Ayon - where is it REALLY manufactured ?

Unless you have a deep desire to save the Chinese from pollution (and I'm certain few Americans do) I doubt, what with our government being 100% behind what is essentially unfair trade, there is going to be any meaningful backlash against inexpensive Asian stuff. That ship has sailed...what I find distasteful is the "retail price vs. manufacturing cost" gap. I play guitar and noticed "German Made" Deusenberg guitars seemed to suddenly show up in the hands of some successful pro musicians, so I tried out a few in a Santa Cruz shop last year and thought, "meh"...nice but pricey. I have a few Reverend "import" (Korean made) guitars and like them a lot...they're extremely well made and relatively inexpensive...and apparently made in the same factory as "German" Duesenbergs that cost about 3 times as much as Reverends. The story is that Duesenberg claims to only do the bodies and necks in Korea, finishing them in Germany ("finishing" meaning bolting things on to the guitars)...and that information is well hidden.

Good question, Sonicbeauty.

To not want to pursue the potential Chinese manufacture of Hegel certainly strikes me as acceptable and reasonable. However, at that point, does one not cede the potential claim the products are manufactured in Norway as well?

Given the financial, moral/ethical, and other issues many have with purchasing products manufactured in China today, I believe to not have the situation sorted out does those potential buyers true disservice.

Trelja, "The same thought strikes me when I think of Hegel. It simply looks like a relabled product from another Chinese high-end audio company that used to have a bit of presence in North America."

Mcintosh, Wadia & Sonus Faber are now owned and have been owned by a Chinese conglomerate for 6 years now.

Where on the Mcinstosh, Wadia and Sonus Faber site does it state that a Chinese company owns them. Parts, Chassis come from all over the world, everyone know this. When I was at the Munich show, Ayon had an open house and I went to Gratkorn Austria. A real modern super factory.

Jim

Jimphd14,

Thanks for updating this thread, your post confirms my initial understanding of the ayon manufacture.