My monitor 60's are made in China ?

[Ryder888]

I'm disappointed, but did'nt really pay attention before buying them.

[Braddles]

What isn't made in china these days. My local dealer said all but the LSi series is made in china. Most companies do it. They have to to keep prices competative. B&W 600 series come out of china as does Music fedelity, Cambridge audio and many more so called "Highend" gear.
The biggest problem with speakers is getting the boxes made in bulk for a price that wont push up the retail price of the speaker.

Judge your speakers performance with your ears and if you like it who cares where it's made!

[janmike]

Agreed. If the quality is there and you are happy, then manufacturing locations means squat.

[Ryder888]

Judge your speakers performance with your ears and if you like it who cares where it's made!

Yea, i know. They do sound good, but my last set of Bose speakers were still working great at 20 years old.

It's kind of a strange feeling to buy a higher end brand name, then find out they were made in China. When i was in the Marine Corps 25 years ago. My best friend bought a set of Polk speakers. They were a high end brand.

Don't mean to start a gripe session here. I just found that a little surprising. :(

[dorokusai]

I would suggest you return them and move on with your life. Problem solved.

[furball]

People used to have this same attitude towards stuff made in Japan. Now made in Japan is a sign of quality. It just takes time.

Products from SVS, av123, and almost all those internet direct companies are made in China.

[Ron Temple]

AV123 manufactures boxes in China and some electronics. The Rockets, X series and subs are being manufactured in Cali, Columbia. SVS buys cabinets from China, amps from Canada and makes the sub drivers here, as well as assembles here. None of that makes a hill of beans difference in the quality of the products manufactured there. Yeah, China is the new Japan, but what's going to be the new China? Labor laws have been instituted this year that significantly impact the cost of goods...at least for some of my clients.

[mightymouse]

Dam those communists! How dare they increase the cost of labor over there and cut into our profits! I guess we will soon have to say bye bye to Walmart!@

Dam those communists!:D

Labor laws have been instituted this year that significantly impact the cost of goods...at least for some of my clients.

[danger boy]

everything is made in China or Korea these days.. it's a fact of life. I don't hear anyone complaining about their cell phone being made in China at all.

why blow a rivet that speakers are made in China?

[AndyGwis]

I have owned Monitor 60's for a little over two years (my longest standing purchase still in use).

These sound very good, IMO, for the very cheap cost you can get them for. They react well to improved electronics / amps also. I've never once worried where they are from. Polk is a US company so that's all I would be concerned with. If they get a higher ROI on Chinese manufacturing, cool, more income in the US market.

[furball]

Aren't all iPods made in China as well?

What I don't get is why do U.S. companies have to move manufacturing overseas? What's wrong with providing us Americans with these manufacturing jobs? Yeah sure you don't make as much money because of the high cost of labor, but still, isn't saving those jobs for us Americans more morally important than making a few quick bucks?

I don't see anything made in America anymore. What are we exporting to the rest of the world nowadays? Britney Spears? Paris Hilton? Fake boobs? What a sad state of affairs America has fallen into...

[maximillian]

There is still lots of stuff made in the USA these days. Lots of cars have their final assembly in the US (parts made oversees though). I work in a US fiber optics manufacturing plant. We have electronics that are made in a PCB shop next door. They also make electronics for some local medical companies. For lower production volumes (a few thousand per year), going to China doesn't make sense.

Unfortunately outsourcing of pretty much anything will eventually happen unless the government intervenes. In the meantime, don't let your kids gnaw on the paint.

[michael_w]

but still, isn't saving those jobs for us Americans more morally important than making a few quick bucks?

Saving jobs in America purely for the moral bonus will get you cut loose pretty quickly if you're in upper management. Keep jobs at home or outsource and save thousands / millions.... it's not a hard decision when you're running a business. It's the lifeblood of mass market companies and without outsourcing and off shore manufacturing the cost of goods would skyrocket.

The company I work at has all the manufacturing done in Singapore but 100% of the design and original prototyping is done here. We just send them an original and they replicate it exactly with the same parts with no difference in build quality.

[furball]

So we design the stuff here, and we send our designs to overseas factories so they can mass manufacture them.

But, suppose one day those overseas factories come up with their own original designs. What will happen then? Outsource the design team? What will we have left here inside America?

[furball]

This whole outsourcing business is fundamentally shifting America from an industrial economy to a service economy.

America used to be the greatest industrialized nation on this planet. Now what are we churning out? Hamburgers? Cashiers? American Idols? WWF fighters?. Yeah we still have our ultra high tech stuff here in America. But how long will it take before those ultra high tech stuff become outsourced as well? What will we be left with then?

