Sadly missed manufacturers


I've been an audio and music enthusiast since the 1970's. We've all seen a fair number of companies come and go. Some burned brightly for a while, some not at all, and some companies are still present but only in name as they otherwise bear no resemblance to their ancestors.

Are there any companies you are sad to have seen disappear?

l can name a few former luminaries that are now gone- Counterpoint, Apogee. Both offered very good products, but unfortunately neither offered bullet proof reliability. I am of mixed feelings of the various Carver companies. I think Carver, the man, is capable of producing some genuinely first rate products but I viewed much of the marketing as smoke and mirrors which to me detracts from a manufacturer's credibility.
128x128zavato
Matjet - I presume you mean KLH. I was going to add them along with Advent and AR also. KLH - Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann. Kloss also founded Cambridge Soundworks and Tivoli audio, both successes in limited markets. At Cambridge Soundworks Kloss sold the Model Six which was his follow-on the to famous KLH Model Six.
Zavato-

In retrospect, "knock off" was a poor choice of words. I really meant "Linn-alikes" - belt driven, UK sourced, suspended designs with wood plinths that are the calling cards of the LP-12, the best known of those types. I wasn't intending to imply anything re:quality or innovation. Systemdeck (per Waxwaves' post is another example) and there was another that was 2 initials followed by a name (x.x. smith, for example) that eludes me at the moment.
there was another that was 2 initials followed by a name (x.x. smith, for example) that eludes me at the moment.
J.C.Penney, that MCS series, :-)

Seriously though, there was the Elac Benjamin-Miracord and PE.
I understand, and must everyone else, that as comparing the Ariston vs the Linn, the Ariston is the original but Linn definitely put in the time to make it better and better, which deservedly makes Linn the king of the hill since the 1970's of that genre of turntable.

I do miss Nakamichi. I once owned a few 3 head cassette decks- a Nakamichi BX300 and an Aiwa F660. Between the 2, I thought the Aiwa in some ways was superior. Aiwa did do well with tape stuff.

I also had a Honda which had the radio/cassette player stolen and replaced that with a Nakamichi head unit which was outstanding.

Grace is another lamented company, as is Garrard
There still is a company called Elac though I have no idea if its the same Elac