why do great american products not reach us?

And the latest version also comes with a line level pair of inputs in addition to the phono stage so it can be used as a preamp in a system with turntable and CD player!

With that functionality it doesn't sound too bad for £4K (Bottleneck).

There, I feel better now I have reached my 100th posting

 

audiosalon also does the vac stuff. they seem to adjust for the currency on those too. again suprising for rip off britan!

 

Talking about the price difference between UK and abroad, I just found that the Bryston 4B SST power amp can be bought in Hong Kong from the Bryston authorised mains agent fo HK$21000, that's £1450. In UK, the list price is £2500. Hong Kong is just as far from Canada as UK. Even taking VAT and shipping into consideration, there is a very high profit margin charged by the UK importer!

Hon

 

That's because Americans don't know other countries exist... (no offence)

JJ

 

An example of US/ UK prices for Audio Logic 24MXL DAC

UK New £3500 US new $4400
UK ex-dem £2900 US ex dem 2400

My recently imported ex dem model - the example above (inc shipping) £1450 although I've been lucky and haven't been hit for vat etc (errr yet)

 

Here you go Dev, buy this !!

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1122686956

$1500 US dollars, (about a grand!).

In fact, no, dont buy it - its probably better than mine lol

 

The manley looks great imo. I saw a review for it in another magazine and it looks very cool all lit up at night.
As for those prices, I'm sure I totted it up to be equivalent to the prologue 2 if you import it yourself ($2350 with the sub-out option = £1177.71...........where do uk companies get off charging over twice that ? ...........THAT'S why we don't get much US stuff over here, because the UK stockists don't generate as much interest as it's cheaper for people to import themselves).
At most, I'd have to add a £50 voltage transfrormer to convert to US voltage/current needed from our plug sockets....very tempting at this price.

Also very tempting is some of the stuff over at www.absolutesounds.com

PS if you want expensive check out this from Audiogon:



Well, at least you could save on gas bills by heating the house with 'em (I count 52 valves in total)...or maybe get yourself a tan.

 

Despite previous comments that seem to indicate that the Americans do not need the 'small' UK market this is quite untrue. The reason why this excuse exists is because US manufacturers have used it to justify their viewpoint on the whole CE marking issue.

They see no benefit in making their products CE approved and getting the necessary CE accreditation, although this has changed over recent years as they do realise that 'Europe' requires products to be CE marked and it's not just the 'small island' Brits demanding it.

The other problem is the perceptions of both Americans and British towards the market. Americans are worried they are up against many British, European and Japanese competitors and feel their product may be a 'small fish in a big pond' and will not be taken seriously, whereas many British consumers are often very wary of US built products (IMHO: this is pure ignorance).

Other factors surround pricing. We have a prime example with this message thread in that it was started from a member seeing products advertised on Audiogon for what seem to be remarkably cheap prices.

Well let me tell you, if you, the consumer want to see products from the US sold through the audio retail sector you can forget those 'cheap' prices immediately. Running the Dollar to Pound conversion just simply does not reflect what you would have to pay.

As well as adding costs such as freight, insurance, Duty and VAT there are also the costs of the importing distributor to account for, the marketing and promotion of a new product to market, and the expected margins the dealer would require for selling the product.

Having run a import and distribution business and been in distribution for many years within the electronics industry, not to mention talking with other companies (GTA for example), those who have tried to import products from the US market struggle because people like us on these forums see these great products advertised in Dollars then gripe when they eventually see them for sale here in the UK at much higher prices.

If you can import yourself then I would advise to do so, you may not get a CE approved product or one with correct mains transformers and you would only have to account for the freight, insurance Duty and VAT. Of course you would also not have the priviledge of auditioning the equipment beforehand either.

Personally, I would love a Sophia Electric 300b power amp with their Princess valves

 

I'm not sure my floor or electricity supply can cope with this-

 

If a person imports one-off it's reasonable to assume that they pay a retail price in the country of origin. However, I'd expect that someone importing as a business would be paying a manufacturer's wholesale price - which ought to mean a whole heap lower starting point.

Some (powered - mostly) products need modification for particular markets, this may not come cheap and may be a significant factor in a manufacturer's thinking about reaching those markets. Then again, some products work just the same wherever they're located.

 

This is very true, but even with distributors buying at trade you still need to factor in their costs and margins, PLUS the dealer margins which raise the price of US sourced products.

Talk to any former distributor or dealer that has brought in products, they will all tell you the same thing, GTA being a prime example.

 

Better to buy British imo.

 

Distributors in UK generally take massive cuts.

 

...which is purely personal preference

 

Not sure what data you have to support that but in reality it's the dealer that takes the 'massive' cuts, if they are not making at least 50% profit (which is what they push for, but do not necessarily obtain) then it's a battle to get them to even consider putting a product on the shelf let alone get them to promote it on dems etc.