I guess in this outsourcing everything economy, the only jobs that are safe from being outsourced are the barbers, plumbers, and those damned politicians.

[michael_w]

It's already happening. Whether or not a product is designed and made here it still stimulates the economy. Sure there aren't as many jobs but most of the profits and sales both come out of and into our pockets. Perhaps it's a good time to invest in an importing / exporting business ;)

edit: very good point. It's a country based on service nowadays. When it comes down to it, that's pretty much what I do for both my jobs.


Didn't mean to further the hijack - carry on :D

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello,
This kind of situation has been going on for a very long time. At one point, in US history, the center of cloth production was in New England. All of the mills for converting raw cotton into finished cloth was located in the northeast. As mill owners looked to cheaper labor in the south, they closed mills down in New England and moved them to southern states. There were tremendous hardships when mills were closed and a great deal of resentment towards the south begun festering in the north.
Same song, second verse.
Ken

[furball]

I don't mean to further hijack this thread. But talks like this is really intellectually stimulating!:D

Mods, if you feel so inclined, you can move this diversion to a more appropriate forum.



At least back then those mills were still inside the good old U.S. of A. Now those "mills" are in other countries.

I am really scared to imagine what the future is going to be like for our kids 30 years from now. What kind of economy, what kind of a country, are we going to leave them with.

[AndyGwis]

The US as a whole is slowly just becoming one big manager / Project Manager. We lead the projects, control the budget, and make sure we're meeting our numbers. The other countries do all the manual labor.

Sounds good to me. If you are a hands-on person, don't you strive to one day be a project manager / manager? So, if our entire economy is moving in this general direction, isn't it like a nationwide promotion?

BTW, still love my Monitor 60's (have to at least act like I am keeping to the original thread).

[Kenneth Swauger]

Hello,
Ah, actually within a fairly short period of time, the people in the southern states came within a nat's eyelash of creating a different country. It would have then been exactly the same, jobs leaving for another country. However, the important consideration is that the northern states began producing the country's weapons and heavy industrial machinery. If you loose one technology, move on to the next advancement. During the Civil War the south had to, almost overnight, become a prodigious military industrial complex.
Have to keep moving forward.
Ken

[ben62670]

America is screwed. We keep sending all our money to other countries instead of keeping it here. Third world countries pay squat for labor, and we sometimes pay too much. If we as consumers keep doing this we will be... are already going down hill fast. Are consumers willing to pay %30 more for something actually made in USA? Nope we are to stupid. Will the government step in, and control this out of control issue? Nope they are getting payed very well no mater what the country is going through. Also China really doesn't like us, but as long as we give them our money... don't bite the hand that feeds you. Well my fellow stupid Americans I am off to WalMart.

I am not Paul Harvey
Good day.

[Jed Leland]

Hello,
Interesting thread, and one that can easily become emotional. If you want to go back a little further, guess where those manufacturing jobs, that your New England lost came from? Correct, across the ocean in England. Of course we made the mistake of forcing you to support our flagging economy and endless war and the result was your independence.
I think you fellows should just make China your 51st state, that way you could absolve the debt and more than double the size and population. Think of the fun watching political candidates trying to tie up those 1 billion undecided voters.
Jed

[furball]

I think this is an excellent idea! And make Japan our 52nd state!

Just imagine, all our national debt, poof, gone!:D

I think you fellows should just make China your 51st state, that way you could absolve the debt and more than double the size and population. Think of the fun watching political candidates trying to tie up those 1 billion undecided voters.
Jed

[Lasareath]

I think this is an excellent idea! And make Japan our 52nd state!

And we can all eat SUSHI for Thanksgiving then!!!!

[furball]

I think I'll stick with turkey and gravy for Thanskgiving, and leave the sushi for Christmas...:D

And we can all eat SUSHI for Thanksgiving then!!!!

[venomclan]

Eventually China and the MIddle East will become enemies and wipe each other out. We will be there to pick up the pieces. :)

[obieone]

A lot of American co.'s have bagged ass out of S.C. 3 of the biggest employers down are BMW, Husqvarna, and Honda.
I drive all over this state, and there are WAY too many vacant buildings.
Sucks big time, because how MUCH cheaper can you get than MINIMUM wage?

[furball]

Apparently a LOT lower, overseas.

because how MUCH cheaper can you get than MINIMUM wage?

[danger boy]

what would happen to China if all these US companies didn't move their operations there?

[furball]

You should ask the reverse question.

What would happen to the CEO's of those U.S. companies if they didn't move all their operations overseas.

what would happen to China if all these US companies didn't move their operations there?