Impact of Tariffs on Audio Market

@mahler123 

"Duly ordered and waiting to see if I dodge the increase"

I had purchased some music from the UK a little over a month ago from a company I have purchased from before. Usually it takes an extra week but still not here. I have a message from eBay stating the package is - like many - being held up in customs. 

I purchased an NAD C298 about 2 years ago for $2300 from Crutchfield. Just checked this AM and that same amplifier is $2999. $700 more! 

Tariffs are going to give rise to the black market. Cash only deals on the sly. 

@mahgister 

Good for you! Smart move! To all the Canadians out there; be strong. 

Tariffs are here. Gonna get crazy. It is a real issue in the audiophile industry and we need to be able to talk about it without getting censored.

Personally, if you are buying without knowing what the product was worth a month ago, you are uninformed and perhaps ignorant. I don't want to be the person to get a "Great Deal" that "Just went on Sale" that means I spent an extra $700 this month from last. Information is vital. Cost as always is paramount. 

I noticed that both the rears in my 5.1 system are failing.  They are 25 year old Boston Acoustic bookshelf that I had laboriously mounted to the wall of my mancave two decades ago.  I bought a pair of Paradigm speakers that will mount to the drywall back wall like gum on a shoe.  My dealer urged me to pull the trigger because he is expecting a tariff increase.  Duly ordered and waiting to see if I dodge the increase 

Or you could buy an excellent Canadian DAC

I did not stumble  on one offered new and minimally good at 200 bucks ...

Did they exist at this price in Canada?

 We are not all budget open without limit...I was looking for something around 200 bucks like a minimal  Geshelli from US ...

By the way this hobby for me was more about learning acoustics than buying the most costlier and the best gear design in the world...

Anyway i am very proud to own two high end gear piece of the past which are my main music system :  The Sansui Alpha model and the AKG K340, the only real hybrid headphone...

Then i know what a good sound is and what are the limitations of my system...

A word to the wise that some members here would like to argue, and then cause this thread to be deleted. 

Or you could buy an excellent Canadian DAC

I live in Canada,( in a part of the country which cannot be bought by anyone), and i  was in the obligation to buy a new dac because my old one die...

Guess what  with  tariffs i opted to order from China instead of buying  one from the US...

Add a higher cost to begin with if i take one from the US compared to China, but quality had a price no ?

Yes but i am not on a big audio budget and with the tarifs +postal fees, i decided to order a Chinese one free of  postal fees and tariff  and i saved few hundred bucks...

 Will the US  gear would have been better ?

I think so...

 But i can do with  the Chinese less costlier one, well reviewed under comparison and not too well behind the American one...

Tarifs war in this actual world means war... By the way...i am too old to be enlisted by force...

Thanks for this interesting article...