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  small companies making today's best products
i think the audio research, conrad johnson, rolamd, mcintosh, monster cable, esoteric, etc., are superseded in sound quality by many small independent companies which operate direct to the consumer.

most of the comments praising components of different types seem to mention small companies, who do not have dealer networks. why ?

perhaps innovation with out marketing or other constraints enables creativity and thinking outside the box to flourish.

when i consider my own system, i own cables from small companies, digital components from a medium sized and well known company, and an amplifier from a well known company as well as another amp and preamp designed by a retired professor from canada.
Mrtennis  (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

04-10-11
  Responses (1-73 of 73)
Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

04-10-11   The cachet of unknown companies. romance in the audiophile w ...   Elizabeth

04-10-11   Isn't adcom out of business?   Linkster

04-10-11   I cannot concur with elizabeths statement. i patronage compa ...   Isochronism

04-10-11   Oop. editor   Isochronism

04-10-11   Most brands in high-end two-channel audio are made by one to ...   Raquel

04-10-11   "i think those middle/large companies offer the best of ...   Has2be

04-10-11   Elizabeth, i think that your statement borders on being an i ...   Inna

04-10-11   Mrtennis, thanks for taking note of the sound quality of (at ...   Audiokinesis

04-10-11   Regarding the "technical superiority and innovation&quo ...   Photon46

04-10-11   Consider competition. a small company, initially has the on ...   Mrtennis

04-10-11   I would put odyssey audio up there with the best of the smal ...   Stereo5

04-10-11   Harmon is big and makes good products. i enjoy buying from s ...   Hotmailjbc

04-10-11   I go the opposite direction as elizabeth. i hardly own anyt ...   Jax2

04-10-11   Direct response to inna: the larger companies i prefer once ...   Elizabeth

04-10-11   hey guys, i can give you both sides of the argument. i am ...   Audiooracle

04-10-11   Large or small, i would trade off a small amount of sound qu ...   6550c

04-10-11   Thanks dave, for opening up and letting us know what goes on ...   Elizabeth

04-10-11   Elizabeth, whatever you say is ok with me. you spent $12k on ...   Inna

04-11-11   Point, match, inna.   Has2be

04-11-11   Wow!!!   Marakanetz

04-11-11   No offence taken, inna. the impression of snootiness hoverin ...   Elizabeth

04-11-11   dear elizabeth, i got from your answer, you don't like deal ...   Audiooracle

04-11-11   hmmm, i didn't get that at all. the only time she mentione ...   Jax2

04-11-11   I missed that one! anywho... i imagine there is an unknown p ...   Isochronism

04-11-11: Onhwy61
Regarding small vs. large companies and product quality - it depends upon the type of product and the number of products produced.

I can conceive of a person in their garage designing and making a near state of the art loudspeaker. It would be exponentially harder for that same person to do a 100 unit production run of that speaker. Quality control, crating and shipping cost, marketing and customer/dealer service would overwhelm a single person operation.

I don't imagine that a truly small manufacturer could make a SOTA CD player or even a D/A without the extensive use of off the shelf components. It's here that larger companies can afford the R&D costs that would sink a smaller entity. But even then, mid-sized companies such as MSB can consistently produce top quality products.

Most preamps and amps don't necessarily require sophisticated electronics and small companies can be as good as or even better than larger ones. The larger company could be more efficient and offer a better dollar value, but the small company could readily make a better sounding product.

Personally, I tend to lean towards larger companies because I want the company to be around ten years from now. Size is not a guarantee, but it does shift the odds. Above in this thread someone compared Bryston to Lamm. If a key player at Bryston were to disappear, Bryston would still continue to operate. I'm not sure that can be said of Lamm.

I know some people swear but the small company as somehow morally superior to larger businesses. Even if there were some truth in that assertion, at some point you have to draw a line for practicality. I find it inconceivable that anyone participating in this thread uses a "boutique" cellphone custom designed and made by a one/two man operation in their garage.

