightened policies. On the other hand, because of these same financial constraints, I purchase almost everything used from private individuals, thus am not directly supporting those policies. A rationalization? Sure, but I'm a retiree with limited resources.
Mr Hansen, I agree with your post 100%.
I have no problem trading with Canada. At least it is a level playing field. Same with the UK and Germany, as well as other western European countries with a standard of living similar to our's here in the U.S....
I am one of these patriotic sorts. I believe in supporting USA mnfrs. when possible. I do not however believe that Chinese made goods are junk or are inferior to their American counterparts. You are also right about it costing more to Buy American.
I admire your resolve-and your financial resources! I am somewhat embarrassed to disclose that my current system includes products from China (Consonance integrated), UK (EAR phono pre), France (Sacre Bleu!! Audiomeca CD), Japan (Integra universal player), the Netherlands (van den Hul cartridge, ICs & cabling, although I'm not absolutely certain where the latter two are manufactured), Canada (Tetra speakers), and Germany (Amazon TT & Moerch arm). I do have a pair of Kimber ICs and an Encore Ovation 4 DAC, both made in the USA. (And let's not even get into the 2 HT systems which have no products made here.)This is by the way a fabulous system assembled largely from used items on Audiogon (except the DAC, TT, arm & some of the cabling), so the beneficiaries were individuals who had made the original purchases. I guess that's one way to rationalize this globalized system.
It's about ethics, business and environmental, things are cheaper from China because their government artificilly holds down the price of their currency, forcing their people to work for less than they might make elswhere.They don't honor copyrights or patents, and even decieve whith look-alike packaging for counterfeit replacement parts for cars, heavy equipment, medicines, cigarettes, shoes, memory chips and more.
The World Customs Organization estmates 7% of world merchandise trade may be bogus, 2/3 of it coming from China, the rest from the Philippines, Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Pakistan and Paraguay.
A recent newspaper story reported "thousands riot in China over pollution" "villagers claim crops irrigated with water downstream of chemical plants won't grow"
I work in semiconductor manufacturing, plants in the US and Eroupe pay big money for wast water and hazardous gas exhaust treatment. The semiconductor plants in China, that are kicking our ass, pipe their wast to the nearest creek.
Check out the story in 2/7 business week for much more.
Best wishes, Craig
the gold plating is Swiss, Mr Moerch drives down there himself to inspect the work, to get the best surface.
The aluminium comes perhaps from Norway, the gold perhaps from Russia, the Sapphire perhaps from Sri Lanka, the plastic perhaps from Germany.Denmark have very few raw materials.
Thanks for the info. It reminds me of several years ago when top officials from US auto manufacturers were bemoaning unfair competition from abroad while many key elements in their own models were being made overseas in the very places they were condemning.
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