American Made Audio Products

Meh. 

That’s what I need to know @stereo5   thanks. 

it is nice to support american companies however many of these companies use drivers made elsewhere

only magico and magneplaner make their own drivers

also the list failed to mention Legacy hand made in illinois.

and Maggie is the only lady I can listen to without wanting to get up and leave the room....right Carol, Betty, Janice, Erica, etc!!?? ;-) I'm smiling and hope you can too.

Party on brothers!

List isn’t perfect but it is longer than I thought it would be. thanks for posting.

Doesn’t include my favorite US amplifier company, Sophia Electric.

The internet created a lot of new problems that hadn't really existed before.  One is the prevalence of paid advertising masquerading a impartial lists or similar. I wonder if companies have to pay to be on this list?

Stereo5, thanks for telling us important information about yourself. bye now.

Jerry

@carlsbad,

What is your problem?  I had seen the list before, hence my "meh".  lighten up.

Heavy.

There was a thread very similar to this a few years ago. It might show up if you search the headers (not body).

Thanks @milpai I read the authors bio (you have to dig for it) and what his intentions are. Just curious if anyone know for sure. I really appreciate all of the input. 

@infection 

. +1

American manufacturers don't have the monopoly on well made audio gear.  Several European companies make top-knotch stuff and their components are not farmed out to Asian companies.  Focal speakers are French and they make their own speakers from the ground up. I would assume that the Swiss, German,  Spanish and Scandinavian companies do the same.

I wonder how many of the components these listed companies use to manufacture their products are actually made in the USA.

"magneplaner" doesn’t make it’s own drivers. Magnepan does though, for its Magneplanar loudspeakers. If one wishes to give a U.S.A. company props, getting the company and product name correct, spelling them correctly, and using an upper case letter at the beginning of each would be a good start.

Another U.S.A. company making its own planar-magnetic drivers is Eminent Technology. ETs LFT (Linear Field Transducer) driver is, unlike most Magnepan drivers, of push-pull design, with magnets on both sides of the Mylar diaphram. That Mylar is attached to a substantial metal frame, and may have its tension adjusted. The Mylar in Magnepans is glued and stapled onto the outer MDF frame, no adjustment possible. In spite of those instances of superiority, audiophiles continue to ignore the ET LFT-8b, priced ($2499/pr) surprisingly close to the Magnepan MG1.7i.

magico don't make their own drivers audio Troy, the contract the workout to other companies get your info straight.

The made in America banner has gone stale now :-)

Omega Loudspeakers are assembled in the US with us made drivers. Highly underrated underrated.

Don’t forget McIntosh, they are a good example of “the real McCoy”

The only American made item I own is the border patrol dac, however it is designed by a UK guy. Otherwise, I do not like much made here. I like my UK made stuff.

That list is missing some schiit.

@dinov Are you wanting to make sure that all the parts inside the gear is American made, too? Sometimes the quest for "American made" falters because gear has parts from all over the world. 

A lot of grumps in here are missing the point of this list, even if it doesn't include that one rare equipment manufacturer that you feel is important, but isn't on the list. This website is to help guide the vast majority to brands made in the USA. And is does a pretty good job. Shesh. 

@j-wall A thread about "made in America" on Agon attracted a lot of grumps? Almost as surprising as the headline, "Water: wet." Really, these threads go nowhere and merely provide an online canvas for whatever mental reflux is burbling around the guts of posters.

Benchmark is not listed?

The author of this site seems to take time to qualify the Made in America portion in the description.  Just because the company is based in the USA does not mean they are Made in the USA qualified.  My question is, does it really matter?   

only magico and magneplaner make their own drivers

False.

Ohm, Eminent Tech...

I am sure there are others.

Thank you so much!  I try to buy American made and this is very helpful and I found some new gear to check out.  I wonder why my favorite cable maker Transparent Audio didn't make the list?

... Fritz Speakers

@kb673 - Fritz makes great speakers indeed!! But even he uses ScanSpeak speakers from Denmark (I think; otherwise elsewhere in Scandinavia).... 

@hilde45 no grumps here, I’m just trying to see if anyone knows more about the website. As for American made, I try to support American companies when I can. No agenda. Just a question and something I thought I’d share with the group 

@audioguy85 , oh. I love British audio too, no disrespect. My headphones are Quad, and I love them although they were probably assembled elsewhere.  Support your home team!
 

Thanks @thyce.

I try to not buy made in US .

There is better in Europe and Canada , 

@hilde45 I missed who was saying what, so I’m sorry if I directed something at you that should have been to someone else. Lots of side tracks. 

@stereo5 ,  Why drop in? 

Thanks OP.  I'm definitely trying a bit harder to buy American made goods. Just bought my first American made car in over 25 years!  

John Dark here - I'm the publisher of the site, and welcome any questions. The short history is that I started the site when I noticed that almost all of my system was made locally, and I became curious about the state of American high-end audio manufacturing. There are great components made all over the world, but I live in the US and wanted to know more about the companies doing business near me. I was surprised to find so many manufacturers here. I'm sure I've missed a few companies (there are over 200 listed and categorized), and sure to be more.

