Wharfedale Elysian 4 Incredible build quality and sound, but made in China.

@cd318 . I buy what ever the wallet fits and agree with you. The world is globally sourced with so many MFG. Consumers are well educated today and know a good buy when they see one along with using the judgement of diminishing returns.

@cd318 

Well, you almost said it. Outsourcing hurts innovation. Why bother researching and innovating when you can dropship? Just phone a wholesaler.

Hey, REGA is good example of UK innovation. There are many similar examples in Europe like Atoll, Exposure, Focal etc... So you’re not a marginal for buying locally manufactured goods.

"Do you really think that multinational globalist companies care about any of that?"

That’s precisely the problem. It’s extremely political. Nations should keep globalist companies in check. But it’s the other around: globalist companies are suing countries for natural resources and to freeze the minimum wage etc...

Ultimately, I believe that it’s really easy to buy high quality UK produced gear on the used market. This is especially true in France since the local population doesn’t seem to care about UK brands such as Arcam, Rega, Creek or Castle. I scored a Creek 4240 for 130€ recently and the owner told me he was trying to sell that thing for over 1 year. So I feel obliged to buy British. A comparable Atoll IN30 would sell for 400€ used.

@webking185 

The average buyer isn't as informed as you might think. Let's just say that a dozen brands like Polk, Wharfedale, Focal, Klipsch, B&W, KEF, Wilson Audio etc... get all of the coverage. You can't really circumvent that problem, there are too many brands. But it's silly to me that people are paying full retail for a pair of KEF LS50 when there are better options on the used market for way less $ or just a few hundred more on the new market. 

Unfortunately, China is the 800 pound gorilla on this planet. I refuse to subsidize that kind of behavior. There are plenty of great American, Canadian, Australian and European speakers available. GE needs to move it's plant to the West and not wait until it is too late. Where did patting Germany on the head in the 1930's get us? Before WW 2 we were shipping arms to England and putting sanctions on Japan. Sound familiar? 

@webking185 

Yes, the internet age has forever changed consumer behaviour.

Before it, we audiophiles were practically living in the dark ages.

Where once even a little bit of specialised knowledge was scarce, limited to books and journals, now we are practically drowning in it.

We consumers are certainly far better educated today and reading reviews is almost an art form in itself.

@kokakolia 

In an ideal world morally you may be correct.  However, businesses are a for profit enterprise.  Even increasing customer goodwill is targeted at long term increased profit.  Business should be more "morale"?  Good luck with that waste of time wishful thinking.