Mom and pop garage audiophile caliber gear


Ok. I have heard about all the overpriced, over the top equipment out there, that is state of the art etc....These equipment, be it Audio Note Ongakus, or some $100K+ amp from Wavac or even those, lowly Halcro Monos for about $30K etc...they have, they are and they will sound impressive with associated equipment. Limitless budget and prices=unlimited quality of sound, but I have noticed several manufacturers that make really high quality, high caliber gear that is not, prevalently covered in commercials, but are mostly internet or word of mouth based businesses. It seems as if these manufacturers decide to pass the profits back to the consumer, instead of pumping into their pockets. One of these is Belles. He seems to be getting all the rave, but from word of mouth basis. Are there other manufacturers that I have NEVER heard off, but can compete with these other costly manufacturers? Not that a 1K will sound like a 100K amp, but there must be some who can do a very credible job at this. Would like to hear names, models and prices, if possible and against which other they compete favorably. All these manufacturers need to be current and not some defunct operation.
bemopti123
Innersound ESL 300 ($2999). This amp shocked me how nice it was for the money. I put it up against an FPB-300, Krell. The krell just barely edged it out in power. The Krell also slightly edged it out in quality. The biggest differnce was at a lower volume.
The Odyssey Xtreme Mono Amps at around $2500 the pair are astounding. The Placette passive preamp at $1500 provides the ultimate in transparency, detail, and soundstaging. Chris VanHaus' fine silver wire IC's (DIY) are competitive with the best.
John Bedini makes excellent power amplifiers. I'm not sure if he is still doing it, but his introductery price on his latest Pure Class A Classic Mono Blocks was $1600 for the pair!!! He used to sell his 100/side single box amplifiers for $3000. This is truly a bargain.
To some extent, Audible Illusions (their preamps) and Quicksilver (pre- and power amps) are underrated and underpublicized but offer tremendous performance for your money.
Eastern Electric Minimax preamp is creating a lot of buzz. Search the archives...
If father and son may be substituted for mom and pop, then I nominate Aronov Audio. I own one of their designs, a tube integrated amp, the LS960i, and it really prompts those with much more expensive units to comment how great it sounds. Such good bass is elicited from my Duntech monitor speakers that it makes everyone think the subwoofer is still connected.
Usual, used prices on Audiogon are a fabulous bargain, and, in the world of retail, Aronov also delivers high value performance.
No adjustments to make, solidly built, and reliable.
BEL 1001 MkV amp. I still haven't heard anything better at any price. $3895 each.