Red Rose : quality drain?

A tough question that most obviously will make the management of companies say "of course, they produce the best product and the benefits of the production cost both favor you the discerning consumer and us, the company." To be honest, I have seen a disconcerning amount of products used to be made in the US, Canada or another developed country, but now are made in the Orient. For sure in the skin deep sense, they might look well built, but for what I can recall from the early attempts at it by a company now known as Jolida, the first amplifiers that were badged that, that came out around 1995 were shody in craftsmanship (bad silkscreening and fitted with very bad speaker binders etc...)

To have the best quality products, as you well said need to have a consciencious assembly worker do the job. Sad to say, the word "assembly" and "line" as well as "worker" means so so wages and for what I have to say, the product made is just a "job." Outstanding quality or craftsmanship has a lot to do with "passion"...there are very few passionate people who imbue this sense of purpose on their products. Overseas production lines benefit the company more than you or I, the consumer here.

BTW, I would rather have a component manufactured in either Korea or Taiwan any time instead of something made in China etc...

Companies that ask carriage-trade prices have no business importing and re-badging productsmade off shore. Would Pass Labs do that? To me, it's insulting.

Jeffrey

I think it is important to distinguish between companies that simply rebadge equipment-like red rose- and the many other companies that use pacific production on designs that their engineers spec. while that may be a nuanced argument to some, I do value the architecture of the really high end manufacturers and if they support the equipment post sale, I can get over the fact that they no longer produce it in the country of origin. Having said that, Red Rose is a sham of the highest order, and that makes sense given the obvious issues that Mark Levinson-who used to be somebody-has and how desparate he is to be someone again.

It is not unusual for quality to degrade over time, even (or perhaps particularly) for domestic products. The first units are built by the best engineers and technicians, who developed the product. Later units are put together "by hippies and grandmothers" (to quote a very wise chief engineer that I worked with). The engineers and the best technicians have moved on to develop the next product.

Also, people in third world countries sometimes have practical skills which we Americans lack. Case in point is the assembly of small mechanisms by Hispanic women. They have small hands and fingers, and can do work that would drive a red-blooded American crazy.

Does the United States actually make anything these days?
What are some high end audio companies that still make everything here in the U.S.?
Do European audio companies have the same strategy -- pacific rim or 3rd world manufacturing? just curious.

That might be an overstatement. Some US manufacturers do make things in the US, but the whole idea of "Made in the USA" label, has a lot to do with manufacturing or "putting" things together in the US. For example, there are plenty of components used in components that are made in Japan and or other overseas manufacturer, but just because they are part of the circuit, it does not mean that it needs to be called "Made in elsewhere." I have seen plenty of companies that design their gear here and either choose to manufacture the items overseas or they make them here depending of the price they charge for the items....The lower the price of the component, they are usually made overseas, but the higher the price, I guess they need to have them made in the US to convince the higher paying customers that they are getting something made in the country where they purchase the product and live. Of the manufacturers that make the products here in the US, I might name the following:

Rogue
Belles
Mark Levinson
Krell
McIntosh
McCormack
Conrad Johnson
First Sound
Infinity (speakers)
Ayre
Avalon (speakers)
Boulder
Pass Labs
Wilson (speakers)
Bel Canto
Art Audio
VPI
Basis turntables
Innersound
Coda
Threshold (old and new)
Revel (speakers)

and many more that I cannot remember.

There can be a potential of companies deciding to deliberately make their products in the US or in some recognized industrialized countries once again due to the quest of gaining the favor of customers that care more about the image and also the sound than that of price.

Repeat: there is no guarantee that things stamped Made in the USA carry 100% of components sources from US companies.