Nothing because lots of brand I can audit within 2 hour ride. No problem for me to enjoy MBL or Benchmark. Also I accepted that you don't usually get a lifetime system. I have two complete system change for a decade plus. Sometime I'm bored, sometime it just get spoiled. I don't complain if a component get me to listen more than 3 years.
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What gear you wouldn't buy because of its name or cult status.
- Thread starter Liya
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Rednaxela
Major Contributor
Hate is a strong word.
I'm considering Apollon amplifiers, but it irks me a bit that the name can be read as "monkey bellend" in my native language.
Sorry, not sorry … the MAC7200 is on my bucket list!
That is, until I have to lift it!
Proud to say that I own items from the last 4 brands.
To be particular Marantz nowadays is overpriced Denon although I have an SR 5007 that I bought because the equivalent Denon didn't have preamp outs.
Sony is hit and miss. I love their Blu Ray players because they have SACD at budget price. It probably helps that they invented the format so they don't pay license fees.
JVC is not really a player anymore. Some of their vintage amps were high quality.
Harmon Kardon made killer AV receivers until they moved their engineering overseas and had trouble transitioning to HDMI, but the older ones were built like a tank and when they spec'ed at say 50 wpc, it meant they could output 50 watts in all 5/7 channels simultaneously.
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Alice of Old Vincennes
Major Contributor
JVC?
Yes, the Japanese Victrola Corporation. Previously it was the Victor Talking machine company in 1927 in Japan. Here is an early product. They actually owned the "His Masters Voice" trademark with Nipper in it. In 1929 they were acquired by RCA mainly to obtain this trademark.
JVC is actually a pretty cool company and is known for developing technology that was useful and not a gimmick. While the rest of the market was pushing bass and treble controls JVC had graphic equalizers on even the entry level gear. JVC is a cool company that developed the Video Home System (VHS) video recorder. I wish I could show you some of the models that where outstanding in ghetto blasters, VCR's, video cameras, TVs, home audio gear and the dreaded car audio head units sucked... I mean sucked for the early to mid 80's. After that I don't know I never saw them after that. The JVC video cameras where outstanding and all where earmarked before they even reached the store but we opened them anyway so we could test and check operation. I mostly had a good experience with JVC selling it. I stayed away from the dogs (car audio) and had options but JVC just made more sense in so many decisions.
Ouch
jsrtheta
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Oh I think Topping is a decent enough name. Has a certain Britishy-U.S. Eastern Seaboardy ring. Quaint, almost.With a little 'badge engineering', stupid names like 'Topping' can be Sony, Yamaha, or whatever you want them to be...
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jsrtheta
Addicted to Fun and Learning
JVC made a wood-sided receiver with a 5-band EQ that I bought used, played for 10 years, and traded in for something else, all the while the thing never giving a lick of a problem and sounding just fine.
Took a girl to see The Jags one night, went to her place after, and she had the exact same JVC! And she loved it!
This unfortunate answer? yes. There are brands that I liked without any reason other than convinced that they sounded good. I would think that many subjectivist audiophiles behave that way too. There is a herd mentality in the HEA. Out of nowhere a brand comes and people flock to it and it, sometimes, disappears, comes another and the cycle continues... . Back in the days, in the late 80's, early 90's there was a school of "synergy", it is still around, perhaps not as strong or perhaps I haven't kept up with what's going on at the HEA (High End Audio) level: They would marry said-dark tonalities components with lighter-shade of tones, components
. And they would assign such "quality" to a brand... and, the subjective audiophiles, will believe... For example Spectral was "cold", Mark Levinson "dark", Rowland a bit "mellow", tube-like, Audio Research was supposed to be the more neutral of tubes-wares and Conrad Johnson the more "chocolatey", "velvety"... So you married a "cold" preamp to a "warm" amp, using "neutral" sources that were leaning toward the "mellow" and of couse with cables of appropriate character.... And you spent increasingly more money, lot of it, chasing that forever wrong-sounding audio system, with amplifier changes, preamplifier changes, cable changes, eventually speaker changes, you dropped without any measurements a forest of tall cylinders in your listening environment, the famous ASC Tube Traps, found out the bass lacking then bought a different cable, amp, speaker.... Such is the madhouse in which most subjective audiophiles inhabit. It makes money for the industry, things that would be simply solved with EQ are dealt with "synergy" and ( increasingly expensive of course) components changes... . The magazines and reviewers on their end touting every month increasingly expensive wares... keep this alive....I did like and continue to respect some HEA brands that tend to produce components of serious quality and objective performances, among these :Magico, YG Acoustics, Revel, Bryston (they of the 20 years warranty)... There are others that I can't recall at the moment, nor do I want to
...for the most part, I would advise people to stay away from HEA brands. The level of fleecing and falsehoods in this sector is appalling.Peace.
