Thomann utter pricing madness

jpfamps

Celestion V30 : £80.75

http://www.thomann.de/gb/celestion_vintage_30.htm

1x12 plywood cab loaded with Celestion V30: £78.24

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_g112vintage.htm

mart

That does seem quite mad.

ICBM

It just means that the factory in China which builds the cabs is getting the speakers at a huge bulk discount. It does seem a bit daft though!

And that the cabinets are probably assembled by child slave labour or political dissidents, which you will have forever on your conscience if you buy one .

fretmeister

The Harley Benton 2x12 cab with V30 is immense.

Really well made cab. Much better than current Marshall efforts.

Dave_Mc

I suppose if you wanted to get pedantic you don't have a choice of the impedance with that one (though the 2x12 has 16 ohm versions so maybe that's covered if you need 2).

But yeah, if you know you want v30s it pretty much makes more sense to get the HB cabs than to get the speakers separately, as you have a free cab basically.

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

It just means that the factory in China which builds the cabs is getting the speakers at a huge bulk discount. It does seem a bit daft though!

And that the cabinets are probably assembled by child slave labour or political dissidents, which you will have forever on your conscience if you buy one .

It's a bit sad, especially considering I own a lot of MIC stuff in general (you can't avoid it), but that is pretty much good enough reason for me to avoid.  Despite the amazing value, especially the 2x12.  

I've recommended these cabs to plenty of folks, though, my mate has a 2x12 and it's absolutely great.  

Dave_Mc

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

ThePrettyDamned

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

Hadn't considered that! 

But I don't need to, because I'd go for Eminence or Tayden speakers

jpfamps

What's totally bonkers about this is that the cab is £1 cheaper than UK retail on a V30.

I know someone who ordered the 112 cab because they wanted a V30 and it was cheaper than ordering a V30 in the UK, even when the shipping costs were included!

Mind you I've often found that shipping cost from Germany are very cheap when compared with shipping within the UK.

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

The speakers are definitely made in China - that's why the cabinet factory will be able to get them so cheap. They may even be next door, although I have no idea.

I was joking - while the working conditions in the cabinet factory probably aren't quite as nice as the ones in the Celestion factory (speakers require a bit cleaner and higher-precision industrial processes), I doubt they're really made by children or forced labour.

Just poorly-paid workers, by our standards.

ThePrettyDamned said:

Hadn't considered that! 

But I don't need to, because I'd go for Eminence or Tayden speakers

Eminence speakers are now mostly made in China as well, for what it's worth. I don't know anything about Tayden.

jpfamps

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

The speakers are definitely made in China - that's why the cabinet factory will be able to get them so cheap. They may even be next door, although I have no idea.

I was joking - while the working conditions in the cabinet factory probably aren't quite as nice as the ones in the Celestion factory (speakers require a bit cleaner and higher-precision industrial processes), I doubt they're really made by children or forced labour.

Just poorly-paid workers, by our standards.

ThePrettyDamned said:

Hadn't considered that! 

But I don't need to, because I'd go for Eminence or Tayden speakers

Eminence speakers are now mostly made in China as well, for what it's worth. I don't know anything about Tayden.

All Tayden speakers are made in the UK using UK-made soft parts (cones, suspension, cork gasket), and UK-made CNC machines motor units (more accurate than stamped parts a la Celestion, Eminence etc). 

The baskets Tayden use are made in China, as are the magnets. The baskets could be stamped here, but the tooling costs would be prohibitive (£20-30k). I'm pretty certain there is no UK source of magnets either.

Forge

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

The speakers are definitely made in China - that's why the cabinet factory will be able to get them so cheap. They may even be next door, although I have no idea.

I was joking - while the working conditions in the cabinet factory probably aren't quite as nice as the ones in the Celestion factory (speakers require a bit cleaner and higher-precision industrial processes), I doubt they're really made by children or forced labour.

Just poorly-paid workers, by our standards.

