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

[bauzace50]

Hi,

Another appearance of trolls, coming from -Norway- over 100 years back. It is in Ibsen's stage play "Peer Gynt", with incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg. The trolls are presented in just proportion in the play, and the music is very attractive.

Regards,
bauzace50

[13oots2]

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

You're in trouble with me for forgetting Musical Fidelity but then again they are probably rare outside my vintage collection, I must own a sizeable percentage

[Ottermel]

Ahhhh, you Brits!!
How can you forget Simon Yorke and Kudos, eh???

[satanfriendly]

How can you forget Simon Yorke

Doesn't he work out of Spain now?

[Ottermel]

Yes he does, but how many British firms manufacture components and parts overseas and then assemble them in the UK?
I don't think that any manufacturer makes ALL parts in house or in the same country.

[flavio81]

You Brits crack me up .....

The US of A has led the way in hi-fi for many a moons

This is true in the amount of "firsts", but then i feel that whatever the USA engineers do, the Germans do it even better. Because electronics design in the US of A, since the 50s, is market-driven and form-over-function, while the Germans will always put *Performance* *Function* and *Engineering* before form, marketing-potential, wife-acceptance-factor. Real men don't care for WAF or turntable aesthetics, by the way. The Germans will never do anything less than perfectly. It's part of the culture.

[A.Wayne]

Really , I guess they have the Best Hi-Fi. Then .....

[PeterW.]

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

Mpfffff....

US or Germany/Switzerland by such a stretch as to suggest any others is very nearly laughable.

Discounting the exotics:

US Germany/Switzerland
McIntosh Studer-Revox
Marantz Nagra
Acoustic Research Dual
Scott Thorens
Fisher Eumig
Magnepan Grundig
KLH Telefunken
Advent Akg
Dynaco Sennheiser
Koss Neumann
Eico Beyer
Lafayette And many, many others.
Klipsch
Heath(kit)
Empire
Shure
Grado
Pickering
Stanton
Crown
Ampex
And many more.

Point being that the above companies put more audio in more hands at more price points than very likely the rest of the world combined. And much of what they did/do holds up well to this day.

Japan makers were excellent copiers, very seldom coming up with anything *new* (in audio) - but often refining and packaging existing technology in new and more flashy ways and often with very high production values. China makers with very few exceptions even to this day are a bad joke.

I have been accused of being 'anti-British' not hardly. They made/make great stuff *when it works*. I put most British goods in the same category as NAD - good design, excellent sound, but with a unacceptably high failure rate. Lest the Brits think I am painting them all the same, I put Tandberg in exactly the same category. Great stuff when it works - but when one of their reps stated that my 10XD tape-deck failed (for the 6th time in 6 months) because their factory workers were working in cold conditions - he lost me. I traded it in for a Revox that day. No kidding.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Ldg]

.....Japan makers were excellent copiers, very seldom coming up with anything *new* (in audio)

Appols if I fell for the bait, but this has to be nonsense. There are many many examples otherwise, in case it isn't obvious.

[cafe latte]

There is nothing wrong with Brit made stuff, my Decca super gold sounds amazing and works almost every time I use it, I normally only have to stuff around for about 5 minutes to get all the contacts make suficient contact to play music and they normally stay in contact for the whole record. Yes if a cat sneezed in another room there is a danger the whole thing will fall apart but hey that is part of its charm, it keeps you on your toes.
Regards
CL

[Alec124c41]

Does your Decca have Lucas wiring?

Cheers,
Alec

[cafe latte]

Does your Decca have Lucas wiring?

Cheers,
Alec

Shudder Dont start me on Land Rovers..
Regards
CL

[PeterW.]

.....Japan makers were excellent copiers, very seldom coming up with anything *new* (in audio)

Appols if I fell for the bait, but this has to be nonsense. There are many many examples otherwise, in case it isn't obvious.

Lucky:

Name any three things that were *created* in Japan from whole cloth vs. refinements of concepts initiated elsewhere.

I would be fascinated to know of any.

Thanks in advance,

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[cafe latte]

.....Japan makers were excellent copiers, very seldom coming up with anything *new* (in audio)

Appols if I fell for the bait, but this has to be nonsense. There are many many examples otherwise, in case it isn't obvious.

Lucky:

Name any three things that were *created* in Japan from whole cloth vs. refinements of concepts initiated elsewhere.

I would be fascinated to know of any.

Thanks in advance,

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Too easy I will give you 10, see link..http://www.japaninc.net/top-10-japanese-inventions/
Regards
CL