More Mackie Muckie

I was wandering through the Mackie forum last night to see if there was any report on crosstalk issues with the SR consoles. I came across this post:

I ordered a Mackie desk, because of the reputation, and the fact it was assembled in the USA, thats why I was prepared to pay the high price. (I could have got a Chinese Behringer for half the price)

Imagine my surprise when it arrived and I found that it is ‘Designed by Mackoids in Woodinville, WA, USA – Manufactured in Malaysia’

I would imagine this is to ‘Reduce manufacturing costs’, so when I ordered my American desk at the agreed price was it priced at a loss due to the high costs in the USA or are Mackie ensuring higher returns by farming out their construction?

I have no problem with goods being assembled in different countries (except China, human rights doncha know), but I would like to be made aware of the fact – and pay accordingly.

You can read all the gory details of the business mess that is Loud Technologies (they have the Mackie brand now) here. Some interesting tidbits: accumulated deficit of $37 million, net sales decreased by 21% over last year, layoffs, reduction in research and development. More interesting perhaps is the closing of the manufacturing facility in Woodinville Washington to outsource manufacturing of products offshore. So… premium pricing and cheap manufacturing go hand in hand when a company is in this much difficulty. Quality? If you are concerned about quality best to look elsewhere.