Is Evolution Acoustics in the very small company class?
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?
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Exactly. What I was going for in this thread was the enterprise headed by one guy, with perhaps one or two helpers, tops. There seem to be plenty of viable speaker companies operating like this, though the downside is of course that it's diabolically difficult to find somewhere to listen to their products. |
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. |
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 |
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... |
Source Technologies http://www.sourcespeaker.com/ Fantastic build and sound quality. Love my 7211 Reed Towers. |
@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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |