Made in Japan Audiophile brands not sold in US?

I'm a sucker for Made in Japan items. Cars, Guitars, Drums, etc. Just curious about audiophile brands that may not be readily available here in North America. I know Pioneer, Sony, etc are all brands established in Japan. However, I'm looking for High quality brands and products thats are actually made in Japan. Let's say...the Japan equivalent of McIntosh?

Any thoughts and opinions about these brands would be welcome. I'm not looking to start a Japan vs US product debate. I have US, China, German high End Components already. I'm not questioning the quality of such.

 

99.9 % of what is Japanese top end is not nor never was sold in the USA. Much of it was not marketable in the USA due to the US competition and common brands being sold through inferior dealers and dealer networks post 1980. Accuphase and Luxman today would be your main exceptions to this rule. Of the major HiFi brands from Japan over the years, Yamaha has suffered the worst from a lack of a high end separate brand. Which means their best HiFi doesn't get marketed properly here. Pioneer has had Elite and Sony their ES. Most of the best Japanese equipment mainly does not leave Japan or surrounding Asian countries but seldom. The only other top end gear from Japan I ever recall being sold in the US was the Technics R&B series, which comprised of a power amplifier, preamplifier, a two chassis DD cassette deck, the RS 1500 or RS 1700 open reel machines, and the SP series turntables and the Technics separate tonearms. And Kenwood's Basic components.

 

Thanks for reply. I'm actually looking for brands that are NOT sold in US. Are there brands over their that we have never heard of as being sold in the US (non pioneer, Luxman, etc)

 

Exclusive, Lo-D, Otto, Neat, are some brands you don't see in the US. Again, most such brands are not sold here. Mainly available only in Japan.

 

I meant over there not over their.

Thanks McLover, I will check those out. Wasn't Lo-D a Hitachi offshoot?

 

I remember in the late 70's my brother had high-end gear from OPTONICA. You had to look very close on the equipment to find that it was under Sharp electronics.

Is this a example of japanese "brands" that is mainly inside Japan/Asia?

 

Here is the tape deck my brother had for years.
I used it a lot....

 

Is anything actually made in Japan anymore? The cost of Japanese production is so expensive that even domestic brands were forced to outsource their electronics manufacturing.

 

Yes, but not as much. MBA thinking has infected Japan and they have been essentially static in their manufacturing sector just as the US and most of Europe (besides Germany) is. Costs to manufacture in Japan are comparable to the United States, although the comparison is inexact because of fundamental differences in how business is done.

Anyone interested in Japanese audio, which is a fascinating subject in the extreme needs to get copies of Japanese audio magazines such as Stereo Sound and Musen to Jikken (MJ Audio Technology) magazines. They are available from Kinokuniya Bookstore(s) which are in New York, California and Seattle and which ship on a credit card if you call. In addition, the "horse's mouth" document you need to read is Tubes in Japan, an article by Alan Douglas in TAA magazine circa 1990. In the following quarter century not much has changed. Except prices are a lot higher.

It is very difficult to get Japanese items shipped to the United States, because most vendors will ignore correspondence from gaijin unless you can write in perfect Japanese, or can call them and have such a conversation. Very few Japanese are capable of conversational English transactions and those tend not to be retail personnel. You either have a contact over there or you get on a JAL jet and go there. Prices are very, very high right now. This has little to do with shipping or exchange rates.

Also, almost all Japanese gear is designed for 100 volt operation, and only 100 volt operation, at either 50 or 60 cycles. This is not a huge deal if you have electronic common sense but otherwise will need to buy a 120:100 stepdown device. Do not expect a Variac to last if misused as a long term solution.

http://www.pmillett.com/parts_in_asia.htm

Pete Millett offers some advice if you do in fact get on a plane and go there. I have not been to Japan in 40 years and so won't comment.

 

Excellent reply Burt! Thanks
I would like to hear of under the radar brands similar to Shindo,
Audio Tekne, Leben and Air Tight, if you know of any.
These seem to be smaller operations [as opposed to multinational corporations]
executing a single design vision which many of us find appealing.

I assume the two magazines you mentioned are in Japanese?

 

http://www.kit-ya.jp/index.php?cPath=1_22

 

Some good looking stuff there but some/all may come from China.
If you drop the last two zeros you're in the ball park for dollars.
But man, that shipping can kill you.

PS: I have found translation programs almost useless in that they frequently make no sense.

 

Isn't everything 100V over there?

 

At one time, Japanese law actually forbade the sale of domestically made electronics that were for other than 100 volt use, including devices with multiple voltage settings. The reason was to keep the Japanese made items sold at a lower price for export off the domestic market.

I believe the law has long since changed because most newer Japanese consumer items have multiple voltage input settings and Japanese companies no longer sell export items so cheaply. Also, most mass market electronics now have switchmode supplies that accept a fairly wide range of voltages.

However, every single schematic I have seen in MJ shows a 100 volt single nontapped primary on the power transformer, whether a DIY product or a factory made unit. They are not really wanting to export their small-vendor, "esoteric" products.

 

Great example of product not for gaijin:



See link in above post.

 

Looks "vaguely" like a McIntosh.

 

One can see the McIntosh inspiration. Looks like a mini MC275.

EDIT: samurai beat me to it.

 

Onlife Research

 

Yes, searching Japanese sites shows several of these "Mini Mac" style jobs. Note there is only one transformer "can". It is actually just a cover.

 

The website offers it for sale. Why is it not for gaijin?

It might sound pretty good, who knows?

I have a friend that bought a 6L6 elekit and says it sounds so good, even though the looks is kinda so so.

https://www.elekit.co.jp/material/english_product_html/TU-879S.php

 

These are two different web sites. If you really want the Mini Mac you can contact the web site it's on. I don't see any English on the site: contacting them in English may or may not get a response. Give it a try and let us know what happens.

 

Yes, I didn't mean to imply the first website I posted and second website are the same seller.

If I really wanted the amp I would have a Chinese friend, who speaks Japanese and is living in Japan, contact them for me. But no cash now

 

The big guys had their brands - some Japan only, some mainly Japan:

Matsushita/Panasonic - Technics (famous)
Mitsubishi Electric - Diatone
Hitachi - Lo-D
Sharp -Optonica
Toshiba - Aurex

 

Good info.

I wish I had the patience and soldering skills to assemble a tube amp kit. Too bad nobody makes a "snap" together kit that requires no soldering

 

A&D - Akai