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Polk today is not the same company it was, for better or worse. In the mid-70s their line of loudspeakers were a cut above pretty much anything you could buy at the price point.
Anecdote: In Winter Park FL, the local boutique store (Sound Gallery, long gone) sold Dunlap-Clarke, Quintessence Group, Analog Engineering Associates, Audire electronics. None still in business, as far as I know.
The store's 'go to' loudspeaker was the Saul Marantz/Jon Dahlquist DQ-10 with matching sub. I spent a lot of time demoing the then new Polk Model 10 and RTA-12 (not SDA) with the Dahlquist. To my mind the 10 sounded better. For the price and package it was more 'coherent' than the DQ-10--essentially a bunch of drivers on individual baffles, looking like the old Quad ESL with its clothes on, but ugly as sin, naked (see below). The Polk 12 was even better, IMO. That day I went home with a set, packing up my JBL L100s for storage.
Polk used a passive radiator for the lows, a design I'd never encountered. Very 'smooth' sound. Possibly not as 'detailed' as some of the higher priced spread, but pleasant.
I don't know much about the company now, so I can't say anything one way or the other. The SDA thing seemed contrived, given what it was supposed to offer.
DQ-10: Darling of the high-end in the '70s.
mhardy6647
Grand Contributor
I agree with your entire list and could well add more, McIntosh comes to mind. I Also owned an FM Acoustic Tuner and found out later that the whole circuitry was a rip off of a kenwood tuner from th 60' I pick up for 5 bucks and compared both; result no difference at all. Also about Zu have a look at my posts and comments, I actually own a pair. Unbelievable bs secreted by audio critics convinced me to buy a pair. Dont get me started about Nelson Pass tweak of the day, 20 watt miracles with magical caps, blah;blah. I am aware that this is all negative I would like to see your favorable comments on amps and speakers of merit.My list is rather long and include mostly HEA brands.. (High End Audio)
Wilson Audio... Prejudiced against them even when I was a hardcore subjectivitst.
Krell .... Same prejudices, even when I was a subjectivist.
FM Acoustics Hated then as of now, because their cult status and their price. Unobtainium unless yu are in Asia and have the considerable means
Dar Tzeel Nothing that measured so strangely should have such a following and of course price..
Zu Can't understand that something that sounds so bad has a following either...
REL Overpriced subwoofers with pedestrians performance
LAMM Industries Overpriced, cheap looking product and any time you have ... Mea culp ... Back in the days perhaps 30 years ago, i heard their 18-watt driving a very high sensitivity loudspeaker and thought I had to have it until a friend had one in his system and ...
AudioQuest .....
SYnergistic Research perhaps the quintessential snake oil and BS peddler HEA. Very well know in HEA quarters, would say a bit more prestigious in those quarters than AQ
Linn Sondek Some people actually believe their gear to be superior
Marantz Can they take their time and just make their products better?
PS Audio Wellllllllll
Devialet Decent performance but disappointing overall. Push the right buttons, better performance can be had for much less...
Harbeth A cult IMHO
B&W Another cult
Chord More cult
NAIM Iconoclasts and Cult
Audio Note Japan and/or UK ... Expensive nonsenses
MIT Cables Believe they shouldn't be allowed to sell anything. Pure Snake Oil...
Tech DAS Took the Micro-seiki designs of yore and just made them very, expensive.. H-expensive
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I'll stop, else I may have to list )almost) all the HEA that I know or know of.
Peace.
Cote Dazur
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Their is no product that I would not buy because of its brand. I would not pay more for a product because of its brand but if I need something and the product fits my requirements, the brand is not going to an issue.
If a product from the past, used to be sold at a premium because the brand was perceived as “superior” for any reason, is now sold at a reasonable price inline with its measurable performance, then why not?
The brand is never a blank check, badge of quality, every product should be evaluated on its performance, even 2 product made by the same engineer is no guarantee of superiority or even quality, at best just an indication that it may be worth spending time testing/evaluating if the price makes sense.
On the other hand, if someone is proud to own and listen to a particular product because of its brand, like to listen to music with it, I do not have an issue with that person. Subjective and placebo exist in the objective world, if it brings somebody joy, it makes no difference for me.
If a product from the past, used to be sold at a premium because the brand was perceived as “superior” for any reason, is now sold at a reasonable price inline with its measurable performance, then why not?
The brand is never a blank check, badge of quality, every product should be evaluated on its performance, even 2 product made by the same engineer is no guarantee of superiority or even quality, at best just an indication that it may be worth spending time testing/evaluating if the price makes sense.
On the other hand, if someone is proud to own and listen to a particular product because of its brand, like to listen to music with it, I do not have an issue with that person. Subjective and placebo exist in the objective world, if it brings somebody joy, it makes no difference for me.
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