Nationalism in Audio Products?

All,

This is a provocative thread. The topic has been on my mind for quite some time.

One point that needs to be made relates to barriers presented to exporters. I'm in the process of obtaining my first dealer who will be in the UK (Artisan Audio) and so this topic is very relevant to me.

Right off the top, we face 17% VAT, which affects a product's competitiveness against local products. If you add a distributor into the mix (which I'm not), you're adding another layer of profit and cost. These factors tend to give local products a home field advantage against imports. A Triplanar tonearm in the UK approaches the price we see a Breuer arm costing in this country.

I think that there is quite a bit of truth to the idea of organic growth in design schools by region, although the internet is virtualizing geography to some extent. Of course, the shortcoming of these virtualized cyber-regions is that you can't get together on a Saturday night to play show and tell.

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There are most certainly predominant national tastes. I've been told that Focal tweeters are a reflection of the way the French like to listen - an etched sound. My friends tell me that the German sensibility leans toward a full range and balanced sound - music that can handle both Wagner and Techno with aplomb.

As far as the US tastes are concerned, I have never enjoyed the sound of American turntables. This is one reason why Peter, Chris and I began making turntables. The other reason is that we're nuts.

Exceptions I've found to expressions of the American design school are the Merrill and the AR.

American rigs in general remind me of the predominant taste Americans had in automobiles in the latter part of the previous century - lots of power, but an automobile which would slide into the ditch at the first curve or the first sign of rain. The metaphor here applies to the ability to convey nuance and microdynamics. The Merrill and the AR were the only exceptions I found to what I consider to be the fatal flaws I identified above.

Others will disagree with me, in the same way that people purchased GTO's, Camaros, etc. instead of Porsches, and BMWs. Ya pays yer money and ya makes yer choices.

Oh yeah ... don't laugh about the hemp mat (the post about Jamaican turntables). Hemp cone speakers rule! The same attributes that allow hemp to make strong rope, paper, etc. contribute to hemp cones being a "better" paper.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Audio Consulting in Switzerland build tube amps and phono stages, whilst being better known as the source RAM use for some of the components fitted to their CD player upgrades.

I have two observationss to add to the debate on nationalism in audio products.

First, we are all influenced by the influence of consumer marketing. In the major markets, the home brands will have built a dominant position - prominence in dealers, share of advertising in the audio magazines, significant word of mouth presence on discussion boards, etc.

Most audio magazines understand their symbiotic relationship with dealers (who are significante advertisers) and will review (usually favorably) products launched by the home brands. Occasionally an importer of high end gear has sufficient advertising power to buy a seat at the top table. Often we don't have the opportunity to hear imported products and dealers can be skilled in guiding customers to the home brands.

Being in the UK, I use "brands" rather than "manufacturers" quite deliberately because many of the well known British brands e.g. Quad, are owned by the Chinese and made there.

Secondly, I think it's dangerous to generalizea about anything in audio - not all belt drives sound better than all direct drive tabls, not all SET amps sound great, not all CD players are harsh and bright, etc. Likewise, it's not true that all British turntables or speakers are best.

Speaking as a Brit, we have a rich history as merchant adventurers and have the ability to be decisive without being in full possession of all the facts. As a nation we are tenacious and don't know when to quit. In sporting endeavor we tend to over-estimate how good we are in relation to the competition and then be disappointed with our results - ask any Australian about cricket for confirmation! :(

I am sure the same holds true in audio! :) If you read some of the UK audio boards you will find these characteristics manifest as an inverted snobbery, in which posters take great delight in boasting how good their inexpensive equipment sounds (without ever hearing the kind of gear we here would regard as references). This behavior may well account for the inflated reputation enjoyed by the Linn Sondek LP12 and SME tonearms. :) Ymmv!

Thom, a thought...
The 17% VAT is not applied unequally to imported products. There may be other import duties I am unaware of but the VAT by itself is embedded in the price of the local products already, the way your products will have the VAT in the price when your new customers buy boatloads of them :^) There is no home field advantage there... There may be increased shipping costs, and because imported products tend to have distributor layers more often than do domestic products, one could generalize that this indeed adds a cost (in general; though because distributors in many cases cover light warranty work, it's like they take care of the 'insurance deductible', making those units more profitable for the home country manufacturer assuming similar cost to distributor as to dealer who wouldn't cover that 'deductible').

I agree with the idea of the possibility of cultural tilts. Some of these manifest themselves with style of listening, taste in sound reproduction colorations, and some even in taste in listening material. But I as I think about it, I realize that there may not be enough samples to actually determine whether those tilts are really there or not. An example: Jadis owners might disagree with the assertion that the French tend towards 'etched' sound.

And on the subject of GTOs and Camaros, look what's happening these days... A early high-spec GTOs and Camaros are going for ridiculous bucks these days and as more baby-boomers become affluent and yearn to relive their youth, the bubble could spread to their TTs. Get your US-made mid 60s TTs now while they're cheap (load up on wooden consoles and record-stackers?)!

Cheers,
Travis

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.

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