Who are the most underground high-end companies

So you are saying I can buy a speaker from Tyler Acoustics for 25 percent of the retail price of a Vandersteen and it will blow the Vandersteen away? 

Yep. I owned a pair of Vandersteen 5A carbons ($32k), replaced them with a pair of Tyler Acoustics D-12x speakers for $8k, and like them much better. Depends on your listening needs. The Vandies are great speaks but their "sweet spot" is about one foot wide dedicated. Tyler's Decade line, at least the D12xs, will open up the sound staging until you're tired of feeding the band. Ty's in Tennessee, just phone him up and talk to him. The D12xs use Class D amps in the woofer sections but unlike the Vandies, which use an AB amp in a sealed bottom, the Decades are a ported, transmission-line design. My other shout-out to Tylers is they are very efficient and give incredible detail at low volumes. Again, I'm not on his or anybody else's payroll. It's a word-of-mouth thing.

That is amazing that an 8k speaker can surpass a 32k Vandersteen. Especially considering Richard Vandersteen is considered one of the top speaker builders in the world.

I don’t disagree with your surmise, Taters. I’ve owned Vandies from the 2CEs up to the 5ACs. I hold Dick Vandersteen and his products in the highest regard. But I think if you gave the Tylers a listen you might see (hear) my point. You can’t go wrong either way, but why pay for dealer mark-ups, and ads and write-ups in The Absolute Sound? You would not believe how much money TAS and the rest of that rotten lot sweat out of guys like Dick Vandersteen. Ask him. Then talk to guys who don’t play that game.

You make a lot of good points. I never realized how much overhead there was going through the traditional sales route. Besides all the advertising cost you then have to give the dealers a big chunk of change just to sell you're products. I have often wondered why more companies just don't go factory direct and save the consumer a lot of money.