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For our European friends

I was born in Poland but immigrated to the US as a teen with my family.... now in my late 40's I am actually thinking of going back to Poland.
Along the way I picked up this funny hobby....like the rest of us here and would like to know a few things:
- Seems with Audiogon being 90% US based and doing a quick google search there is fraction of the stuff / many less audiophiles in EU than in the USA...If you live in Germany, Italy, Poland....or any other country in Europe...do you feel there is a lot of opportunities to buy and trade high end equipment ?
 - There are some great EU companies but how about companies from the US? Are you able to pick up some of the gear made in the US but with proper Voltage or do you have to do the conversion yourself / at a local shop ?
- Anyone here actually brought their equipment from the US to Europe? 

Any feedback about the EU audiophile market and the hobby in general would be appreciated.

thanks !
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moofoo
100 posts
 
Once in a while I buy one of the British audio mags and it also seems from the ads to be alot of retail audio stores there, likely in larger metro areas I assume. Why is Europe different than the US in this respect? Maybe, based on hard data it is not.
browndt
83 posts
 
My experience is that the Polish audiophile community is very interested in quality equipment. I know several experts in tube equipment and they are very knowledgeable. I buy most of my tubes from a firm in Poland.
They have NOS tubes that you can be found no where else. In fact, Poland may have one of the best inventories of rare tubes in the world including some exceptional tubes produced in Poland in the 50s and 60s.
So yes I think that you would find that the Polish and the rest of Europe
very supportive of high quality audio.
schubert
4,867 posts
 
Contrary to popular opinion in the USA , Poland is a country with a strong
intellectual past and present .  Intellectuals are far more respected  in Poland than in USA and Poland ,in general, is a more refined and cultured
nation .
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geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Stanislaw Ulam, a Polish citizen who became a US citizen in 1941, while at Los Alamos found that Edward Teller’s concept of the thermonuclear bomb, I.e., Hydrogen bomb, then under development, was unworkable. Ulam and Teller developed the workable solution that included Ulam’s lens idea, for which Ulam had done the math. So, in my opinion, Teller was not the Father of the Hydrogen bomb, as he is usually called, it’s Ulam.
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ether OP
50 posts
 
thank you guys - Appreciate the kind words about Poland and the people....  

my main concern was due to the fact that in Poland...as it is for the rest of EU in fact, things are taxed like crazy...and often there are some additional taxes on items that are perceived as luxury....be it higher end cars (not talking Ferrari... just better class Lexus or MB) , expensive watches  etc...etc.... it's like a penalty for people who can afford more expensive goods...regular tax is not enough..... Ridiculous. 
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