#gawdbless
I agree I could have made my point in a much more easily digestible way, but for the record, it was far from sweeping. In fact it on covered 3 brands.
These are the speaker brands the OP mentioned:
Another pair of JBL 4367
Wilson Sasha DAW or Alexia Series 2
Avantgarde Acoustics Duo XD or possibly Duo Mezzo
Magico S5MKII
If you include amps he mentions:
McIntosh, Spectral, Pass
In terms of the sweeping statement of dinosaurs sucking up a lot of the spotlight/ visibility in the industry... it is admittedly an observation made without profound research, just a bunch of years of reading, observing and talking with stereo store owners. I feel I’ve discovered this opinion honestly argued, frequently enough, not to feel crazy in sharing it myself. YMMV. It gets compounded with a bit of venom, when, in my admittedly limited experience (I’m just an enthusiast) I have never heard a setup from these “well-established” companies that really provoked my interest musically or in terms of SQ. Again, YMMV.
In terms of McIntosh or Wilson or Avant Garde being relevant to the leading-edge conversation in their respective segments... well that’s the provocative part... in the most genuine sense of the word... I was hoping to provoke a conversation (relevant to a rare post about the $50-60k price point in speakers where much leading edge design (vs trickle down) starts to be affordable) about how we value brands, support brands, and who in the industry is doing the heavy lifting re: pushing forward SQ these days in speakers.
i look at companies like Vivid, Voxativ, deVore, Rockport, Tidal, Vandersteen versus Wilson and JBL, or (Yes, Exactly!!) insert your favorite innovative “Quirky Horn Speaker” manufacturer here (mine is TotalDAC) versus AG. I wanna root for the underdog brands every time because of the really interesting work they are doing.... and the passionate responses I’ve had to the musicality of their products.
I agree with @blindjim that one of the best things that the bigger players offer is (at least the appearance of) long-term value/support/reliability...
....but the only way these more fledgling companies can get to that level of stability is if we support them for their innovations, and SQ.
i argue for taking a bit of risk for the sake of a more passionate relationship to the products you use (even if you might not be able to hand them down to your grandchildren) and for supporting the brands that are pushing the envelope a bit further for all of us. Quality and longevity are often to be found in this place in spades, outside the top line industry brand names.
enjoy the music
