Owners of speakers by obscure companies chime in

Steve and Robert at Ridge Street Audio Design (RSAD) produce a great monitor speaker- the Sason Ltd. They do not advertise nationally, and do not have a dealer network. Word of mouth & candy-in-the-ear-and-eye is how they are sold.

After talking to Steve at length over the phone, he contacted a prior owner to see if I could visit for a listen. The proud owner generously invited me into his home. I stayed for hours. Although this is not the best way to audition, it certainly is effective and more personal than a sterile showroom presentation.

Steve worked closely with me during his hand building of the speakers, and included individual requests. This level of genuine service added a satisfying feeling to a traditionally sterile financial transaction.

BTW- Steve & Robert will be demonstrating their (elusive) Sason's at AKFest this year. I hope many folks get a listen & a look at these emotionally involving speakers.

by definition...given the continuous exposure on agon alone(threads,classifieds,advertising,and advertising/cheerleading threads)...'obscure' doesn't really apply to most of the speakers in this thread. 'cottage manufacturers' would.

I too own the RSAD Sason, and my audition process was identical to Rubinken above. I'm with Doubleugly in being open to the virtues of all products, but just as Double believes he'll never own anything other than SP Tech, I believe I'll never part with my Sasons.

As an aside, it's interesting that the same little town (LaPorte, IN) is apparently home to both SP Tech and RSAD. Wonder what's in the water (or the beer) up there?

I owned the Sasons for a year and a half and loved them. Robert and Steve are class acts! Nothing disappears like well placed Sasons. I'm kinda partial to LaPorte, I guess. :>)

I have a couple of recommendations. First, Classic Audio Reproductions makes a line of highly resolved, easy to drive and very full range speakers that are very close to if not state of the art. I have heard them rival the best ESLs, but with impact and extension that is not noted in ESLs. They are 97 db 1 watt/1 meter and so its easy to find an amp to drive them. They work with both tubes and solid state; Phillip O'Hanlan, who used to import Halcro and is now doing Luxman, has a set for his personal system, as do I.

Second, Audiokinesis (Duke) is making some outstanding product. We recently got in a set of his Stormbringers for a customer of ours. I set them up at home and I have to say, I was quite unprepared for how good these speakers are! Of course, price is always a driving concern, but setting that aside for a moment (the Stormbringers are **very** reasonably priced), they were playing well out of their league, being very detailed, extended, relaxed and with a good portion of wallop thrown in. While not the last word in bass, they were clearly making it in the upper 20s and could shake the room. Again, they are very easy to drive, and while on paper not as efficient as our ZU Druids, they **couldn't** have been far behind! I think a lot of that has to do with what part of the curve you rate your efficiency from. An excellent speaker by any standard, if you pick up a set, just get in the car and **drive** before Duke comes to his senses :)