I list companies that can lay claim to "Made in USA" and "Assembled in USA" using the FTC guidelines as I can best interpret them, and as companies make information available. I don't list companies that misuse those tags, or that design and distribute from the US but import their goods. You can learn more here: https://americanmadeaudio.com/2016/06/25/made-usa-standard-guidelines-audio-equipment-manufacturers-consumers/  

As for Benchmark, either I missed them or they weren't as clear that they assemble in the USA when I first created the list. I've just added them to the site. I'm less familiar with the other brands listed above. The best way to get on the list is to have a representative from that company email the address in the "About Us" page, but I'll add companies from time to time as I find them. 

@darkj thank you for getting in on the conversation about you 😀 and your website!

I hope the group might have some questions for you. As I said I stumbled upon it, and you’ve now answered my question. I think it’s a great resource and I’m impressed to see how many companies are American. I did not think there were this many. I thank you again. 

A very incomplete list. And many selling product built abroad.

@mglik As for adding companies, either have the company contact me https://americanmadeaudio.com/about-us/  or provide the URL, the categories of products they sell, the location of the factory, and any relevant details.

As for those selling product built abroad, see my comment above regarding "Made in USA" vs. "Assembled in USA." Some companies meet those requirements for a few products, but not for others. While I make all reasonable efforts to point to the right companies, the intent is as a starting point. In the end, each individual buyer will need to determine whether a given company or product is right for them.

However, I believe you have listed companies that are actually distributors or importers. Boarder Patrol for example.

@mglik  I'm under the impression that their amps are made or assembled in the USA, while they import other gear, like Innuos. From their site: "In addition to building and supplying the BorderPatrol Amplifiers and DAC’s equipment we sell the excellent Innuos Music Servers and import and sell the widely acclaimed Living Voice Avatar series of loudspeakers." I've just sent an email to confirm.

You said the list was "very incomplete" What companies would you have me add? I can look into them. 

I was under the impression that Boarder Patrol were made in GB.

Think you can add AGD Production.

Maybe companies which rebuild Quads and Idler drive TT like Woodsong Audio?

@mglik Border Patrol is in Maryland. If there's a UK-based "Boarder Patrol" I don't list them. AGD is new to me. I’ve sent him a message as he makes no specific claims about his production on the site, though it seems likely that they're bench-made in LA.

Full disclosure - Speaker designer-manufacturer

I like to believe that most manufactures try to be honest with their Made in USA claims. There are government guidelines in some cases. In some cases US made parts at competitive prices don't exist and often don't exist at all. For example, I once needed to source a fractional, direct drive oil-less air compressor for systems that had to be DOD complaint which requires them to be Made in USA for the most part. There are exceptions and guidelines. The exceptions and guidelines are so complicated and vary from one jurisdiction to the next that we decided to source US made units. There are hundreds of choices of non-US made units. After months of research I found only two US manufactures that built what we needed. We paid 50% more for them. Their quality, engineering and technical support were top notch.

The world has been moving to a global economy for a while. It's challenging to unravel the origin of every part. We design and build our own AMT drivers in the USA. That said, we source steel from a US company and buy it per spec not origin. Blanks are cut in the US on machines of unknown origin (to us) then blanks are fully machined to spec in the US. The custom Neodymium magnets are made to our specs in the US but we don't spec the origin the raw materials. Probably from China. The pleated diaphragms are made in the US. Some of the adhesives are from the US and some are not. The BoPET substrate is likely not from the US. This example is only for the AMT drivers. I won't go into the rest of the speaker.

We take pride in building as much of our product as we can in the US for a variety of reasons. We try to support local business and our economy as much as we can. Personally, I enjoy developing good working relationships with our vendors and having a person to directly speak with when needed. I have been using the same machine shop for about 20 years now. Started dealing with Sr. and now working with the son. 

We are not at all apposed to using non-US parts if we have too. We use Italian made drivers and German caps for our Atlas. If there are equal parts, one made in the US and the other not, I will likely buy the US made part. Being a small company allows us to be more selective that way. Big "bottom line" companies have a different business model.

So, are our speakers "Made in the USA"? We think they are. Or should we say "Made on Earth"?

@dinov No worries at all. My question was: do all the internal parts need to be made in the U.S.A. to meet the standards in your OP?

@hilde45 thanks, as for your question I wasn’t really thinking about that because it’s almost a given that a large majority the the internal parts, ie transistors capacitors etc. are not made in the US, as is the same for many of the other non-us based companies. Perhaps, irrelevant in todays age. 

@dinov Nice resource to have and I saved the site for future reference. 👍🏻

@dinov  Understood. Some folks make a point of buying American especially when they want to deprive other countries (with questionable politics/ethics) of profits. So, it becomes a kind of ludicrous thing to try, sometimes, given how many countries make internal parts for so-called American products. The question then becomes, why bother making the ethical point in such an ineffective way.

@hilde45  Some things like tube amps, turntables, or anything that doesn't really need a board, can easily be made of 100% American content, and often are. Speakers are harder but a few companies make their own drivers here. Most do not. Most manufacturers are not only willing, but proud, to tell you about their supply chain, and I encourage folks to ask if it's important to them, otherwise, to your point, it's hard to know. 
 

@jbhiller 

"@stereo5,  Why drop in? 

So, what is your problem?  If you are asking why I am here, it is obvious, same reason as everyone else.  This discussion was posted before and the list was as well, hence my "meh".  If you are bothered by that, then by all means, block my posts.  My feelings won't be hurt in the least. I noticed you have been hostile towards me before and I never spoke up about it so I am speaking about it now.