[vberch]

I think I remember they were made in Ireland. Are either of HD580/HD600/HD650 made in Germany?

 

[choariwap]

my hd650 is from ireland, so is the stock cable replacement i bought

 

[kin0kin]

all the senns that I've came across had been made in Ireland. I believe some cheaper ones are made in China

 

[vberch]

So, no Senns that are made in good old Germany? Does anybody know when they moved their plant?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vberch I think I remember they were made in Ireland. Are either of HD580/HD600/HD650 made in Germany?

 

[hwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vberch So, no Senns that are made in good old Germany? Does anybody know when they moved their plant?

They've moved driver production back and forth a little bit. They had a major fire in the Ireland plant which required flying many of the Irish employees to Germany to maintain driver production for a while. Now, the Irish plant has been rebuilt.

The HD-595s use drivers made in Ireland, shipped to China where the headphones themselves are manufactured. That's a good way to do it. It's not price competitive to assemble basic consumer goods in Western Europe.

 

[Ikon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vberch So, no Senns that are made in good old Germany? Does anybody know when they moved their plant?

I checked into that some time ago and was as surprised as you. But in fact Sennheiser DOES manufacture many things in Germany - microphones for once and several parts of other products, Sennheiser names headphone drivers and PCBs for example.

I won't even start about the disgusting practice of making higher end headphones like the HD595 in China - Sennheiser doesn't say a word about a manufacturing plant in China on its homepage

 

[vberch]

Thank you Ikon. I feel the same way.

I am not bashing Seinheiser and planning on buying an HD580 or HD600 soon. I am just curious, how AKG can continue making their headphones in Austria? Even their relatively inexpensive headphones like K240's are still made in Austria. Just curious...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikon I checked into that some time ago and was as surprised as you. But in fact Sennheiser DOES manufacture many things in Germany - microphones for once and several parts of other products, Sennheiser names headphone drivers and PCBs for example. I won't even start about the disgusting practice of making higher end headphones like the HD595 in China - Sennheiser doesn't say a word about a manufacturing plant in China on its homepage

 

[hwc]

Quote:

I won't even start about the disgusting practice of making higher end headphones like the HD595 in China

What's disgusting about manufacturing in China?

The simple fact of the matter is that the cost-of-living (and standard of living) in W. Europe, the United States, and Japan is too high to justify the labor costs for mass-produced consumer goods. Consumer electronics manufacturing left Japan for Southeast Asian and China 25 years ago. The same economic realities exist in the US and Europe.

The HD-595s would probably cost 50% to 100% more if they were manufactured in Europe. It might not even be possible to build that design in Europe, depending on the presence of high-volume injection molding specialty firms.

The HD-600s and HD-650s will go the way of the HD-580s soon enough, replaced by Chinese molded parts.

 

[vberch]

"...will go the way of the HD-580s..." You meant to say: "...will go the way of the HD-595s...", right?

My question is, how can AKG do it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hwc What's disgusting about manufacturing in China? The simple fact of the matter is that the cost-of-living (and standard of living) in W. Europe, the United States, and Japan is too high to justify the labor costs for mass-produced consumer goods. Consumer electronics manufacturing left Japan for Southeast Asian and China 25 years ago. The same economic realities exist in the US and Europe. The HD-595s would probably cost 50% to 100% more if they were manufactured in Europe. It might not even be possible to build that design in Europe, depending on the presence of high-volume injection molding specialty firms. The HD-600s and HD-650s will go the way of the HD-580s soon enough, replaced by Chinese molded parts.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin all the senns that I've came across had been made in Ireland. I believe some cheaper ones are made in China

Did these cans have any particular markings on them stating "Made in Ireland"?

If so; approximately what was their age?

 

[hwc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vberch "...will go the way of the HD-580s..." You meant to say: "...will go the way of the HD-595s...", right?

No, I meant HD-580s -- as in discontinued. If you check, there are no longer any references to the HD-580s anywhere on Sennheisser's US or European websites.

BTW, how do you know AKG is doing it? It is quite possible they are importing parts from China and adding the driver elements in Austria. If they are not, then their prices will steadily increase until they reach a point where they are no longer competitive.

It just makes no sense to injection mold headphone bands and plastic housings in Europe. Market leading companies do the value-added design and innovative work in Japan, US, or Europe and do mass-produced manufacturing in Asia. Do you think Apple could sell iPods manufactured in the US? No way. Do you think Sony could sell TVs manufactured in Europe or the US? No way.

 

[Ikon]

hwc, you are missing my point.
I have no trouble at all that Senn manufactures its cheaper mass-headphones in China like everyone else. But I find it disgusting that some of their 100$+ headphones are made there. Let's not forget that these are low-volume, high-margin almost niche products. People who buy those are obviously more interested in prime quality than price. These are NOT products where it is easily justifiable to produce them in China.

I'm particularly disgusted by the HD595. The build quality is just cheap, cheap, cheap -> 100% plastic. Even the HD580, which is also composed partly of plastic, feels like a tank in comparison. I don't know why these two headphones are even in the same price range.

 

[hardstyler]

So by your definition headphones made in China are of lower quality?

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardstyler So by your definition headphones made in China are of lower quality?

Only those built down to a profit.

 

[Ikon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hardstyler So by your definition headphones made in China are of lower quality?

Not because the Chinese are unable to produce high quality products, naturally. But western companies produce in China pretty much only because of monetary reasons.


Be honest - what association does a "Made In China" sticker bring up in your mind?

[ ] cheap, probably not very sturdy

or

[ ] finest build quality