One of my former work buddies, who is thinking of buying a stereo receiver in the $500-800 price range to drive his $500 pair of Elac stand mounts was horrified to see that all the brands he was considering (Marantz, NAD, Cambridge, Denon, etc.) were not made in the U.S. I let him know that, in that price range, I didn't know of any brand assembled in the U.S., but that McIntosh may still have a MAC6700 receiver available for $6500!
HEGEL - Is it really made in Norway ?
Not unlike Ayon, where it is just printed "Austria" and not "Made in Austria" (the usual and official terminology), are HEGEL products actually made and assembled in Norway or just "designed" in Norway and assembled somewhere in China?
I have tried getting a clear-cut answer from dealers with no success. Juste like for Ayon gear by the way.
Thanks if you can help.
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- 335 posts total
It isn't the fact that it's manufactured in China. I'm sure there are companies that work very closely with factories and do what they say they do, i.e. very close, stringent and ongoing QC. It's the disingenuousness of the present case that rankles. As you'll see in this thread https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-or-old-cd-player?page=2 it's plain to see that the Mohican is very closely based on the Opera Audio Consonance CD120, and is manufactured in the same factory as that considerably older Chinese product. I'm sure Hegel made some changes, but how many? In another thread recently, I came across a reference to one of the Hegel integrateds that the poster was saying was closely related to a Chinese integrated selling at much less out of the same factory. This is just hearsay at this stage, but it's not implausible to me, under the circumstances. Again, one would have to look under the casework... |
Even though this is a three year old thread, I just stumbled on it. As an H300 owner, I am surprised to learn Hegel is Chinese-made. No indication on the box, and the amp says “Hegel, Oslo Norway”. As others have stated, this is at the least misrepresentation. It is up to the purchaser to decide whether country of origin is improtant or not. They are entitled to transparency in marketing. Hegel has been disingenuous in its marketing which is a real shame. Now that I know the amp is Chinese-made, does it sound different? Of course not. Still sounds the same. But a lot of us like to support our domestic manufacturing economies (which have struggled in the past decade or more because of increased Chinese dominance) when we make major purchases. Even if I am not Scandinavian (I am Canadian), I prefer to support progressive societies whenever I can. Sure, there are benefits to supporting homegrown engineers, but it is the folks on the factory floor who really need a break. Are Norwegians aware of the bait and switch when they purchase Hegel products? As echoed by others, disappointing. |
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