Hi Mordante,
Good point when you said:
Does it matter where a product is made? If I would buy a new turnable I woudn't care if it was made in North Korea, Cuba, US, Europe etc. If the product and service is good I truly woudn't care where is was made.
I was pointing toward the tendency of national design schools. Ameicans and Germans in my experience tend to place a high value on full range hi-fi systems for example.
In the case of many American decks, this has in my experience resulted in the turntable equivalent of the American muscle car - great straight line acceleration (bass, quiet background in this metaphor), but will slide of the road at the first sign of moisture on a curve (lack of finesse, nuance, subtlety, and delicacy).
We seem to be (in the past 6-8 years), reinventing ourselves however.
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier