Tariffs and sky high audio prices.

I would rather pay an extra 25% for an iPhone than to lose my manufacturing job to China as happened to so many of my neighbors here in VA, NC and SC.

I wonder what $100,000 amplifier comes from China?  Most of my equipment was manufactured in the USA.  I did , however, just buy a BluDento aptX HD wireless music receiver ... it is made in China and it is awesome!

If obesity is caused in part by over-consumption of low quality food, then what is the inevitable result of oversaturating our children with low-res MP3 heard through $9 earbuds?

I bought my sixteen year old daughter a VPI turntable for Christmas with ELAC in-the-wall speakers!

@ghasley 

All I'm saying is that I don't mind paying tariffs on Chinese goods if that's what it takes to level the playing field with balanced trade agreements that give American factory workers a competitive chance.

I have, for the record, worked in China and today support several factories in China.  I  have worked in many countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Yugoslavia, Italy, Germany, France, Holland, Sweden and Turkey.  Not only do I have great respect for people of every country, I have learned that they are really no different than anyone else ... including us.  International economics is a team sport, however, and there is nothing insensitive or disrespectful about not allowing some of those other teams to cheat.

I don't recall knowing any South American students, but I do like the music.  I just this week picked up two Laurindo Almeida albums, one with Charlie Byrd and the other with Bud Shank.  Great stuff!  In the international spirit, I bought the one with Charlie Byrd from Japan ... I love those Japanese pressings and happily pay the extra shipping!

@clearthink ... this Ivy League Audiophile likes your thinking!

SO ... does anyone else like Laurindo Almeida? There are two albums in particular that every audiophile, regardless of KoolAid preference, should have. They are both direct-to-disc and of fidelity ne plus ultra. The first is LA4 ’Just Friends’, on Concord Jazz 1978. It showcases Laurindo Almeida with Bu dShanks, Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton. The other is Ray Brown & Laurindo Almeida ’Moonlight Serenade’ on Jeton Records, 1981.

We may have our different interpretations of the same facts, but we all share a particular passion for great music superbly reproduced!

@millercarbon @clearthink 

Enough politics, even though I agree with you, tell us about your international equipment and music experiences!  Do you ever buy Chinese gear?  Would you be willing to pay tariffs on it?

@ghasley 

I used to feel that tubes absolutely killed solid state on tonality.  But the design of solid state gear, especially with the shift from bipolar to field effect transistors, which are voltage controlled like tubes, and therefore clip into even order harmonics rather than odd, has closed the gap.  My current preference is for tubes all the way up to but not including the power amps, where I find myself preferring the punch of a good solid state amp.  I am, for the record, a Pass Labs fan when it comes to power amps.

@ghasley 

We are of kindred spirit after all!  You might find it interesting that I just replaced all the tubes in my preamp with brand new tubes from Russia.  They have never forsaken the art!

I, too, had abandoned vinyl during the period of digital ascendancy and gave away all of my records.  I was, like so many others, seduced by the signal to noise and the macrodynamics of those early CD's, especially those from Digital Music Products, Windham Hill and Private Music.  Many years later, frustrated at the difficulty of finding some of my favorites from the 60's and 70's on CD, I ventured back into vinyl.  My initial intent was to buy just those old album not found on CD.

What I didn't realize was that my early impressions of vinyl were based on entry level equipment playing records that had seen too many frat parties.  I got VPI Classic 3 with a Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua and nice Rogue Audio vacuum tube preamp.  I was stunned by what I heard coming off of LPs in mint condition.  Now I play vinyl almost exclusively, but it's not a religious thing with me ... I just found a copy of Medeski Martin and Wood on DVD-Audio.  Played on my Oppo 203, the sound is amazing!