Most overrated audio manufacturers?

Whart, you're over-thinking this maybe. Anyway, in the overrated category, one that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet, but then again most of you folks probably haven't heard any Emotiva gear. And that's not a bad thing! What makes them overrated is: 1) Their audio quality is very entry level for the most part. 2) The company's wild claims which are in total opposition to #1. 3) Unbelievable delays for new products after the company president has promised they'd be released(the latest example is the XMC, and several tube based products).

I suppose I hold the view that the hype and the reality should match for these higher end manufacturers. My example about Emotiva may be an extreme case. They have promised the XMC for over 4 years now. People have been on a waiting list for that long! They are late by at several months for many of their products, and anything with firmware usually has some issues that haven't been dealt with by beta testers.

I can't think of any other manufacturer that REGULARLY treats the consumer this way. At any rate, you seem to accept this delta, to explain/understand it and hold the view that the market deals with it. I'm not sure about that, because there's a sucker born every minute. The uniformed with a credit card, keep the delta in existence.

I'd submit that when a manufacturer rates their gear at a certain level of performance, and the gear does not deliver, then they are over rating it.