Jean-David Beyer wrote:
pass ISO 9002 quality control standards
and are tested annually. I am not sure how much that matters...

Not much. ISO 9000 (there are several of them, genericly called ISO 9000)
standards only as good as the company wants to be. They refer to a set of
standards and practices that are written by the manufacturer to follow
so that they can set and achieve a specific quality level.

If they follow those standards or the level they set is worth anything
is debatable.

How well they are "tested" depends upon the company they hire to check
that they have fullfiled their goals and followed their procedures. Some
are extremely exacting and really do check, others just read reports and
rubber stamp them.

Certain countries are well known for avoiding certification issues, such
as not reporting problems, "cooking the books" and changing a product the
day after it is certified. This is very common with electronic items as
CE cetification is carried out by the manufacturer and FCC certification
is rarely, if ever, checked.

IMHO it is likely that if Harman actually manufacturers its products in
the UK they do follow their procedures and quality targets, and if the
manufacturing is subcontracted out to China and India, those procedures
and targets are ignored.

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM