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
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.
-----
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