Europeans vs. the U.S.A.

Sorry if I left out some companies (Harmon, McIntosh, Burmester, etc.). I purposely left out the large Japanese firms although a good case can be made that Sony and Pioneer offer complete high end systems.

I don't know for a fact, but I suspect a lot of people are buying very expensive single brand systems. Most likely these people are not audiophiles, but well heeled music lovers. The single brand route really does simplify the system building (and upgrading) process. You could do a lot worse then ending up with a $20k+ all Naim system. Is the music lover to audiophile ratio higher in Europe than in the U.S.?

Very interesting question, Onhwy61!

I think Brian's post is very accurate. Is it American to have the "do one thing and do it right" attitude? I am not sure, but over time, there have evolved speaker companies, electronics companies, turtable companies, digital companies, and cable companies.

You are right to bring up the fact that European companies are more holistic in the audiophile experience. You could also argue that perhaps because of this, they tend to take a very different view of cable. Europeans are quite nonchalant about wire, viewing it in a light more inline with mine - you need good cable, but it shouldn't rival the cost of your loudspeakers. Whereas the cable industry(virtually all American companies) seems to have evolved with the hype that AudioQuest, Kimber, and MIT began putting out their(for their own survival) own, "you need cable because your system doesn't sound as good as it should!" ads.

It is perhaps that the American market was so overwhelmed by Japanese products bach in the 1970s that manufacturers survived by building the best of what the best they could do.

I suppose the only exception I can think of is McIntosh. I own the 2102 amp and I love it but I would not spend such money on McIntosh speakers.

I also own the Audio Aero Capitole Mark II CD player and one day i spotted it's matching amp here on Audiogon and I made an offer that I was sure he would refuse and now I own the amp, too. While they do work together, I really do like the McIntosh Amp.

I really don't know about full systems vs. the one company that makes the best amp. There are some givens, such as British make excellant speakers and American tube amps are fantastic. Japanese products are very reliable and very old Dutch, British and American tubes are pure gold.

I am only happy that for some reason all of these products can try to work together unlike so many other gadgets like software, cameras, cars, etc.

Hi a response from a Brit. Firstly it's not true that US gear is'nt reviewed in UK mags. High end US gear is held in awe here. I heard it recently expressed (Hifi+) that the US invented high end, in particular in the context of ARC amps.
A real problem is pricing, in simple terms we pay in £'s, the same price you pay in $'s and with the dollar at 1.80, thats an obscene and I mean obscene mark up. UK dealers have exploited the falling dollar to rip of consumers. An example, I recently bought a 2nd hand, but nearly new CJ 17LS pre amp off Audiogon. It cost about $3400 including shipping and customs. In the UK a new model costs about $8800. that is the barrier you're manufacturers face. They should be putting pressure on greedy distributors, rant over.
Why do European manufacturers provide complete systems, I do'nt know there is one reason and only a few of course do.

America has always been an open market, and, because of the size and wealth of the market, it is the usual target for everyone thinking of exporting. Americans are so used to having a lot of choices and are therefore not as inclined to brand loyalty. The size of the market also means that manufacturers can specialize in a relatively narrow line of products and not run out of room to grow.