Notable very small loudspeaker companies (other than Tekton!)

“Living Voice OBX RW speakers have a simply magical sound that slowly and insidiously places you into a musical spell.”

Wow that is most definitely quite a description.

Kenny.

Bache Audio has to be on this list.  I am a long term (10+ years) Merlin owner who just replaced my VSM's (VSM-mme with custom Master Bam and Master RC's) with a pair of Bache Audio Metro 001's.  I can say without hesitation that the Bache Metro 001's are superior to the Merlins.  The Metro 001's have more accurate and natural timbre and tonality, and are the Merlin's equal in imaging and soundstaging.  The 001's provide more bass depth and heft, the highs are sweeter, and overall they are more forgiving and sound better with a broader range of recordings than the Merlins.  My VSM's sounded great with great recordings, but as several reviewers noted over the years, they are "ruthlessly revealing".  I found that I was listening to less of my music collection with the VSM's because they seemed to highlight the flaws in less than stellar recordings, and were slightly bright overall.  The VSM's are likely a touch more resolving, particularly in the highs, but nothing is missing when I listen to the Bache speakers, and I listen longer without fatigue and enjoy my listening more with the Metro 001's. 

Greg Belman of Bache Audio was great to deal with.  I was able to talk with him about the design of the Metro 001's before he built them, and ended up ordering the optional cabinet (3/4" thick bamboo instead of mdf), and the higher end Audyn True Copper Max crossover capacitors that he uses in his top of the line model.  I picked up the speakers in person at his shop in Brooklyn, and was able to listen to them before boxing them and putting them in the car. 

Highly recommended. 

Excellent,so nice to have some user feedback on these very interesting designs.I like the ability to customize to your liking and the overall personal service you received.
I would definitely say this new small company has a promising future for sure.

Enjoy those new speakers,
Kenny.

@cellcbern Congrats on your new speakers! The Bache designs look interesting and glad to hear they are easy to work with. Happy listening!

Does Kenrick sound in Japan as "re-builders" of classical
JBL speakers using JBL drivers in many cases re-magnitized and new crossover designs qualify?

@billshenefelt I am a big fan of Kenrick Sound’s videos on you tube. Simply amazing.

My +1 vote goes to JansZen Loudspeakers. David Janszen has kept his father’s amazing work (KLH 9s) alive with ESLs of his own design as well as supports the 9s that are still running out there. Every customer pretty much works with David directly. His Valentina floor standing model is my retirement speaker.

@prof - you asked about the Boenicke sound.   The Boenicke W8 which I home demoed had the most spacious, 3 dimensional sound I have heard.  And this was not even the SE model, just the base version.   And so easy to listen to: not warm as such but very natural.  They liked all types of music too, strong on classical, jazz, rock, weakest on electronic, but that is relative as they were still good.  Bass is controlled - I suffer from a boom in my room, these speakers did not activate the boom. Amazing that such a sound comes from such a diminutive speaker. 

Audio Nirvana makes great speakers.
http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/nirvana.html

Source Technologies  http://www.sourcespeaker.com/

Fantastic build and sound quality. Love my 7211 Reed Towers.

Tonian Labs

Anthony Gallo, especially the older stuff.

http://www.roundsound.com/reference-speakers.html

I had a chance at a pair of Classico IIIs once; but....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Anthony-Gallo-Acoustics-Nucleus-Classico-Series-IV-Floorstanding-Speakers-B...

@duckworp,

Thanks for the info!  Wish I could hear them.

I would say

Charney Audio
Role/nsmbt
Vaughn loudspeakers
JTR

Robson Acoustics.
+1 for JTR

Ascend Acoustics makes some excellent, well balanced speakers.

Caintuck Audio Betsy baffle OB single driver is surprising at the price point. I found it wonderfully revealing when used with a subwoofer. 

+1 for Gershman Acoustics! Lived with their little Cameleon for several years and liked them allot. A small 2 way floor standing speaker with very good base and a large detailed stage that has a way of making the walls disappear...

+1 also for Spatial Audio. I haven't personally auditioned, but have heard and read good things. Considering my love for ribbons and stats, their open baffle design and simplicity peaks some interest...Jim

Buchardt audio. Great sounding speakers at a value for money price.

Sonist Audio.  I going to post my impressions of their Concerto 4 Gen2 in a few days.  http://sonistaudio.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1

definitely Emerald Physics. Their KC IIs are a steal at $2500 MSRP

I know the title is other than Tekton(not sure why), but I still think it should be included as they are worthy speaker company especially for those of us on a budget. My mini lores gave me a great sound for under $1000.  I might also for Zu if you are on a budget.  Never owned them, but have heard a few models.

Totem from Montreal, Canada.

IMO Totem makes the best speakers on the market for Classical music available at reasonable prices . But it is not a small company .

Emerald Physics, floor standing, open baffle, phenomenal value 

Oops, sorry for the double post

Pure Audio Project!  Check it out.

+5  Daedalus
Lou Hinkley's speakers - hand crafted wood - incredibly dynamic, engaging, tonaly balanced speakers

Some may be surprised but Bob Carver and his ALS speakers should be added to the list. He's a 3 man operation now. The ALS is perhaps the most sophisticated design that has come about in the past 30+ years of speaker design.  Set up correctly, it is perhaps in the top 5 full range designs available.

Is Evolution Acoustics in the very small company class?