Onhwy61  (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)


04-11-11   Small companies are for well educated adventurers with deep ...   Mapman

04-11-11   Large companies gave/pushed quad 4 channel, 8 tracks, elcass ...   Hotmailjbc

04-11-11   Too bad. impressing oneself makes no sense. and everyone kno ...   Inna

04-11-11   I know nothing about either :)   Isochronism

04-11-11   The only thing that now seems clear is that inna is better t ...   Bizango1

04-11-11   Dear mr. dealer. unfortunately for many of us we have no a ...   Herman

04-11-11   that's all?   Jdoris

04-11-11   I sure didn't get that elizabeth was anti-dealer. i do appl ...   Wildoats

04-11-11   "the larger companies i prefer once were small companie ...   Has2be

04-11-11   Well the best example i can think of a small company making ...   Tubegroover

04-11-11   Yeah, i tried to take out all the bad things i said, but i m ...   Elizabeth

04-11-11   Let me add another issue here. the advantage of a company, u ...   Mrtennis

04-11-11   I'd like to comment on one thing elizabeth said: "[c]l ...   Audiokinesis

04-11-11   Interesting thread to say the least! i've owned equipment b ...   Jazdoc

04-12-11   Many "big" companies ship containers full of produ ...   Hotmailjbc

04-12-11   A couple of comments: 1) the wisdom of buying big-name prod ...   Raquel

04-13-11   Best reason to "buy small": guys like duke, design ...   Jdoris

04-13-11   Who is more likely to offer customized products, a large or ...   Mrtennis

04-14-11   Is'nt it true that there are good and bad examples in all le ...   David12

04-14-11   The money large companies spend on r&d gives them a real adv ...   Tmsorosk

04-14-11   I suspect if a reliable and comprehensive study were conduct ...   Mapman

04-14-11   The advantage of some small companies is that they are willi ...   Mrtennis

04-14-11   Why is it that audiophiles are perpetually striving to defin ...   Macrojack

04-14-11   well said, macrojack.   Jax2

04-14-11   You guys are still overlooking the one thing that separates ...   Mrtennis

04-14-11   Do we want a small company to built an amp to our specs ? h ...   Tmsorosk

04-14-11   Not i. gordon rankin certainly does not need my advice to im ...   Isochronism

04-14-11   Customizing is a nice option but not really needed by most.   Mapman

04-15-11   I would certainly want to have a custom lamm. what would i w ...   Inna

04-15-11   Inna, i hope that extra $10k doesn't come out of your prosti ...   Isochronism

04-15-11   I have learned that getting involved in custom work is a goo ...   Audiokinesis

04-15-11   Mrtennis - which companies have you approached to "modi ...   Chayro

04-15-11   Mike elliot of aria will make significant changes to his ari ...   Mrtennis

04-15-11   Changing op amps, resistors, caps and wiring can significant ...   Mrtennis

04-15-11   . http://www.jeffreywjackson.com/ jeffrey jackson builds ...   Herman

04-15-11   I can vouch for the fact the jeffrey jackson will customize ...   Jazdoc

04-15-11   Isochronism, no, the prostitute account is totally separate. ...   Inna

04-15-11   Wait, have we gotten this far without an atma-sphere mention ...   Roscoeiii

04-16-11   Do you think ralph will design an amp from scratch ? how ab ...   Mrtennis

04-16-11   Do we really need to design this stuff from scratch? if nob ...   Mapman

04-16-11   Designing probably no but highest quality custom parts yes. ...   Inna

04-16-11   The purpose of designing to satisify the customer is to prod ...   Mrtennis

04-16-11   This thread reminds me of the good old days of buying diy am ...   Tmsorosk

05-03-12   Tekton, zu and decware are three i have come across recently ...   Mapman

05-09-12   For me it is hard to what are big companies and what are the ...   Mordante

05-09-12   O think my intention of this thread is to imply that small c ...   Mrtennis

05-10-12   I've always brought home possible suspects from my local sal ...   Tmsorosk

05-10-12   Mrtennis, very good thread with well made points. i assemble ...   Isochronism


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