Blue is Me

Tag: british

  • Which British brands are good for Hi-Fi audio equipment?

    Quite a few actually.. just like with classic rock music, the British seem to have overproportioned amount of audio companies relative to the size of their country.

    Speaker Companies

    I’d say the “Big Four” are Bowers & Wilkins, Monitor Audio, KEF and Wharfedale – with the rest being smaller more boutique companies.

    –REL Acoustics is well known as a speaker brand that focuses on subwoofers.

    –QUAD is a stored British brand that still makes speakers today. Historically known for their electrostats.

    –Q Acoustics is a brand that while still relatively young, has been gaining lots of traction for its well-reviewed speakers

    –Acoustic Energy is a smaller British firm that makes some excellent speakers for their size

    –Neat Acoustics is another smaller British firm that makes some interesting designs as well

    –Ruark Audio makes some really nice sounding and good looking speakers

    -There are boutique UK brands that produce some variation or are known for their BBC monitor like designs, these include: PMC, ATC, Harbeth, Falcon, Spendor, Rogers, Graham, Tannoy. They all sell their speakers at a premium – but they are generally made in the UK and produce a sound much larger than their size would indicate.

    Amplifier Companies

    –Rega Research is well known for their turntables (esp the iconic Planar 3) and amplifiers

    –Roksan is also known for their turntables and amplifiers

    –Arcam is known for great sounding amplifiers at reasonable prices

    -Cambridge Audio is known for making relatively affordable and good sounding amplifiers

    -Audiolab is also known for high quality good value amplifiers

    -Musical Fidelity is also known for high quality good value amplifiers

    –LEAK is a storied British brand that disappeared in the 70s but has since been resurrected in 2020 and producing some nice vintage looking amplifiers today

    -Cyrus Audio is known for making UK built high end amplifiers

    –Onix Audio / OA21 is known for making UK built high end amplifiers (although they also license out their brand to Chinese companies like Shanling)

    -Exposure Electronics is also known for making UK built high end amplifiers

    -Naim Audio is known for producing high end amplifiers

    -Linn Audio is known for making very expensive and iconic turntables and amplifiers (Sondek LP12)

    -Meridian Audio is known for their high end signal processing technologies, amplifiers and speakers

  • What makes the UK have such a rich history of audio and hi-fi equipment and gear?

    I would hazard a guess, it’s related to the UK having a rich history of pop music?

    The UK is home to such popular acts as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Queen, Oasis, Radiohead, Blur, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Elton John, George Michael, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Spice Girls, Westlife, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart etc

    that’s quite an oversized amount of influential musical acts compared to the relatively small size of the UK. The UK often rivals the US when it comes to pop music influence.

    And accordingly I would say the UK also rivals the US when it comes to audio / hi-fi manufacturers:

    Speakers: KEF, Bowers&Wilkins, Monitor Audio, Wharfedale, Leak Audio, Creek Audio, Acoustic Energy, Neat Acoustics, PMC Audio, Rogers, Harbeth, Graham Audio, Ruark Audio, Quad, Tannoy, Spendor, ATC, REL etc

    Amplifiers: Cambridge Audio, Rega, Arcam, Roksan, Naim, Linn, Cyrus, Exposure, dCS etc

    That’s a rather crazy number of audio companies that are headquartered in the UK. But I think given how early the British industrialized, combined with how popular British pop acts became, it’s not surprising that many audiophiles emerged from the UK and thus you have all these audio companies emerging from the country.

  • Levels of Asian-ness

    Fobby fashion, imported from Korea!
    Fobby fashion, imported from Korea!

    There’s an interesting thing that happens to us Asians in the western world. We are stereotyped as perpetual foreigners in the media, but we actually get ‘categorized’ by our fellow Asians, generally into two groups: the Fobby group and the ABC/BBC/CBC group. What are these two groups I will explain.

