Company loyalty- What has been your favorite?

Heck, yes I forgot him. A great guy!

Audio Note. They make everything from source components to speakers and everything in between including amplification and cables. One of the few companies to do so. If you like their house sound you can create a very synergistic system amongst their offerings. The result may be that you are spending money on music instead of equipment. Of course there is the concept of upgrading within the line and there are parts upgrades available for most, if not all, of their components.

When I originally bought my gear more than twelve years ago the US rep at that time was always available to answer any questions. A fuse rated for 220v operation was mistakenly installed in my amplifier and the rep offered to come to my home to install the correct fuse (which was not necessary as I got the correct one and installed it myself). As an apology he sent me a set of power tubes. Any e-mailed questions or inquiries have always been promptly answered by the company's owner, Peter Qvortrup. I'd say that's pretty good service.

Tonian Labs is also very good. When you contact them you speak with the speaker designer/builder. Fortunately I am in the LA area and when I asked to demo a pair of speakers the owner, Tony Minasian, offered to bring a pair to my home and set them up for me to evaluate. I took him up on the offer and the result was that I became an owner of his speakers.

It should be a given that high-end companies have great customer service. It behooves them to bend over backwards to help people considering the cost of gear.Especially now with the economy in the tank, it's all the more reason to take care of the custoemr.

I'm a big fan of Tonian as well
I had his TL NFSM monitors and liked them very much
Tony M is a great to deal with on all accounts

Spectral - sound and an uncompromising approach to design. They won't release anything new unless it represents a move forward. They're pushing the state of the art. And they do this without stratospheric prices (compared to others, of course))

Steve McCormack is a great guy to talk to, and he has some great products too.

Thiel, for their innovation, refinement, and their sound.