I agree! All of my tube based stereo is made up of lesser known brands. Your not paying for the name, so I think you can get better sound for less money.The only drawback is you don't have bragging rights.
Name brands that are not so well known are skipped
I've noticed that the lesser known brands on Audiogon's Auction and Classified listings receive significantly fewer page hits than do the name brands. It's understandable if they're being skipped due to keyword searches. What I don't know if if they're being skipped simply because people don't know who they are and simply pass over them for that reason. Gaining knowledge of the market is fun, free and takes little time. If fact, if it were me looking for a new amp, preamp, etc... I would NOT do a keyword search, but take my time and scroll down through the listings.