??? Established Manufacturer or Take A Chance ???
With the proliferation of gear makers going belly up I got to thinking about this...
You are getting pretty long in the tooth & have an itch to build what will most likely be the system playing at your wake,hopefully not for another 15 years give or take...
Lets say you already chose your speakers & are now looking to get the amp to drive them..You've done the shortlist,spent some time running around to demo components accessible to you and narrowed your choices down to 3 or 4 pieces...
Here is your conundrum.. 1 or 2 of your choices are made by long established manufacturers & the others are fairly new in the industry,say 2-3 years and priced around 20% less than the well known models...
Remember,EVERYTHING else about them is equal...Do you pony up & buy from the well established makers or do you take a chance on a new to the industry maker & save some coin?Please expound on why you decided the way you did...
freediver Count me in the "bespoke" camp, as I tend to purchase and consider products from smaller producers; most of whom sell direct without a dealer network which saves 50% at least. I also speak to and get to know the owners/designers to get a feel of their company. For tube gear, I prefer "point to point" wired designs. |
@freediver keep in mind all the established manufacturers had to start somewhere. There is also no guarantee they will be here tomorrow either, or even owned by the founders. |
Mostly small scale boutique manufacturers for me. Point to point wiring and DHT pre's and amps, so more elemental circuits which means easier diy repairs if ever needed. Low heat with these components as well, heat the enemy of reliability. Also, virtually none of the large scale manufacturers offer components that fit my needs or desires, SET and DHT are virtually exclusive domain of small scale manufacturers. The other thing I like about small scale is I can always directly communicate with the owner/designer of equipment. |
It depends on what your appetite for struggling to resell the product is and how much of a financial hit you're willing to take. No name brands, even if well reviewed sure are harder to resell because now your audience is limited to appealing to only the few other people like you who want to save money and buy no name rather than buy from a known entitly. Look at Odyssey as an example. Good product, gets a few credible reviews here and there, made by one guy essentially and if you buy a new amp from them for $2k you're lucky if you can sell it a year later for $700. |
