As Covid was subsiding in 2022, it struck me that there was PRECIOUS LITTLE affordable audio gear that WAS NOT manufactured in China, or Malaysia.

I didn’t, and DON’T like, that hundreds of brands of audio gear that you might suspect are N American or Euro built, AREN’T.

In fact, these brand names, with the help of the audio press who turns a blind eye to the subject, are crossing their fingers that you won’t notice what has transpired.

I could tell from what the gear looked like, that the same job houses were punching out a myriad of brands. The gear looked quite similar. Designs of many brands of amps and speakers were all but identical.

I asked myself, would consumers CHOOSE to buy this gear if they knew the back story?

Or might they be open to buying better products that are actually made in N America or Europe- assuming the pricing is reasonable?

If we made an effort to tell you who and where the gear is made, wouldn’t that influence your buying decision? Assuming you could afford better gear made in N America or Europe, wouldn’t you make some effort to vote with your wallet in that direction?

2024 has proven to me that plenty of you care about this as I do.

Let’s assume you want a great sounding integrated amp and CD player. You can buy from Atoll of France, a family owned company that flat out builds better gear than the Chinese. Or you can buy more recognizable brand names, mass produced in China by factories that do piece work. Today they make brand X, tomorrow brand Y, the next day they make circuit boards for ovens and GPS devices.

Let’s look at speakers as an example. China has been making the following brands for some years now. For this topic I’m referring to affordable speakers south of $4-5k per pair. I realize some companies like Klipsch and B&W, make their high end products in N America or Europe. But their heavy sellers are made in China and available at online warehouses where you purchase with a click.

Bose, B&W, Dali, Definitive, Dynaudio, Elac, GoldenEar, JBL, Kef, KLH, Klipsch, Martin Logan, Mofi, Monitor Audio, Polk, PSB, Q Acoustics, Revel, SVS, Wharfedale, Yamaha.

Brands are bought/sold/traded like baseball players. Today one company, Masimo, owns B&W, Defintive, Polk, Denon & Marantz. So much for each being a proudly held family company.

Here’s How It Happened

This Chinese take over had been trending for a decade. Covid made it a fait of complei. From March of 2020 when Covid hit hard, and for about two years, N America and Europe lost a lot of traction in manufacturing. Companies either shut down entirely or became so inefficient that they couldn’t find their back sides in a slight breeze.

This… is how monster job houses in China got contracts to manufacture hundreds of brands of audio gear.

The Tide Has Turned!

By early 2024 N American and Euro manufacturing was getting healthy again. As soon as the opportunity arrived, I booted out almost everything that was made in China. In electronics, Atoll of France was the big game changer.

Atoll of France

Two brothers started Atoll in 1997. They started slowly and were maturing quite well, garnering an American importer in 2015. Covid virtually stopped them in their tracks in 2020. During Covid they revised their product planning and were poised to TAKE OFF when health guidelines relaxed. By 2024 the new line had reached the US and I jumped on board with both feet. It’s been a rocket ride! Our biggest problem is getting enough of what we order.

I’ve been selling audio gear since the early 70s when I was in college. Let me reach for my calculator. Hmm, it’s been 54 years that I’ve been in the business.

I have NEVER seen a product lineup as good as Atoll’s. Nobody has even been close.

What Atoll offers in integrated amps is an embarrassment of riches. All of their integrateds are class AB of dual mono design. They use large transformers, and starting with IN100 go to TWO. They use heavy doses of filter caps. They use MATCHED output transistors. They can do this line wide because they’re so efficient in how they build. Most units use the same chassis, front panels and back panels. The money goes IN the products.

The same formula is carried out in separates and CD players. The VALUE of these products is the best I’ve ever seen- LINE WIDE! Again, the gear is made in France with a 3 year warranty. Literally all of its competition comes from Chinese job houses with any number of names on the face plates. Yep, even Advance Paris is Chinese. Atoll… is made in France, though not in Paris.

Bryston of Canada

Bryston and Axiom, both proudly held Canadian family companies, merged years ago. Their top brand of speakers is Bryston. They’re built like a tank and have a 20 year warranty. The bass performance goes deeper and tighter than the other guys in this strata. Bass is the foundation of most music and Bryston does it better than anybody.

The Axiom banner is used for speakers of high quality but lesser power levels than Bryston, and has a five year warranty.

Both Bryston and Axiom brands are built in Canada with extensive QC that the Chinese can’t even touch. For ex, every Bryston/Axiom driver must pass 8 specific tests to be sure it is a virtual copy of the reference standard of that driver. You are guaranteed to get speakers with precise accuracy and reliability.

The Chinese pull parts off a line, screw em in a box and out they go. You have driver variations that can run well over 3dB. That means on the pair you get, the L speaker tweeter, mid or woofer can be audibly miss matched from its R hand mate. If you get a replacement driver down the road it will likely NOT be a match. Mass production is not the friend of excellence.

Magnepan of Minnesota

We offer the ever innovative, open/airy sounding Maggies from White Bear Lake. They present a tall, wide and deep image. You can’t beat Maggies for acoustic music or singers.

Klipsch Heritage of Arkansas

These Ks are made in Arkansas. They’re large wooden cabinets meant to give you lifelike sound pressure levels and dynamics.

Atohm of France

Atohm isn’t related to Atoll, though both are fabulous French companies. Atohm makes GORGEOUS speakers with an impeccable finish. What differentiates Atohm from the other Euro built speakers, many of which sound excellent, is that they can reach high power levels in an American living room. Most Euro speakers run and hide when they see your house.