Where are my MLs coming from?...

I Own SL-3's

Bought mine in1996....not inexpensive...if ML is outsourcing to China their costs aren't being reflected in their retail prices..IMHO

Nick said:

I was merely trying to say that we can't blame ML for building speakers in Asia. In one way or another we (as society) have asked for it. In the end if Martin Logan chooses to outsource some things, I think it's fine. If they want to charge more or less, that their choice too, it's their company not mine.

The only thing I would have a problem with is the ethics of it <b>IF</b> they are lying. Meaning, if they are telling people that they are US made when really they are not, then there would be a problem. If they are made in China and ML says they are made in China, then I don't see any issues. Besides, I don't see ML compromising the quality of their product.

In the end, it is us as the consumer that makes the decision to buy them.

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I fully agree with you Nick. Each consumer has the choice to buy or not to buy. The only point is that he (she) must take the decision of buying on accurate information from the vendor.

Response from MartinLogan Corporate...

Got this from Devin Zell at ML Corporate today... Hope this answers all your questions regarding where MLs are made:



Tom-

Recently a thread entitled, "Where are my MLs coming from?…" in the "Main Discussion" forum was brought to my attention. In the last two days concerned members of MartinLoganOwners.com have sent the MartinLogan sales team direct inquiries regarding this thread.

To clarify the concerns and questions of the forum members I have prepared a document that describes country of origin for all MartinLogan products. I have also included a letter that was personally written by Rafael Nevares in reply to one of these inquiries.

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for posting those Tom.

Outsourcing

I'm glad ML chimed in to clarify their position. In my job, I regularly work with manufacturers in Taiwan and China. I can say with confidence that there are good ones, and there are bad ones. Most every piece of electronics today is either manufactured, or pieces are manufactured in China/Taiwan. Many of these companies are very competant. It is up to the OEM (in this case, ML) to find a quality manufacturer and to manage them to maintain the level of quality they expect. It sounds like ML is going just that.

With regard to the prices not reflecting the off shore manufacturing, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, ML is not a high volume manufacturer. If you want to see Bose prices, you will have to manufacture Bose volumes. That would require ML to drastically expand their distribution to places like Best Buy and Circuit City. Once that happens, then these retailers start dictating the product price points and the quality of the product suffers. Just look at all of the other "high end" brands that now sell into the super stores.

The only way to realize a huge cost advantage is to manufacture in hugh volumes. Let's hope ML never falls into this trap. They are likely enjoying preferential cost by manufacturing in China and Taiwan, which will allow them to keep the prices reasonable and maintain a decent profit margin. We need this to happen so they aren't forced to sell out and go the way of the other high end brands that sold out to Best Buy and Circuit City.

Sorry for the ranting, I'll stop now.

Thanks Tom for posting that answer.

And thanks for ML to address our concerns !

Things are clear now! Part of the information I had was right (Fresco Made in Taiwan) part of it was wrong (the Clarity is Made in the USA).

If I look at my system, the only 'outsourced' one remains the Fresco, the Clarity, Grotto and Cinema i being from America.

As a matter of fact, it will not change anything as far as I am concerned - the pleasure to listen to it will remain unaffected. The only point is that now this point is clarified in my mind - and I hope in all our community's mind.

Unfortunately more and more manufactors send their products to be assembled in Asia for high profit and ML is no exception. I think that only their high-end gear is totally made in US, but the drivers are from Europe, I think Scandinavian or French. By the way you know that Gayle Sanders likes Porsches?

rciubuc said:

Unfortunately more and more manufactors send their products to be assembled in Asia for high profit and ML is no exception. I think that only their high-end gear is totally made in US, but the drivers are from Europe, I think Scandinavian or French. By the way you know that Gayle Sanders likes Porsches?

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Is there a point to this post? The electrostatic drivers are made in the USA. ML gets the best drivers for its speakers regardless of where they are made which is absolutely right, since the best drivers greatly contribute to great sound quality. BTW, who cares what kind of car Gayle likes? We can buy what we want in this country that suits are needs and budget. If Gayle wants a Porsche more power to him. I want one too.

The point of my post is that those days most manufacturers use international labor, usually from countries were is cheap. I know the stats are made in house I was refering to the cone drivers which are from outside source. I have no beef of where are the speakers made, I do prefer to be made in USA and I do drive a Porsche too. So what are you saying....?

Hey all,

I'm closing this thread...