who made this stuff (Japanese brands and their contractors)

I was dimly aware of this* but the link popped up again Somewhere Else today & I thought that some of you all might find it interesting.

"The Web of Japanese Contractors"

http://www.thevintageknob.org/tvk_talk/viewtopic.php?f=1503&t=2395

... or "who made this stuff?" :)

267yyg6z67x4.png

Happy New Year!
_________________
* I had it bookmarked, so I must have known about it previously! :p


Comments

  • DollarDave
    DollarDave Posts: 2,575
    Very interesting read!
  • Moose68Bash
    Moose68Bash Posts: 3,842
    Yes, very interesting.
    Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.

    Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One.

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,707
    Wow, the guy had a lot of time on his hands!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Interesting read for sure. But really not atypical of any industry. In my biz (automotive) we subcontract identical parts to multiple sources, to keep up with production demands. The key to maintaining quality is having and enforcing rigid performance specifications. Even today, common (non proprietary) components are shared among other OEMs, who otherwise would be the competition!
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    F1nut wrote: »
    Wow, the guy had a lot of time on his hands!

    and/or OCD and/or on the spectrum...
    with, in all seriousness, no offense meant to those who fall into either, or both categories -- hifi wouldn't be the same without us. ;)
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    verb wrote: »
    Interesting read for sure. But really not atypical of any industry. In my biz (automotive) we subcontract identical parts to multiple sources, to keep up with production demands. The key to maintaining quality is having and enforcing rigid performance specifications. Even today, common (non proprietary) components are shared among other OEMs, who otherwise would be the competition!

    Right -- but there is this weird belief in hifi that when something says, e.g., "Marantz" (or even "Realistic", for that matter) on it, that its provenance is more fixed than, in many cases, it actually is (or was).

    There was (and still is) quite a bit of badge engineering in hifi, too -- some examples being more egregious than others.

    Here's an only mildly egregious one :)

    iz0ij4b63fbw.png

    t5a58jlbeld9.png

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    ... and I reckon Clearaudio laughed all the way to the bank when McIntosh paid 'em to make OEM tts with a big blue meter to indicate the speed selected :)

    50kg01h3b8wi.png
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    Back in the day, we couldn't afford name brands like Sony. I wanted a disc man really bad, because all the other kids had one. I ended up with a Realistic. I had knocked it off my dresser once and had to do a little surgery to get it up and running...guess what was inside the box???...All Sony parts :)
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Interesting. Or the most egregious (maybe not but good business) they simply buy the minor company, and re-brand it.
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,860
    edited January 2019
    Alex must be the DarqueKnight of Japanese Audio History.
    Post edited by Dennis Gardner on
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

    2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    Back in the day, we couldn't afford name brands like Sony. I wanted a disc man really bad, because all the other kids had one. I ended up with a Realistic. I had knocked it off my dresser once and had to do a little surgery to get it up and running...guess what was inside the box???...All Sony parts :)

    you know there is a ton of truth to that.

    After my second Pioneer CD player had problems I had taken it to the local repair shop. The price to fix was almost as much as the player. I had a good relationship with the owner and after talking to him he opened up the pioneer and pointed out all the important chips and other parts all said yep SONY. He then said " Do yourself a favor go buy a Sony" ... He also said I've never had to work on any of the Sony's. So I did just that and you know what both of those Sony ES CD players are still playing after 30+ yrs. My Sony X33ES I did do a complete recap on but other than that both still work. The only reason I had to recap the X33 was because Sony used Elna Dourex II electrolytic caps in it instead of the better Elna caps they used prior. Those are nasty nasty caps and will flat eat out your copper traces.... Don't ask me how I know this.

    My son is using the first one I bought after the Pioneer. It was a Sony 508ES (I think) still never any problems and it has tens of thousands of hours on it. He uses it daily just like I did for years.
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    edited January 2019
    So @mhardy6647 Professor I had to look. I have a Luxman TP-114 Tuner/Pre-Amp. No T-tag. In reading the link all export models did not have any, so there is no way to know if mine was made by a 3rd Party.
    3pjlobghzw7h.jpg
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    I don't think so, no.
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,707
    verb wrote: »
    So @mhardy6647 Professor I had to look. I have a Luxman TP-114 Tuner/Pre-Amp. No T-tag. In reading the link all export models did not have any, so there is no way to know if mine was made by a 3rd Party.
    3pjlobghzw7h.jpg

    I think it is very clear that almost every piece of gear made has a 3rd party involved.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk