Just a bit of fun.. Which country has the best hifi??

[cafe latte]

Thought this may stimulate interesting discussion.. What country has the best hifi?? UK, US, Japan maybe.. What are your thoughs, which country has made the best stuff, or has the best stuff?
Regards
CL

[lini]

cl: In terms of design/manufacturing or rather regarding what equipment is actually owned by the population? Hard to guesstimate in either case, though.

In terms of design or manufacturing companies I'd guess it would be pretty much a tie between the US (plus Canada), Japan, China and Europe (foremost UK & Germany, but also France (Thomson) and the Benelux countries (Philips, who also used to own Marantz and Grundig for a good while each...)).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[bauzace50]

Hi,
In regard to DIY Speaker Building, the United Kingdom was uniquely sophisticated and ahead of the game up to the late '70s. There were many sophisticated designs, ranging from DIY LS3/5a, the 2-way Tabor, to the 4-way B.J. Webb transmission line tower, The PRO-9-TL, and too many designs to number from KEF themselves, to Falcon Acoustics, to Badger Sound Services, Wilmslow Audio, and others.

The USA had DIY designs from the big speaker companies JBL, Altec-Lansing, Electro Voice, Hartley, and Utah (and Lafayette and Allied with rebadged drivers from them). But the DIY bug started to develop commercial strength in the USA around 1980, and possibly surpassed the general sophistication of British designs.

Now, as we speak, I have lost contact, and cannot discern the market conditions for DIY speakers anywhere. It seems the flame is much smaller now. That's an opinion in regard to this market niche in hifi.

I could not truly say which country carries the torch in hifi now, and could not tell the "nationality" of some strong brands anymore. For example, what is the country of McIntosh, Marantz, Wadia, etc?

NHT is from USA, and so is Polk, Gallo Acoustics,Thiel, VPI, AVA Audio, Sound Smith, Grado, Pass Laboratories,Bob Carver ( http://www.bobcarver.com ), James Bongiorno, http://www.goldenear.com speakers, and http://www.gttgroup.com , Wilson Audio Speakers, Audio Research, Magnepan, Vandersteen Speakers, Manley Amplifiers, Boulder Amplifiers, Graham tonearms, Klipsch. and others I forgot.

But I could not even begin to identify British brands apart from KEF, Tannoy, Wharfedale, Rega, Naim, Monitor Audio, B&W, Spendor, Harbeth, Linn, Goldring, Creek, Musical Fidelity, Monitor Audio, Quad?? etc.

Too many absent from this in order to have a true perception. And the only hifi manufacturer we had in Puerto Rico was Euphonics, with their strain gauge Miniconic cartridge which closed shop around 40 years ago. I attempted to start DIY speaker manufacturing from my own garage, and managed to build several pairs for friends who I invited for dinner, who did not pay for using my long defunct woodshop (hardly an "industry" )

Good hunting for national superiority, cafe latte,

bauzace50

P.S.- yes, Bob Carver (see above) and James Bongiorno ( http://www.ampzilla2000.com ) are ba-a-a-ck with some killer amplifiers!

[RP3user]

Just a few British brands that bauzace50 has missed:

Acoustic Energy
Arcam
Audiolab
Cambridge Audio
Casle
Celestion
Chord
Creek
Cyrus
Exposure
Harbeth
Haywood
Meridian
Michell
Mission
Mordaunt Short
Myryad
Nad
O'heocha
Pink Triangle
Pro-ac
Pro-ject
QED
Quad
Roksan
Rotel
Royd
Ruark
SME
Spendor

I'm sure there are a lot more.

As for my own equipment, it's made up of Musical Fidelity, Acoustic Energy and Rega which are British. The Rega now has parts from the US and a Japanese cartridge that came to me via Canada! A Sony minidisc from Japan and a Marantz CD player from goodness knows where.

The audio in my office is all Cambridge Audio, which is OK but not very reliable.

But getting back to the original question, the best hifi comes from the UK. Not that I'm biased or anything

Graham

[bauzace50]

Yes, Graham. You are not biased.
And yes, no fair to repeat the ones I mentioned already.
b50

PS- I would not change my SME 309 tonearm for any other. Not that I am biased.

[RP3user]

Yes, Graham. You are not biased.
And yes, no fair to repeat the ones I mentioned already.
b50

PS- I would not change my SME 309 tonearm for any other. Not that I am biased.

I'm visiting a friend in just over a week, he has an SME TT with Lyra cartridge. Strangely enough it doesn't have an SME arm, he told me he wanted something better, if that's possible! Will let you know what he has. I'm interested in comparing the SME against my RP3 now that it has it's go faster stripes!

Graham

[lini]

We're not exactly short of speaker manufaturers over here, either: Canton, Quadral, Heco, ITT/Schaub-Lorenz, Klein + Hummel, Acron, Visonik, ALR/Jordan, Visaton, Arcus, Orbidsound, Nubert, Teufel, HGP, Gessner, Elac, Magnat, Backes & Müller, ADAM, Grundig, Braun, Isophon, MB Quart, Phonar, MBL, ASW, Audio Physic, Burmester, ME Geithain, Audiolabor, ATL, Audioplan, Dual, Sonics, T+A, Abacus...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[davidsss]

I thought the Chinese bought Quad?

Mr Latte, you are missing your own country!

Australia makes some fabulous speakers: SGR, Osborn, Aslan (now defunct) and a few I can't remember.

For a turntable, how could you go past a Continuum?

Amps: Weston Acoustics, ME (still going??), Redgum.

Don't think we make CD players, probably a good thing

DS

[avole]

Italy makes the best speakers in Europe by a long way now.

Norway and Denmark make the best speaker driver units and the best electronics.

Scotland and Germany make the best turntables.

Can't comment about countries outside Europe as haven't heard their gear.

[avole]

Half the UK brands listed are Chinese, who hire UK consultants for design work. Quad is one, as are Cambridge Audio, Audiolab, Wharfedale. Exposure are Malaysian.

Naim is now French owned but continues to work from Salisbury.

[bauzace50]

Australia also have Once Turntable, and Garrott Brothers.

[satanfriendly]

And the only hifi manufacturer we had in Puerto Rico was Euphonics, with their strain gauge Miniconic cartridge which closed shop around 40 years ago

In which case may be this brings a little tug to your heart B50:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Thorens-TD160 ... 2c627472e8

[Mark E Smith's Dentist]

In my own systems:

all the amplifiers (Temple, DIY) are British,

all the speakers (Living Voice, Ruark, Leema, SD) are British,

all the racks (Something Solid, Townshend, Audiophile Base) are British,

all the power conditioners (Isotek, Isol-8) are British,

my phono stage (ANT), tuner (AVI), CD player (AVI), arm (SME), one turntable (Garrard) and one pre-amp (AVI) are all British. The other pre-amp (Famco Nuance) is UK designed, French built by a Franco-American company.

Representing Japan I have a Sony DVD player, a Lyra cartridge, Technics turntable and assorted Furutech plugs and cables.

Nearly all the other cables are US made, either Nordost, Anti-Cable or Audioquest.


So I'm largely backing Britain.


JT

[RP3user]

I thought the Chinese bought Quad?

DS

OK, we are splitting hairs now As far as I am aware all the R&D is done in Cambridgeshire UK. Which is also the home of many other hifi manufacturers.

I very much doubt any manufacturer has everything done "in house" these days.

G