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For our European friends

I was born in Poland but immigrated to the US as a teen with my family.... now in my late 40's I am actually thinking of going back to Poland.
Along the way I picked up this funny hobby....like the rest of us here and would like to know a few things:
- Seems with Audiogon being 90% US based and doing a quick google search there is fraction of the stuff / many less audiophiles in EU than in the USA...If you live in Germany, Italy, Poland....or any other country in Europe...do you feel there is a lot of opportunities to buy and trade high end equipment ?
 - There are some great EU companies but how about companies from the US? Are you able to pick up some of the gear made in the US but with proper Voltage or do you have to do the conversion yourself / at a local shop ?
- Anyone here actually brought their equipment from the US to Europe? 

Any feedback about the EU audiophile market and the hobby in general would be appreciated.

thanks !
ether
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,883 posts
 
You can start by checking out Hi Fidelity, a Polish audio review site:
http://www.highfidelity.pl/
and
http://hifi-products.com/msearch.cgi?HCountry=PL&search=%20Search%20&Amplifiers_Check=on&Speakers_Check=on&CD_Check=on&Tuners_Check=on&Turntables_Check=on&Headphones_Check=on&Decks_Check=on&Furniture_Check=on&Cables_Check=on&Accessories_Check=on&Page=3
All the best,
Nonoise
gsm18439
895 posts
 
The HighFidelity articles are well-written. I knew that there were a number of Polish audio companies. But so many!  There is a group of audiophiles that meets regularly and whose meeting are reported in HighFidelity. 

My my only negative experience was dealing with Polish customs when I had to send my CDP back for repair. Had to pay duty even though I had owned the unit for several years and even though I sent it back only for repair. Jarek - the man behind AncientAudio - is a good person to know. 
gwompek
1 posts
 
Hello all.  My first post here but I felt compelled to reply to this topic.  I'm currently living in Warsaw Poland for a short stint.  I am absolutely astounded at how serious people take audio here.  I am absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to hifi and record stores here.  I think there are close to 20 hifi stores within a few mile radius of the city center.  Not to mention company stores/salons from Marantz, Focal, Denon,etc.  Coming from a city in the US where the closest audio store was about 200 miles away this is overwhelming and great.  There are even audio magazines on every news stand shelf.  

Many prices for foreign gear is MUCH higher than in the US.  Even the Focal gear from France is a good bit more expensive.  I foolishly assumed that the EU relationship would make the prices at least on par with the US but I dont understand the trade agreements. 

I have not fully explored the Polish brands but it seems as if there are some great manufacturers and great bargains.  My Polish is unfortunately horrible which limits my ability to explore the options fully.

All that is to say, Poland is a wonderful place to live as an audiophile IMHO.
moofoo
292 posts
 
Once in a while I buy one of the British audio mags and it also seems from the ads to be alot of retail audio stores there, likely in larger metro areas I assume. Why is Europe different than the US in this respect? Maybe, based on hard data it is not.
browndt
97 posts
 
My experience is that the Polish audiophile community is very interested in quality equipment. I know several experts in tube equipment and they are very knowledgeable. I buy most of my tubes from a firm in Poland.
They have NOS tubes that you can be found no where else. In fact, Poland may have one of the best inventories of rare tubes in the world including some exceptional tubes produced in Poland in the 50s and 60s.
So yes I think that you would find that the Polish and the rest of Europe
very supportive of high quality audio.
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