Best and Worst names in Audio

Worst- No contest. Keces.

I'll better that with the "Schiit Audio" Nuff said!

@ Tom6897,

Funny, I just read about Schiit a couple of days ago for the first time. I would have listed them as one of the worst but for me I guess the name made me laugh. I think those two guys have a sense of humor. From their website:
"Schiit got started when two audio industry veterans decided it was time to shake things up a bit. The two audiophiles are Jason Stoddard, formerly of Sumo, and Mike Moffat, formerly of Theta. Together, they have designed dozens of audio and A/V products, from the Andromeda III to the Cobalt 307 to the DS Pre and Angstrom 200."

For me, Phase Linear. My first preamp was a Phase Linear 2000, and it embodied every sonic negative that bad solid state is, or was capable of.

Ah! Schiit

Magico is a good name. What setup might not benefit from a little bit of magic?

Machina Dynamica is a most impressive name! Can't judge a book by its cover though.

Audio Research - the name says it all

Bel Canto - gotta sound lovely!

OHM - where would speakers be without OHMs? Volts and amps just can't cut it alone.

VAC - great name for a tube amp company!

I surrender to the magnificence of the name "Schiit Audio" and will not even attempt to better that one.

Here are my entries for worst names.

Digital Audio Company

They make Class D amps but often the company is abbreviated DAC so automatically I think of Digital to Analog Converter. Also they name their amps Cherry.

Dakiom

Worst name to me because of their sale posts here and rants.

Coconut Audio

Another candidate to me because of their sale posts etc. I just can't take them seriously.

Greybeard Audio

I just think of speakers for really old people when I saw info about them.

Tritium Electronics Triphazer

When I heard of this I just thought BS right off the bat. Then I read the reviews.

NAD was always good for some laughs - GoNAD! I posited that it stood for "Not Again, Dammit" when we suffered thru all the early NAD equipment failures and returns (they are MUCH better now)...

-RW-

I was an NAD dealer almost from day one. We used to say that NAD stood for "Not Always Defective" :-).

I agree, it is MUCH better now, but boy, can tell some horror stories from the early days.

As the saying goes....When your out of Burmester, tough Schiit!

It's not a brand name, but Adcom preamps and amps are named GFP- and GFA- respectively, which are acronyms for Great F-ing Preamp and Great F-ing Amp. Really.

Personally I've always been amused with the names Vendetta Research and CTC Blowtorch, both of which I own. There are stories behind those names :-)

I just came across one today that I forgot about. The speaker company is called Bag End.

Maybe I am missing something technical here in the name? I don't know, but it just makes me think of the end or bottom of a brown paper lunch bag. Bad name. Not appealing at all. Now where did I put my sandwich? It's in the bottom of your speaker.

Worst is Schiit. I would never own their equipment. It's like, "what's brand is your preamp?" "A Schiit." I can't even fathom that brand to have any resale value...

Best is Accuphase, FM Acoustics, Esoteric, Magico, JBL.

I'm sure many of you already know this, but some of you may not. My best friend had one of the earliest NAD cassette decks in the early '80s, and next to the NAD logo, it said "New Acoustic Dimension" in gold script lettering. So that is, in fact, what NAD stands for.

You can actually pronounce it as Shiite which brings different 'flavor' to the equipment.

best - Ampzilla

no Shiite!

:^)

Snell.

A name that would be catchy if we had never heard it would be Realistic. Unfortunately it now reminds me of waiting in line for free batteries.

T&A always made me laugh. Others I liked were Atma-Sphere, Audio Aero, Krell, Manley, McIntosh, Melody, and Quicksilver.

Fried seems a horrible one for a loudspeaker. Eggleston and Klipsch, though not as bad, are still no prize. Also agree with NAD. Wouldn't be interested in those. 47 Labs, Oppo, and Wadia while nice digital, all also sound weird.

Trelja,

Have you ever had a Fried Eggleson?

Michael

Acoustic Zen is a very cool name.

My DAC and integrated are BAT Schiit.

@Eleizabeth,
Does Bilbo share his home with Frodo Baggins? lol

@Trelja
Nice ones! Have to agree with you about T&A. I guess it's German so have to let it slide. Don't think they knew how bad it really is. Yeah, Oppo is pretty bad too.

I always thought Nightingale was a good name.

Schiit, Keces. I think I detect a pattern....

One of the worst (most worn out) names going right now has to be Quantum (although the Alan Maher Designs stuff I tried did actually prove to be better than it would imply).

"Quantum" generally requires a quantum "leap of faith" to buy into.

o-o
\_/

Another for the "worst" list: Juicy Music Audio.

And some for the "best" list, among many others that could be named: Galibier Design, Lyra, Devialet, Apogee Acoustics.

Regards,
-- Al

Mapman wrote,

""Quantum" generally requires a quantum "leap of faith" to buy into."

You're in good company. Einstein didn't buy into it either.

I always thought Virtual Dynamics was a pretty good name.

I'll reiterate:

T+A Elektroakustik

I'll take the Fried Egglestons with bacon or sausage, Michael.

A lot of us would like some T&A.

Audio Pimp had something to offend everyone.

Where would the audio industry be without Hindu and Buddhist names? Half of them would be gone.

"You're in good company. Einstein didn't buy into it either."

Just cause Einstein didn't buy into it is no reason why audiophiles should not buy into quantum audio. HEy, if it works for light, why not sound, right? Makes sense......

...Edge?

"Funky" Fuses.

I am still in process of perfecting these and bringing them to market, but when I do, they will sound even more awesome than the name. :-)

What about "Bag End" ?

Schiit is tough to beat :)

Worst by far: Eichmann (bullets). As in Adolph Eichman, German Nazi Holocaust mass murderer.

12-23-12: Dne
Worst by far: Eichmann (bullets). As in Adolph Eichman, German Nazi Holocaust mass murderer.

Your comment is in very bad taste, even for my warped mind!!!! It was named after one of the founders, Keith Eichmann.

There's always TG Audio, Bob Crump's old company. As in throbbing gristle. Now whether you consider that a good name or a bad name probably depends on a number of factors. Lol. Vendetta Preamp, Bar B Q Amplifier, Blowtorch Preamp and the Number Cruncher DAC were all associated with Bob Crump and John Curl.

Geoff, actually the Number Cruncher was an Entec product, Demian Martin's company. Bob was merely a big fan of it and came up with some worthwhile modifications of it. The CTC modified version of the Parasound HCA3500 amp was the BBQ, never spelled out, but its performance was eclipsed by the Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblocks, which the CTC team designed.

As for TG, indeed it stood for Throbbing Gristle, the name of an industrial rock band. But the name reverted to just TG after an important customer's wife became incensed upon learning what TG stood for.

I second Dne's choice......and also recall an ad from a very high end German turntable mfgr calling their turntable, "the vinyl solution"...