To me, reliability goes hand in hand with factory support and service. One company who offers this in spades is Pass Labs...you can call them about most anything and get polite and reasonably intelligent responses, and sometimes even get Nelson Pass himself on the line! They deal with product issues, their gear sounds great, and their dealers seem to know what they are talking about.
Most reliable equipment manufacturers
I would like to know people's opinions as to which are the mist reliable manufacturers. In my book, reliability means: first and foremost, reliable and continued performance of the equipment over an extended period of time, but it also includes quality of workmanship, manuals/ease of use/design, shipping materials, upgradeability, customer service, choice of dealers, etc. For instance, in my experience I give Thiel an A rating, Sony a C.