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Bill Way asked me via email:
>Do you know anything about the status of Tannoy?
However, he doesn't accept emails via the asylum, so I am responding here.
Sorry Bill, I don't know anything more about Tannoy since their purchase
by Behringer and learning of the decision to close the Coatbridge, Scotland
factory and move production to China. Sad news.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Follow Ups:
I found a used pair. Will report when I get them set up.
Douglas Whates, who is user elsewhrco on Gearslutz, co-manages a hifi shop in Glasgow that has some current Prestige pairs in stock. With the Pound continuing to tank, buying a new pair and shipping them over might end up just a little more expensive than buying here.
Anyone who wants full-range Tannoys should move on them now. Even if the Music Group/Behringer goes into production in China, know that Behringer is known for making very cheap studio gear.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
Hi-Fi news mag says.
"The Prestige and other hi-end ranges will still be made in Scotland.
Regards,
Mike.
They only moved the low-end crap to China, then.
Agreed!
Best regards,
Jim Smith
I believe Quad was sold and moved production to China. I have no firsthand before-and-after experience, but some reviews I've read seem to indicate that quality has not suffered. I'm not implying anything. I just don't know.Or maybe the disappointment lies in the end of a long tradition, which I am also a fan of.
Of course, Quad wasn't sold to Behringer!
-Bob
Edits: 10/08/16
Quad quality plummeted in my experience. Defective items I bought brand new from authorized dealers included[A] two cd players - the digital pre + cd model 99 - one malfunctioned out of the box, one eventually malfunctioned in a few months.
[B] Quad 909 had a massive "screw loose" - took it out of the box, when held at an angle you'd hear heavy object do a short slide and thump to a stop.
[C] Quad Classic Integrated malfunctioned immediately - at fist I thought there was some kind of tube warmup protection as it popped while powering up - maybe, but it popped more than there were tubes and eventually started popping while playing - sometimes. My dealer first said there was something wrong, then said there was nothing wrong.
As I always disclose these things when selling, I had to sell all at massive losses - the CD player(s) pretty much gave away with other sales. The 909 I got fixed. The Classic Integrated sold at 1/3 it's new price having been used maybe 200 hours.
Meanwhile my 1969 Quad 303 works and sounds brilliant, as does my 606. My 1969 Quad ESL's probably don't sound as good as the day they were new, but work just fine.
Pure junk now, imo - approaching a 50% failure rate for me. And ergonomically a total fail in virtually all respects compared to the old stuff - just goes to show they don't even use their own equipment.
Religion is the world's oldest profession
Edits: 10/08/16 10/08/16 10/08/16
I hadn't heard or read any reports like that, but it is certainly disheartening to know of. Sorry about your difficulties.
-Bob
... actually took a turn for the better once manufacturing was taken over by China.
We were dealers then.
ET
"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936
Brutal, doubtful the legacy as we know it will continue. Can't think of one speaker manufacturer that has a "better" product after moving production to Asia.
It's kind of funny but I live in Hong Kong and wander into listening rooms and talk to some audiophiles from Hong Kong AND from Mainland China and they almost always say - yeah I won't buy that crap made in China. Man they even lose their own home market! To be fair there are some exceptions. The KEF LS-50 is the best two way standmount they have made in my opinion for both sound quality and build construction. They don't hold value because they're made in China though. But that's because of a biased market perhaps.
I've had my ASL Headphone amp for 16 years and works great. Line Magnetic has been faultless - pound for pound dollar for dollar difficult to beat by anything I've heard from the US. Granted some of these started in China so they have more of a vested interest over some company moving in to get cheap labor and a bunch of people who have never used a soldering iron in their life and crash course teach them for a month then leave.
I lived in Whenzhou China for a year (uggh there is 5 years of 3 packs a day I have to cleanse from my system) and when Papa Johns came in they had their US workers train the staff. Once the Americans left - the toppings were cut in half, there was no longer any soap or paper towels in the washrooms. Nor was there any soap in the mop buckets. Naturally we got food poisoning and never went back. Even McDonald's the bastions of Clean for a fast food joint didn't clean - that funny tasting ice-cream cone - was it milk? Or was it that they never cleaned the machines? McDonald's was my first job and every single night from 1am to 5am that entire store was cleaned completely - hospitals would be impressed. I was. I would walk into competing chains and thing man you'd get fired at McDonald's for that. Granted this was way back in 1990 so things may have changed.
But the market does this to themselves - they keep buying it. So don't. If you want the hand made loudspeaker where the company tests every single unit before it goes out the door - and I mean tests the drivers and the finished units by actually sitting down and listening to ALL of them then you have to pay for that. You want to support local - stop going to the likes of welfare queens like Walmart.
But having said that - when you have plenty of money it's easy to poo poo made in China, eating at McDonald's, and shopping at Walmart. When you have money it's easy to spend the $5k on the speaker over the $1500 KEF or spend $40 for a hamburger at Gordon Ramsey's, or buy $300 belts over an entire week's worth of clothing including 2 belts from Walmart.
