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i think the audio research, conrad johnson, rolamd, mcintosh, monster cable, esoteric, etc., are superseded in sound quality by many small independent companies which operate direct to the consumer.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
large companies gave/pushed quad 4 channel, 8 tracks, elcassette, laserdisc, minidiscs, cds, sacds, hdcds,dvd/bluray 2.1 thru 11.1, various video formats, vhs vs beta vcrs, tiny satellite speakers theatre in a box systems, they gave no support to audio stores because circuit city type stores was the future. i could go on because i,m sure i left something out. to say i want gear from a big company because they will be around in 10 years is a reach. i want my gear from companies that make a value added product that perform. and just to be argumentative...there arn't many "big" companies on the lists on this thread or we would all get rid of our gear and buy sony, denon, hitachi,bose,panasonic etc.
Too bad. Impressing oneself makes no sense. And everyone knows that LAMM is better than Bryston; everyone including you.
The only thing that now seems clear is that Inna is better than Elizabeth. In Inna's mind.
Dear Mr. Dealer.

Unfortunately for many of us we have no access to a dealer even if we wanted to use one. I recently moved from Middle TN and just a few years ago was within a few hours of some good dealers in Memphis, Knoxville, and Nashville. Last I checked they were all closed. When markets this large can no longer support a dealer then the game is almost over.

Too many like me simply can't justify buying new when we can get it for half off barely used at places like this. Sad reality for you, but a reality none the less.

.