The cost of a speaker enclosure from China

Today, China officially became the second largest economy in the World...

If the price was twice as expensive but the cabinets were made in Europe (significantly more than double the manufacturing price), would the speaker have been worth it?

Well, what I can answer to this is: there are a number of bookshelf speakers around that cost more and are considered a bargain. The problem is, of course, that being made in >Europe< (where? Germany is Europe, Romania is Europe and I think manifacturing has different costs there) is so much more expensive than being made in China. I wasn't diving into a discussion over economics, for which I haven't the necessary culture; I observe that I normally buy products that are made in the UK and, for this, cost I believe considerably more than if they were made in China (at least, I hope that they're made in the UK). And if I loved Italian audio, I'd be happy to pay more and have things made eight miles from where I live, as would be the case, for instance, with Chario loudspeakers. In a way, I regret I don't like some italian products instead; but dream of a world where everything is done within miles, and cross-world exportations are a souvenir from an irrational epoch.
Max

I mean, I understand importing a rug from the far East; but a coffee grinder... And even a wooden box: is it absolutely necessary? How many lives depend upon spending just €4 for a speaker enclosure?
You, who are in the trade: answer me, please.
M.

Ah. The perils of daytime drinking...

If the Chinese box sounded better, would it matter? Who knows? If the price changes, the economy of the product changes and everything starts from scratch.

Europe is learning the same lesson we in America learned some time ago–if cost becomes your only object in manufacturing a product, you and your workforce will eventually lose to cheaper, less accoutred workforces based elsewhere.

As a parallel example–look at the case of the sunburst finishes on Fender Stratocaster guitars–a iconically American product no longer able to be finished in the States due to OSHA regulations, now off-shored to places where fumes and hazards are considered to be perks of employment....

oh dear, globalisation & global econonies, health & safefty, morality etc all rolled up.

If the sunburst finish is (genuinely) only achievable via a life-threatening health hazardous process, we shouldn't be expecting others to do it for us ie we shouldn't allow imports of such products. We should encourage others (eg China) to adopt similar limits to health and safety hazards, even for their own internally consumed products.

If exchange rates or labour costs mean its cheaper for an entreprenur to manufacture stuff thousands of miles from the end-user, then accept this is what will often happen - but don't confuse this with inferior quality. However, its what free markets and capitalism is all about. Most of the time, most of us are better off with such freedoms (at least IMHO). Its been like this since the days of the Luddites and before - it means that some of us, instead of digging potatoes are flying aeroplanes or manufacturing hifi etc.

Cheers

Don

We are free to buy what is offered on the market but buying is also a political action. If I would be aware that Naim equipment or part of it is made in China, I would probably look somewhere else. The equation is simple. If electronic components made in China can be of equal quality or superior to what is done in Europe or America but for less money, it means that it would be illusionary to continue to embolden the domestic HIFI brands.

Globalization is good, Monopolization is bad.

It is good to have a variety of countries, regions, companies competing across a variety of industries. In this case, prices tend to go down, quality goes up, value goes up. But if one country, one region, one company becomes too dominant in one industry, then major inconveniences appear because the power gets into the hands of the dominant actor and he is likely to abuse it.