Check the reports on the Cisco factories, so horrendous they import labour from outside China then take away the passports.

bertie

Dave_Mc said

But yeah, if you know you want v30s it pretty much makes more sense to get the HB cabs than to get the speakers separately, as you have a free cab basically.

unless the difference in shipping is more than what you could recover selling the empty cab !

streethawk

The working conditions of UK Amazon distribution warehouses are bad enough.

Whaddayagonnado?

fretmeister

bertie said:

Dave_Mc said

But yeah, if you know you want v30s it pretty much makes more sense to get the HB cabs than to get the speakers separately, as you have a free cab basically.

unless the difference in shipping is more than what you could recover selling the empty cab !

Shipping from Thomann is a flat £10

Free if you spend 200 or more.

not_the_dj

streethawk said:

The working conditions of UK Amazon distribution warehouses are bad enough.

Whaddayagonnado?

Based on the Panorama documentry shown last year or personal experience?

guitargeek62

fretmeister said:

bertie said:

Dave_Mc said

But yeah, if you know you want v30s it pretty much makes more sense to get the HB cabs than to get the speakers separately, as you have a free cab basically.

unless the difference in shipping is more than what you could recover selling the empty cab !

Shipping from Thomann is a flat £10

Free if you spend 200 or more.

It's not even that, it's €10!

Drew_TNBD

Hmmmm. K100's are £89... not too bad a price.

kelvinburn

How will a V30 sound with the speaker in my blackstar ht60 soloist (70/80?). I fancy a 2x12 ministack for that price. Cheers. Kelvin

Dave_Mc

ThePrettyDamned said:

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

Hadn't considered that! 

But I don't need to, because I'd go for Eminence or Tayden speakers

)

I just buy whatever... I like all 3 speaker manufacturers (from what I've tried by them).

jpfamps said:

What's totally bonkers about this is that the cab is £1 cheaper than UK retail on a V30.

I know someone who ordered the 112 cab because they wanted a V30 and it was cheaper than ordering a V30 in the UK, even when the shipping costs were included!

Mind you I've often found that shipping cost from Germany are very cheap when compared with shipping within the UK.

I've especially noticed that, being in Northern Ireland. Thomann ships free to me (at least it used to... I see now it says "mainland UK" in relation to its free postage, but sometimes that includes NI and sometimes it doesn't ) ) and the vast majority of British shops don't.

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

Aren't the speakers made in China too? I mean I realise not every factory in China will necessarily have the same working practises etc., and maybe ICBM knows something I don't... but not buying the HB cab because it's made in China but then buying the speakers separately which are also made in China...

The speakers are definitely made in China - that's why the cabinet factory will be able to get them so cheap. They may even be next door, although I have no idea.

I was joking - while the working conditions in the cabinet factory probably aren't quite as nice as the ones in the Celestion factory (speakers require a bit cleaner and higher-precision industrial processes), I doubt they're really made by children or forced labour.

Just poorly-paid workers, by our standards.

ThePrettyDamned said:

Hadn't considered that! 

But I don't need to, because I'd go for Eminence or Tayden speakers

Eminence speakers are now mostly made in China as well, for what it's worth. I don't know anything about Tayden.

You do hear some pretty iffy things about working practises in China, but I've never been so I dunno.

Aren't the retail eminences still made in the USA? Any I've got said they were made in the USA (though obviously exactly what that means might be up for some debate). The OEM ones are normally made in China (and any of the OEM ones I've tried were a bit guff, frankly).

guitargeek62 said:

fretmeister said:

bertie said:

Dave_Mc said

But yeah, if you know you want v30s it pretty much makes more sense to get the HB cabs than to get the speakers separately, as you have a free cab basically.

unless the difference in shipping is more than what you could recover selling the empty cab !

Shipping from Thomann is a flat £10

Free if you spend 200 or more.

It's not even that, it's €10!

Yeah, that's probably less than I'd be charged on a single speaker from England )

kelvinburn

One of my best friends was made in China and he seems quite well put together :P