And since there is now vast vast wealth inequality where basically most are "poor" I can't blame KEF or Tannoy going to China. They can sell their $1500 speaker - they won't sell it at $3500 which it would probably cost if it were made in the US. And if they don't sell they go under.
But the iceberg has hit and we're already sinking.
its not only price why audio is not selling, current generation don't give a crap and spend their $$$ elsewhere.....
Edits: 10/09/16
That is quite true. The internet is a powerful beast. Back in the 70s what was there? Most people had a crappy tube TV of a big 27 inches and maybe a remote with 15 channels. And the quality of television was generally crap compared to the offerings today at l;east in the drama categories. So what else was there? The Stereo was the only other form of home entertainment.
You could largely make this case through the 80s - only VHS and Beta but so what - you rented a movie or two for the weekend - that's 4 hours - what to do with the rest of the time.
But today - you have movies and TV on demand - all the way back to the Honeymooners if you like and movie channels and in Asia - terabytes of TV and film - you can download seasons of shows in Bluray quality in about 6 minutes.
And the games. The video games can't be underestimated as a huge entertainment time sucker. As ridiculous as I find it watching all the Hong Kongers out walking the streets at 10pm hunting PokeMons I suppose at least they are getting some exercise. And the thing about music is that most all the current pop music sounds exactly the same. So why would anyone buy it? They don't here - they download it for free. They have X dollars - they will buy the games because they can't steal the games - but music? It's all on youtube for free or on a torrent.
Thanks, John. (Didn't know I had email turned off.) Looks like I'll have to do some traveling to find a pair still at a dealer somewhere.
Bill
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
tanboy says tannoy from china (hehheh)
So that's it for Tannoy. Once the original company sells it's rarely for the better. Lower the production cost and quality, pretty up the old product and up the price. Another Warton business graduate! Those guys have about as much originality as a white paint.
This is at least the 4th time Tannoy has been bought and sold.
The First time in Mid 70s by the infamous Harmon Corp .
Quality was immediately Seriously Messed.
To the point that they never really got back to that quality level again. Brochure babbles aside.
For decades all that was left of Tannoy was the name.
Shame to see even that go.
But in truth what they are/were selling wasn't outstanding in much other than Price.
But Prestige series remain the very best sound available. They rarely come up for sale, and maintain high resale value. I doubt that you have heard them in a proper room.
Some companies like Marantz and McIntosh have been sold off numerous times. Sometimes it does work out for the better.
Marantz was going down the tubes FAST in the 80's. but now Marantz Japan Ltd owns it and they are trying very hard to maintain quality. Actual REAL quality parts in those babies.
Mac was recently sold a few years ago. Although it was an Italian company. Doing pretty well now and did maintain quality.
We can all blame China for things but let's put the blame back where it belongs - the actual company. They FAIL to oversee the production and quality. Like NAD. They let it ride for years unchecked and it ends up biting them in the ass. Now NAD has a tighter QC over there and now more 50% blown out units being sold.
So if you want to point that finger than point it how that company is dealing with their own manufactures. Oh yeah and your own government.
So true... we blame "cheap Chinese products" but the real blame lies at the feet of the American companies that sell the products.
I wouldn't even mind if high end companies that want to compete in the mass market moved SOME production to China or wherever to make special "WalMart" lines (WalMart is in quotes to indicate all low-rent stores). They have a great brand, so keep your flagship products here, then make your entry-level stuff over there. The Tannoy "Aspire" line of audio equipment. Great design at a fraction of the price. Who wouldn't like that?
But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Mr. MBA that thinks he knows audio because he has a Bose Wave Radio only sees that as 80% efficient.. and that's not the way SIX SIGMA BLACK BELT does things. I would enjoy shoving the belt up his ass to six decimal places.
'So true... we blame "cheap Chinese products" but the real blame lies at the feet of the American companies that sell the products.'
Close but not quite right. The real blame goes to the America consumer that buys the cheap Chinese chunk.
Absolutely. For years I spent a little more to get New Balance sneakers because they were made domestically but that's not possible any more since they moved to Asia (I want to say Malaysia?) and I figured it out when a pair of sneakers, that would usually last until I wore out the soles broke after three months. I checked the label and sure enough...Malaysia (Laos? Not sure). Fortunately New Balance still makes the upper end sneakers right here. They sell the crap at DSW and similar low rent places.
Unfortunately this sucks for many who can't afford to pay $100+ for a pair of sneakers. And it's more than "many". It's most.
Sadface.
Unfortunately the typical American is only concerned with price. Lots of stuff for cheap! Quality, value is not even on the radar screen. For some it is driven by pure economics. These goods are all they can afford.
For those with money the situation is generally no different. I recall an article in the WSJ several years ago where individuals were given the option of an American made good or Chinese made. If the Chinese made good was only marginally cheaper they would buy the Chinese good. Price was the only determining factor.
When possible I will buy American or Western made goods even if they are more expensive. In general they are of higher quality and represent better value. In some cases there on no 1st world goods to purchase.
We see the same thing happening in high-end audio. Cheaply made Chinese made goods are everywhere. Rather than focus on quality, value the focus is on bling and features.
This is why I buy a lot of vintage stuff and get it professionally refurbished. At least my money stays local.
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