small companies making today's best products

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

Large or small, I would trade off a small amount of sound quality for superior build quality, long product life, good resale reputation, good dealer network, and reliable service (that hopefully will never be needed). Of course, it very hard to judge some of these when dealing with the new and small unknowns.I try to investigate and judge if a company is really doing anything original and worthwhile, or just another "me too"? I also look to see how much of the product they really build, or are they just another marketeer or importer? I too have noticed, over the years, that HE manufactures tend to have a life cycle that is somewhat typical, with the best products usally a few models before they sell off to someone like Harman or the orignal owner quites or loses financial control of his own company. I just wait until they get good and stop buying when they start to go downhill.

Thanks Dave, for opening up and letting us know what goes on for a retailer!

Elizabeth, whatever you say is OK with me. You spent $12k on Bryston? You could've got used LAMMs instead. As I wrote once in another thread you don't allow youself to have the best possible sound for the same or even less money.
Anyway I appreciate your direct response to me. Isn't it a time for "Bitches Brew" ?