small companies making today's best products

I would put Odyssey Audio up there with the best of the small companies. Great products, great customer service and run by a family that loves music.

Bob

harmon is big and makes good products. i enjoy buying from small companies tho.

I go the opposite direction as Elizabeth. I hardly own anything from larger companies, and have rarely invested in audio gear that comes from any of them throughout all my years in this hobby. Sure, there have been exceptions, but I tend to prefer to invest in the smaller companies as I do believe the products and customer service are superior - at least they have been in my experiences over the years. I also have had the great pleasure of providing services to a few small companies and have made some friends in the industry so have some outsider's sense of some of the factors at play there (not nearly as directly as Duke, of course). The aspect of engineering time that Duke touched upon is something I might suggest expanding upon. Smaller companies, in my experience, tend to run on a lower overhead that doesn't begin to approach what a large corporate entity might invest in the same things: Advertising, packaging, brochures, promotion, mailings, R&D, rent, employees, insurance....all of these are significantly lessened when compared to larger corporations. The latter, by economic necessity, must make up the additional investment in the markup of their product. If there are distributors involved there is an additional markup as opposed to buying direct from some manufacturers (though I think it's really difficult for a small manufacturer to deal entirely direct these days, there are still those that do sucessfully). Dealing with a large manufacturer does not guarantee longevity, or reliability or superiority (nor does dealing with a small manufacturer for that matter). For me it's also a personal decision; having been freelance and a business owner all my life, knowing what I can deliver for less $ than any corporate competition could offer, I have far more faith in the small business person over the large corporation. Also, the few times I've ventured out to CES or RMAF, I am far more impressed by what the smaller manufacturers are offering vs their corporate counterparts, and especially when you look at the comparative costs. Here's a list that I'd consider over any corporate counterpart, in no particular order, that offer far more for the $ in comparison IMO of course - this will be just fast off the top of my head, most of which I've had direct experience with and or owned at one time or other, but not all (some are confined to the headphone world):

Atmasphere
Audiokinesis
First Sound
Modwright
Wavelength
Audio-GD
Audeze
Quicksilver
Apex Peak / TTVJ
Empirical
AudioMachina
Decware
Silverline
Wright Sound (RIP George)
Daedalus
Schiit
Eddie Current
Soliloquy (OOB)
DH Labs
ACI (OOB)
Anti-Cables
Signal Cable
Tyler

....I could go on...

Direct response to Inna:

The larger companies i prefer once were small companies.
Audio Research, Kimber, Magnepan. They got to become big for the very 'special' reasons given for preferring small companies. they gave excellent product for price, excellent customer service. AND managed to do so for many years, enough to actually become a moderately sized corporation. They also are operated and or owned by the initial startup person.
The big companies like Sony invented CD, if that matters...innovation?

And exactly how does MY choice create a sense of insult. A question was asked ,and I answered it by stating I do not do that. So what.

If any response is an insult it is Inna getting bent over my preferring medium size companies and a guarantee they will BE AROUND tomorrow, If that is 'OK' with Inna.
I do dislike medium sized companies being bought out to 'market the name' and start selling inferior product. One particular famous company comes to mind that shall not be named (after a famous 'Planet" movie hey?)
I never said the small company is BAD, nor IS a SCAM, nor is not a good value, nor is not worth considering,,

Or am i not allowed to post due to the 'let's sell some stuff' faux posts that sometimes appear around here. Vacuuming them up is a chore. LOL.

Stating i do not buy tiny 'one guy in a garage' products is bad? and how is that bad? Does it allow someone on the edge of buying a tinkers dream to think: "maybe i'll buy a real product with some actual engineering behind it that I can depend on the maker servicing it next year...in stead of hoping a few word of mouth mentions in posts where no one can tell if it is just an info-mercial..

The complaint over my comment WAS a little thin, so I gave you even MORE to moan about right there above. Feel free to piss and moan even more. here below.

If YOU want to buy a product made by a small builder, go right ahead, love it, allows those guys to someday, if they actually DO deliver a good product with good service to become a bigger company. (I am certain not one of them wants to be the little guy in his garage making stuff on the weekends, forever.. well maybe a few do..)
So I am glad for you that you want to find unusual, unique products that make you feel better for doing so. good for you!. And that folks still have an interest in designing and building new and exciting products in small startup entrepreneurial ways
i hope you can understand i have a limited budget, and when I blew $12,000. on Bryston products last Spring, it WAS because they had a twenty year guarantee. They sound good enough for the price, and the likelyhood they WILL be around in twenty years is pretty high. For some small companies, the likelyhood they will NOT be around is equally high. If it doesn't matter to the buyer of esoteric limited edition products, then great, and be happy with them. I am certain they will be happy with many if these products. Look at all the testimonails!!
And i am fully CERTAIN I have managed THIS TIME to offend you Inna, so please, get with the 'offended' and let me know in detail how i 'offended' the small manufacturers, and all the people who enjoy buying thier products.. I would enjoy a response please:
(and i cut out plenty of insults and cuss words...Or I might have given the touchy-feely reading this rant a heart attack))

Hey guys, I can give you both sides of the argument.

I am a dealer and when I stared my company I could not get many of the larger companies and so was forced to sell many of the smaller companies products.

Over the years I have had many companies that I replaced with bigger companies products:

I had DK Designs, Dehavilland, Butler, Acoustic Zen, Harmonic Tech, Edge, Cayin, to name a few.

I have moved into Chord, Cary, Conrad Johhson, Kubala Sosna,Dali, Kef, and many, many others.

I have found that the best sounding products are indeed coming from the bigger companies who have more money to spend on r&d, can purchase or design their own parts, and have the resources to design whatever products they wish, as well as being a retailer you don't have to worry about the longevity of the larger companies so service and support over time is almost guaranteed.

You also have to remember that many small companies over time may grow to become large well established companies,
take Wilson for example, and Magico and YG are becoming well established companies.

So is smaller necessarily better sometimes yes, sometimes no, I have found for me the best sound is coming from the larger companies, however in retrospect most of even the larger companies in audio are tiny, tiny companies this is especially true when you compare our favorite companies to most other industries.

Dave Lalin, President, Audio Doctor, www.audiodoctor.com