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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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In Reply to: RE: Nothing I've owned of foreign manufacture has ever proselytized, dominated, or subjugated me posted by B. Scarpia on June 13, 2020 at 04:22:45:
High end audio equipment isn't a trivial purchase. When I spend thousands on a piece of kit, I don't just care how it sounds, I also care where the money is going. I'm interested in where the jobs are, and what the company does with its profits. I'm also just as interested in which government(s) the taxes are going to.
Generally speaking, I'd prefer to support my country and it's fair trading partners who have similar economic systems, legal protections, and democratic governments. My wife's car was assembled in Canada and mine was assembled in Mexico, both made with mostly North American content, and that's perfectly fine with me.
You won't be surprised to know that I try to avoid China. My father finished his career in China 15 years ago, spending three years getting manufacturing and a new R&D facility up and running. More recently, a close friend of mine spent a few years there trying to move production for a major international company. And another close friend of mine spent a few years working for a major Chinese company in Shenzhen, trying to introduce them to quality engineering. None of them have any positive words and dissuade others from getting into business in China.
In my own career I've had to deal with rampant electronic parts counterfeiting from China and systems with cyber vulnerabilities that appear intentional. At least one major supplier of ours had to recall product due to unauthorized, undocumented changes to their design for suspicious reasons they weren't free to discuss (we're guessing surveillance).
Beyond that, Chinese firms flush with cash have been buying up US companies, plants, facilities, etc. at a fast rate. I've seen this story before with Japan, except Japan has been a good business partner and ally, and hasn't used their ownership of US capital assets to influence government very much. I don't want to see an army of lobbyists in DC buying off politicians and regulators on behalf of Chinese interests. Finally, I want as few of my dollars as possible to end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
Setting aside the China bashing, let me give some examples of who I like to support.
First, Simaudio. I think I've spent more money on Simaudio gear than any other audio company. They are independently owned and semi-local, just a 4 hour drive away. Obviously, they buy electronic components from where they need to. But the casework is made local & in house, the transformers are wound locally, they're loyal to their dealers, they do their own service work, and when I needed service, they took care of all the customs work for me. When the owner was looking to retire, he didn't sell the brand to an international holding company like many of his contemporaries. The company is now co-owned by its head of business, head of engineering, and head of sales.
Linn is another company I like. Also independent, they are an excellent engineering and manufacturing company that produces well-designed products. They went through a bit of a rough patch 15-20 years ago, but didn't sell out or move. They have good dealers who really know the product and they always give you an upgrade path.
Among US companies, Ayre and Magico are two I've purchased from before and would happily do so again. There are plenty more that I like, but I won't waste your time listing them all.
One example of a company that I won't purchase from is Harman, which is a shame because Revel makes some of the best sounding, best value speakers I've heard. I also really like AKG phones. And H-K, Infinity, and JBL have such history. But Harman represents everything I don't like about international business. It's a managed portfolio of brands, all subject to the strategy of the parent company and not able to make their own way. They display good engineering, but little innovation or passion. They don't make it easy to find out where the products are developed or manufactured, and they've moved the lion's share of their production to China. They don't seem to have loyal dealers and they're moving increasingly to online sales.
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Follow Ups
- My money, my choice (long) - Dave_K 06/15/2010:45:50 06/15/20 (2)
- RE: My money, my choice (long)-so too with me! - Mel 08:01:55 06/27/20 (0)
- Very nice write up. - JoshT 19:38:30 06/17/20 (0)
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