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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.
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jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
03-14-14: Markus1299
Jmcgrogan2, I very much agree with you about Cary not being the same after Dennis Had moved on. Think we could talk him into returning??

A more realistic possibility is just moving on to Dennis' new Inspire gear. You'll see that Dennis is quite busy in his "retirement". LOL!
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
3,718 posts
 
Wow, Zavato....Rectilinear. The first speaker I ever bought. Used them with an HH Scott receiver and AR turntable. Don't recall what model Rectilinear (they were sort of over-sized book shelfs) but I do remember the high end being VERY rolled off...at least with the Scott. Knew even less then than I do now, but would have to say I really don't miss 'em.
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zavato OP
903 posts
 
Rectilinears did not have great treble because they used lousy cone tweeters, but the rest of the spectrum was typically very good with great dynamics. And when you see who worked at Rectilinear, it's a whose who of well know audio designers- James Bongiorno (GAS)Marty Gersten (Ohm), Jon Dahlquist (Dahlquist) Richard Shihinian (Shahinian)were all at one time or another at Rectilinear. My brother in law has Rectilinear III's, which are quite large speakers.
Believe it or not, there was a review by Julian Hirsch comparing the III's very favorably to the Quad ESL57. I would not go nearly that far in praise of Rectilinear!
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gtsnyder
14 posts
 
Acoustat,hafler,apogee and agree Cary not same since Dennis stepped down
twb2
125 posts
 
Henry Wolcott and his legendary Wolcott Presence 220 mono block EL34 tube amplifiers. There are still many of them in use today, particularly with Sound Lab electrostatic speakers, and the website is still up, but the company is no more. Henry, a design genius, simply got too old, and there was no one capable of carrying on.
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