Japan still holds a very high value in high end audio. Sony, Panasonic, Akai, etc may have lost their hold in the consumer audio space but when it comes to midfi and hifi, the Japanese still rule the roost. Cases in point - Luxman, Shindo, Koetsu, TAD, Audio Note Japan, Zanden, Wavac, etc.
The Koreans are on a roll in the consumer electronics space but when it comes to high end audio, I can only think of Allnic and Astell & Kern.
It is the Chinese who are making the biggest strides in audio. Consider Hifiman - their flagship panel headphones and headphone amplifiers are world beaters. Also consider the sheer number of audio companies developing very good solid state and vacuum state gears - Cayin, Doge, Consonance, Jolida, Line Magnetic (the new Shindo?), Jungson, Raysonic, Audio Music, Shanling, Yaqin, etc. They are slowly, but surely, capturing the world's audio markets. Many may sneer at them (just as many sneered at the rather shoddy Japanese electronics in the 60s), but they do so out of ignorance or contempt.
The Koreans are on a roll in the consumer electronics space but when it comes to high end audio, I can only think of Allnic and Astell & Kern.
It is the Chinese who are making the biggest strides in audio. Consider Hifiman - their flagship panel headphones and headphone amplifiers are world beaters. Also consider the sheer number of audio companies developing very good solid state and vacuum state gears - Cayin, Doge, Consonance, Jolida, Line Magnetic (the new Shindo?), Jungson, Raysonic, Audio Music, Shanling, Yaqin, etc. They are slowly, but surely, capturing the world's audio markets. Many may sneer at them (just as many sneered at the rather shoddy Japanese electronics in the 60s), but they do so out of ignorance or contempt.