@kennyc , I suppose the comparison I was most interested in making would be with speakers manufactured in the US or in Europe.
Peformance at price point for speakers manufactured in China?
Lately I've been doing some "window shopping" for speakers on various sites, and this question pertains to how much more speaker one can get for the money when they are manufactured in China.
Specifically, I did some browsing on Music Direct and came across the Wharfedale Elysian 1. I see a listing for a pair with stands that claims it has been marked down from 5800 to about 4k (this does not appear to be an open box) which is interesting, because a pair WITHOUT stands is listed at 5k; but regardless, if these speakers were not manufactured in China, how much more would they probably list for?
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there is a story of Sockeye salmon caught in the Pacific North being frozen and then shipped to China where they thaw them, cut and gut and slice them up, freeze them again and ship them back to e.g. Seattle to grocery stores. They travel 12,000 miles for a few minutes of cheaper labor. Must be a pretty smooth workflow if it increases profits. Imagine how much easier is for electronics. |
I just bought a preamplifier... for peanuts... And trust me it is not junk , soundwise at least ... For sure if i was the owner a 50,000 bucks system i would not have bought it , i would have bought the ZOTL preamplifier of Berning ...😁 ( i returned one few months ago because it was not a good match for my AKG K340 i lost money and regret to have not kept it for my modified low cost active speakers because of my wife grin reading the cost😁) . My total system cost is near 1000 bucks ( half the price of the ZOTL preamplifier) but i paid it way less with my usual luck ... But many popular american products in the same price window (50 bucks) if it exist at all if they compete dont do more than these two preamplifier ... China can create junk and did it in huge quatities yes, and also just created a 1,000 km per hour train ...They go to the moon also ... And they are able in some case to create a low cost surprising pre-amplifier for peanuts ... I know because i own a tube one for my active speakers and the other S.S. for my movie headphone... the two for near 100 US bucks and impossible to beat save to pay thousand of dollars not a bit more sorry ...😁 Someone owning a multi thousand dollars preamplifier can laugh at me , but i learned enough in audio in the last 10 years to differentiate those who know and those who did not know ... I known enough to be satisfied with any basic good product because i know how to optimize them or modifying them ...Acoustics rules not price tag... Making the more with the less is creativity...
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It’s not just labor cost difference, there are also different costs in transportation, storage, maybe electricity, etc. I suppose one can use broad assumptions to come up with a cost number, then do some markup, but what’s the point? Besides satisfying curiosity, the higher determined sale price would have no benefit- nothing will change. @mahgister congrats on your new component. |
There’s also the lower pollution standards to consider when offshoring to China. Very lax laws allow toxic wastes to just be dumped wherever convenient. One can’t do that here. Chinese workers are exposed to all manner of toxins that wouldn’t be allowed here. On the bright side, they have some remarkable craftsmen/tradesmen whose work can rival anyone in the rest of the world, and is some areas, surpass them. The more they build and specialize, the more we’re going to use their people for labor, as long as the costs are low enough to offset transportation costs. Anything to save a penny. All the best,
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