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Nationalism in Audio Products?

In searching out quality products, I am finding that many folks review products, describe products, or even laud products for their being made in so-and-so country. Coming from a first generation household, my mom a Swiss immigrant, my dad, Russian, I can identify with these seemingly stereotypical associations between certain countries' craftspeople and their products. What I mean is, there is some truth to the sterotype that a speaker made in, say, England, might sound better than one made in another place. It even occurred to me the other morning, that since I am planning to upgrade my entire system in the coming years, to see if I could put together an All-Swiss-Made system, being a bit partial to their manufacturing standards (and their chocolate). I found several sets of speakers that didn't look very promising (of course I haven't actually HEARD them). Benz micro is pretty well known. I also know of a Swiss CD player whose price tag depressed me for days. I haven't found any Swiss tube amplifiers and I was starting to not care. Then I found a turntable built by a Swiss company called Holborne. I have since scoured the internet looking for information about it. There is nothing even on Audiogon (searching archives for keyword "Holborne") I would humbly ask any of you if you know anything about this turntable, if it is built to last, if it sounds good, in short, is it a good investment. If there I receive enough contrary advice, I would probably return to my original plan, a little thing built in the US of A called the Galibier Serac.....
mr_stain
flyingred
139 posts
 
Travis, you are right to point out that the 17.5% VAT is applied equally to imports and home production. However, some product/country combinations do attract additional import duties, levied in relation to "the tariff" at customs.

VAT is applied to the total landed cost - i.e. invoice total, plus freight charges, plus insurance, plus handling agent's charges. These are not trivial and it is fairly normal for UK retail prices for official imports from the US (including all taxes) to be 80-90% higher than the US price.
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
Hi Travis, Flyingred

Thanks for clarifying what I meant to say - that VAT is applied equally, but that there are added VAT charges for exporters - with VAT being applied to shipping, insurance, and handling.

More significant is the distribution layer, which taken in combination with this can come close to doubling a product's price on a foreign shore. This is not to debate the role that a good distributor plays, as they may well earn their money in support, etc. It still has an influence on price however.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
I expect that a lot of the mark-up when moving across borders has to do with distributors, or of manufacturers doing the same job. I am not sure, and I am sure that there are many different ways of pricing to different avenues, but it could be that manufacturers may charge domestic dealers and international distributors the same price. This could lead to distortions in international pricing for a few reasons; 1) in the domestic market, the mfr may take care of routine servicing/warranty work, advertising & promotion (CES & equivalent), set-up in customers' homes for high-end items on his own dime whereas in international markets, the distributor usually takes care of all this, which certainly adds a cost. 2) foreign exchange volatility/drift means that prices may have to be set higher than 'normal' simply to avoid having to raise them 3% every time the dollar take a tumble, 2a) there is a mark-up based on cross-currency forwards when US mfrs sell in most overseas markets where short- to medium-term interest rates are lower than U.S. interest rates. In some countries this can turn into a decent mark-up when considered over the life-cycle of the product (discussed by me in a previous thread), 3) distributors may have to finance inventory (and shipping to get it there).

That said, there may be some mark-up simply because the market will bear it.
gregm
3,399 posts
 
Aball:
My Koras are fast with a particular affinity for details and clarity and an underlying impatience
:) Yup, that rings a bell: "precision & rigour". The invariable complaint of French professors in Engineering and Law schools when discussing their students' performance....
"Your (inadequately written) paper typically lacks precision and rigour, Mr X. Fail. Please resubmit."

I remember listening to an outrageously expensive and meticulously set-up system at a dealer in Paris. I was young and inexperienced and felt that music coming out of the system paled before all the detail emanating -- as if you couldn't hear the music for the amount of detail hitting the ears. I turned to a chap sitting next to me and commented on this. He answered s/thing like: "this is a precise and rigurous rendering of the medium being played (it was a LP). I you want music, go to a concert -- many free concerts every night you know!"
audiomole
9 posts
 
A question relevant to countries of origin is that of the ethics involved in the manufacturing. It is important to me to buy audio products I know to be made by people who are involved in their work and get treated fairly. I also want businesses to be good citizens, not to pollute, to use non-endangered products etc., particularly in a hobby I feel so close to. That applies to any country.
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