Klaud Bunge at Odyssey Audio makes a line of speakers. Audio companies don’t get much smaller than Odyssey.
Notable very small loudspeaker companies (other than Tekton!)
Let's give a shout-out to those very small speaker companies that make excellent products. I'm thinking of true one-man operations (owner-designer-maker) as well as very small ones (owner-designer + a very few employees).
My nominees: Ryan, Prana, Philharmonic, Fritz, Watkins, Vaughn, Chapman, even Daedalus, Salk, Selah.
Who else belongs in this list?
How do they manage to compete with the "big boys", in quality if not in quantity?
132 responses Add your response
Here’s one that their speakers aren’t well known and almost classify for this thread,because from what I’ve read about them,one guy has designed them all. They also make a whole series of different drivers,sold individually or to other speaker manufacturers which is bigger and separate from their speakers. Here’s a link that lists them all with current USA pricing, https://www.audiophile-direct.com/products/m103se-pu?variant=7141600005 Enjoy, Kenny. |
Speaker Art. Bob Gross is an incredible designer, however he was lousy at marketing his speakers. The Super Clef competes with speakers costing multiples of the paultry $1300 he charged for them and his Proklain ll while not the most attractive speaker is one of the top two-way standmount speakers ever made regardless of price. It’s a shame that he is retired from the business. |
The OP already mentioned Vaughn Loudspeakers,but I would like to add that I’ve been recently looking at a couple of his designs and talking to him about a possible custom built speaker that uses the Dukane plasma tweeter’s that he rebuilds and modify’s the pwr supplies.I mainly want something similar to his signature speaker but I don’t want any drivers on the back of the speaker that operate as bipolar’s. Anyhow he has recently retired from his main gig of owning and managing a flooring business in California and he’s moving back to his home state and going to concentrate his time to building speakers full time. He’s just a super passionate fellow and just a true gentlemen to deal with and he has some new ideas going fwd. https://www.vaughnloudspeakers.com If any member would like his his current contact info just pm me,I don’t believe he has updated his website yet. Enjoy, Kenny. |
Very small company. Various models to choose from. These do what speakers are supposed to do, without any fancy extras that do not make the sound more accurate. Phase coherent - first order crossovers of the highest quality. http://nsmt-loudspeakers.com/Model-15 Home page: https://nsmt-loudspeakers.com/ |
David Counsell at Viking Acoustics- striking set of horn speakers. I look forward to trial the unique Berlin R Type II’s soon. He has produced unique horn designs and secured wonderful customer reviews. Beautiful woodwork. http://www.viking-acoustics.com/products |
duckworp6 posts04-26-2018 9:13amBoenicke in Switzerland. Remarkable speakers. Agree, absolutely exemplary products by Sven Boenicke. |
+4 on Daedalus. I've known Lou for over a decade now and he has been an vital partner in my audio journey. I'm on my second pair of Daedalus speakers and Lou has supported my DA-1.1s with multiple upgrades as he has advanced his craft. Lou speakers are artisan masterpieces. His latest designs (the Apollo series) offer cutting edge performance--they are among the very finest speakers one can buy yet Lou has managed to develop a model range and pricing structure that is accessible to a wide range of audiophile households. As a result, pride of ownership among Lou's clients appears to be among the highest in the industry. Most of us are committed to Daedalus for life--either staying with our initial purchase and upgrading as new design elements are introduced or moving up in the line as new models become available. What I hear most among Daedalus adherents is their passion for music, their appreciation for Lou's honesty, integrity, expertise, craft and that they never tire of listening to music through their speakers--everything sounds so "right" and so "real". |
It wasn't until I decided to replace my original ProAc Tablettes about 8 years ago that I realized how many speaker manufacturers there are... way more than I imagined, and many are outstanding, with excellent and intriguing design skills behind them. As with kdude66, I'll add a vote for Lawrence Audio- certainly excellent designs and hand-made construction on a small scale. I think they make tube amps as well. Taiwan based. Perhaps one of the smallest and least know is Fidelity Acoustics, out of the Vancouver BC area. I've heard these on several occasions, and sometimes in side by side comparisons with some very mainstream brands. Wonderful tonality, clarity and life. I know that they work very hard on crossover designs, which I have come to regard as a critical part of a loudspeaker. The RFM-2 is a two way, transmission line that looks quite ordinary, but is remarkable in it's sound. |
Two boutique brands I own and recommend: Vinnie Rossi - practically one man show, with innovative concept (modular approach), extremely good sounding and unbeatable customer service. Boenicke - also one man show, with innovative approach to speaker design that defies common perception (small speakers, big sound) and that provides life like tone. Both brands review by 6moons. |
Tyler Acoustics, for sure. I've had Linbrooks for ten years. They are very precise, good soundstage, slightly warm (but I like it), they fill a room, and they're not highly directional.
Bass below 30Hz, Highs beyond audible (for me).
Excellent prices--the drivers are all Seas, believe it or not. If you like Joseph Audio speakers (which at $7,000+ I consider more than they're worth), you need to listen to Tyler's. I also admire Volti Audio products very much, although that's a very different kind of speakers. But they have gotten expensive, and Greg won't sell his multiple product items separately, only by a full set. Both of these are built by hand by the proprietor. |
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Source Loudspeaker Technologies from South Windsor CT. They are very under the radar but make great speakers. They have been around for 30 years. They don't do trade shows or advertise. Seems that their business model is OEM work, custom home installations and home theater. Nevertheless their speakers are a very audiophile product. Use high end drivers some custom some off the shelf, great build quality and great sound. |
The Volti’s do look interesting for a modern take on some classic horn designs Implemented with some carefully chosen drivers and “Tunable” crossovers for folks that venture past just plug and play. The rival would be the only one that I was interested in but unfortunately,Greg doesn’t allow any in home demos anymore. It did strike me rather oddly that even though the builder owner makes 3 different speaker designs he prefers something else for his own personal listening. The X2 from Spatial Audio with the modified Beyma tweeter and the big boy woofer would make a great open baffle speaker for folks that like them and have the room for them. Enjoy, Kenny. |
