I’ve run out of productive hobbies; or more specifically, I’ve chosen to focus on a hobby that I like that the other people in my life don’t give a hoot about. So I’m going to double down on this one and see where it goes.
Background:
I’m contemplating a purchase of some Audio Physic speakers. That would introduce a German component into my setup. That got me thinking about creating three different systems aligned by country:
1. German (current residence) 2. English (adopted country) 3. American (birthplace)
I’m thinking the criteria would be - designed and mfg’d (mfg may be a stretch) in the country specified, integrateds at all around the same relative price, source being turntable, and speakers having the same characteristics / price. Overarching thought is that each system should be the equivalent cost of the others.
Dilemma:
Some of these should be a no-brainer. But others are a head-scratcher. For example, an English Rega or German Thorens / Clearaudio turntable are easy, but an American one at the same price is not front of mind.
Ask:
For those willing to play fantasy-hifi football, please feed some thoughts into the proposed systems below; I may actually achieve some of these with your help and will, of course, feed back the results. I’ll kick it off with what I’m thinking and will see what falls out of the open frames.
I think many on the forum have mixed origin hifi. It’s not unusual at all.
However remember that customs charges and distributor markup skew options. If you are in the EU then a German amp costing EUR3K isn’t the same level as a US amp costing the same. The US one probably started as EUR2K as sold in the US and the extra 1K from customs and distributor markup.
It’s easier with turntables because the good ones are mostly made outside of the US. The McIntosh deck is supposedly quite good if a bit blingy with the glowing platter.
If based in Germany, I would expect a system built from EU sourced components to deliver the most bang for buck. The exception being some of the cottage industry brands to in the UK and the US that sell direct. Long waitlists and few demo options but some fantastic gear available at good prices.
T&A is a good German brand. Typical German “ over engineering”. Direct and powerfull.
If you are into amplifier & phono I can advice to also take a look at AVM hifi. German build and sourced with different lines and then also the option to go tube or solid. With a lot of options between all in ones ( stream, amp and cd) seperates ( amplifier, mono, analog pre, stream pre, CD, CD streamer) etc.Edit: And both phono amplifiers and 2 players.
Decently priced , a clean look, build as a tank and while maintaining a German sound it has some sweetness ( more or less depending if you go tube).
For your German system, I propose In-Akustik cables (my suggestion courtesy of @Fatcat ).
For your American system I propose Audience cables (my suggestion courtesy of @frenchrooster ).