    If you are a fob it means you recently immigrated here from Asia… you are an international student, or been here for a short time. Your style of fashion is most likely different, you prefer to speak your native language and your English is less than great. You find Western culture fascinating but you stick with your own culture for the most part. You tend to be conservative minded, and have traditional values. You love Karaoke. You love to watch Korean, Taiwanese or Japanese dramas and listen to Kpop, Jpop or Mandopop.

    If you are an ABC/BBC/CBC, you are American Born Chinese/British Born Chinese/Canadian Born Chinese (If you are Korean or Japanese just replace the letters C with K/J). You were born and raised in Western culture. You are more or less the same as a white person. You speak English fluently and your native language less fluently. You enjoy the same type of culture and values as do Western people. Your sense of fashion is the same as anyone who was born here. You tend to be liberal minded, independent and date out of your own race frequently. You like to watch Dexter, House, The Office, Family Guy, etc. You like to listen to pop, hip hop and rap.

    Thing about me, is I’m neither of those two groups. I’m in between… the rare type of Asian who was born in Asia and raised in Western society. What does that make me? Half and half? I feel awkward hanging around my CBC friends, and I feel awkward hanging around my fobby friends. I speak English fluently, and Mandarin semi-fluently. I enjoy both types of culture. My sense of fashion trends towards the fobby side, but not completely. I guess my hairstyle reflects this… I hate having the same short spiky hair as other people who grew up here, nor do I have the long permed, waxed hairstyle of kpop singers. It’s medium length and I love my side swept bangs! I also don’t go crazy on dyeing my hair like most fobs; I’ve dyed my hair before but its since gone back to black and I don’t want to keep re-dyeing it. I am socially liberal minded, I listen to all kinds of music, I watch Asian dramas AND western TV shows, yet idealistically I am conservative.

    This puts me at odds against myself in some ways. Maybe I can’t decide for myself whether I am Western or if I am Chinese. Yes you can call me a Chinese-American-Canadian and I guess that will reflect just how diverse I am as a person. Whether or not you are in the same situation as me, I still want to hear your thoughts on this! So please comment! 😀

    中文翻译：
    首先要介绍这日志的主体：在西方世界里面，一般亚洲人都被分为两组；一组叫做‘Fobby’，另外一组叫做’ABC/BBC/CBC’。这俩组是什么意思呢，我来解释。

    如果你是前者，所谓‘Fobby’，那意思就是你最近移民到北美洲了，或者你是留学生。你在北美洲的期间很短。你的时尚风格大概跟西方人不一样。你比较喜欢讲你所母语，而且你的英语相对薄弱。你虽说发现西方文化很有趣，但是你还是喜欢相处自己的文化。你的观点比较保守而有着传统的价值观。你爱唱卡拉OK，喜欢看亚洲电视剧，并喜欢听亚洲音乐。

    如果你是后者，所谓‘ABC/BBC/CBC’，那意思就是American Born Chinese (美生的华人)/British Born Chinese (英生的华人)/Canadian Born Chinese (加生的华人）。你基本上是个老外，因为你对西方文化很熟悉。你的英语很流利，不过你的中文有可能不善。你或多或少与西方人享受相同的文化和时尚感。你的思想比较开放，你重视独立，并会看上自己民族以外的人。你也喜欢看美国电视秀，也听美国流行音乐 （嘻哈，说唱之类的）。

    关于我自己的形式，我可不属于这俩组，而是我夹在中间了。我是中国出生的，加拿大养的男孩。可以说一半一半。我的英语比我的国语流利。我喜欢中国文化，也喜欢西方文化。 我的时尚感往往走向’fobby’的一面，而且我发型是中等长度的。我的思想比较自由，开放的。我喜欢听各种音乐类型，喜欢看亚洲电视节目和西方影片。可是某些方面是对自己有矛盾的。。。也许我决不断到底是中国人还是西方人。无论我是中国人或是西方人呢，我觉得自己的背景和观点是挺多样的。

    总之，是否你的境地跟我一样，我还想看你们的想法！所以请给我留言！！