My first hifi setup was purchased with paper route money in 1981. I bought a Technics receiver and TT with a pair of Genesis G1 two way loudspeakers (not the Genesis of today). The speaker manufacturer was out of New Hampshire and they were of the New England School of speaker engineering which was very similar to the BBC stuff coming out of England in the 70's. The company was doing well but made some mistakes and went belly up. The story can be found at this link, which is a web site that still sells parts for the Genesis speakers. A guy who worked for Genesis started his own company in order to manufacture parts for all the Genesis owners who were getting screwed out of their warranties. He makes his own line of speakers now.
http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/genstory.htm |
I have recently bought a pair of Master One speakers. Master is a Dutch company that build wonderfull speakers. Not really sure if they are even sold out side of the Netherlands but when you have the option please give them some listen. There is really no reason for it but so far all the speakers I have owned are Dutch made as far as I can tell. Those brands were; Studio de Schop, Driade, Impulse and now Master.
http://www.dynamic-solutions.nl/master.htm |
Shelby + Kroll :-) Do a search and read through the site.
Tim Kroll has put together a great sounding speaker system. |
Gershman Acoustics. Excellent reviews of the Sonograms I recently purchased. Eight inch driver goes down to 28hz! |
Excellent sounding, and beautiful to look at.
http://www.vaporsound.com/#all |
I have now had the Daber Monitor 3's for two weeks and have had a chance to do some critical listening. I have the rounded cabinets in maple that Steve provides for a small extra fee. They are gorgeous with very high end carpentry work! The first thing that will strike you is the deep, tight bass for such a relatively small speaker. I doubt anyone but the most avid bass fan will see the need for a subwoofer in a two-channel setup. The mids are very satisfying and the highs are clear and precise. Vocals are rendered in a very natural fashion. The soundstage competes with the best. My wife, who is very musically inclined, even prefers them over my Acoustic Zen Adagios. A very different speaker and a matter of taste, but still high praise from a very musical person. I love them both for different reasons. To say that I am pleased with the results would be an understatement. In summary I think this must be one of the best values in speakers out there and they are made in the USA by a small entrepreneurial company. Give them a try - you will not be disappointed!
As a side note the speaker stands for the Volla speakers fit as if made for these speakers (rounded) - got them from MSS HIFI at a decent preice. Steve is planning on making stands for them as well in the near future. |
Tekton, KCS and Hornshoppe Horns all make great sounding and high value loudspeakers. I have heard good things about Fritz as well, but I still haven't tried them. |
You can add Daber Audio to the mix. Our website doesn't include our Monitor 3's yet, and has some pretty lackluster photos of the Tympanist subwoofers.
The Monitor 3's are not up on our website yet for two reasons: 1) my photographer became ill and 2) I'm pretty bad at website design.
I do have the Monitor 3's up in a classified in the "monitors" section and you can view them there. We do advertise on facebook, but as the o/p of this thread touched on, advertising is quite expensive. We will be getting a review in an ezine coming up relatively soon though, so I'm hoping that does a good job of helping spread the word.
Thanks for making this thread! |
Under $1000 for decent monitor speakers? |
Pmshow - It would help if you would define what you mean by "a relatively modest price" . . . ! |
Thank you for starting this thread and all those who have contributed to raising the awareness level for a non-audiophile. I guess my next question of these wonderful small companies, how many offer fantastic speakers for a relatively modest price. Thanks to all! |
Fritz speakers, amazing monitors |
Add Green Mountain Audio to the list. Not exactly obscure, but not a household name either.
Shakey |
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How about Tekton speakers? |
I own a pair of KCS speakers which are outstanding, also owned Salk's HT3's great speaker. One brand that I think has not been mentioned but one that I have been seriously considered buying is Horning speakers. These are a hybrid which use Lowther drivers only for the midrange. Possibly the best I have heard at their price points. |
I've heard the new Bamberg speaker on several occasions. It has extraordinary performance and value. I must disclose it now uses ClarityCaps in crossover as OEM'd by my agency. |
Bamberg Engineering Sound Lab
King's Audio Limited KingSound Speakers
Lenehan Audio
PNB Audio
Acoustic Energy
Living Voice
Ohm
I own a pair of PBN Montana XPs. All the above, including Reynaud and Selah speakers previously mentioned are currently on my radar screen to replace my second system. |
Eventus Audio that uses their SACC (Simulated Anechoic Cabinet Construction) Technology. I have a pair of Phobos and they are absolutely fantastic. Paird up with a Pass Lab amp, and you have a really open soundstage. |
has anybody heard sculpture horn speaker by CH audio with magnet speaker or field coil drivers |
Mehrakrishan, no field coil speaker is going to be inexpensive. The reason the permanent magnet speakers showed up decades ago is that they are cheaper to make!
The High Emotion Audio speaker is easy to drive but it is not considered high efficiency, like you often need for an SET. PHY makes a great set of drivers that are full-range and high efficiency, you might also investigate Fertin Acoustic drivers, many of which are field-coil. |
i have been following this thread and have a question,i heard rethm,s the sound was such as if i was sitting between the musicians ,i am looking at something similar with detailed relaxed and lifelike lively soundstage suitable for SET amp,which of the manufactureres mentioned above will suit my requiremnts,recently i heard about field coil speakers like classic audio and cogent but these are too expensive,even japanese like similar speakers which are musical, i have been recommended high emotion audio speakers,as similar sounding i will appreciate your input |
Two more that deserve to be in the spotlights:
Blumenhofer Acoustics (Germany)
http://www.blumenhofer-acoustics.com/GenuinFS1D.html
Master by Dynamic Solutions (Netherlands)
http://www.dynamic-solutions.nl/luidsprekers.htm |
Digital Phase is definitely an obscure company making EXCELLENT speakers. They have been making speakers with their proprietary 'acousta-reed' technology for over 20 years in Chattanooga, TN. Their response curve on all their speakers are ruler flat from 35hz-20khz (+ or - 1.5 db) and they sound incredible, easily on par with my Dunlavy SC-IVs. Although their website needs a lot of work, it does have some useful info here:
http://www.digitalp.com/ |
Hi Pedrillo, I'll have another go. My favorite remains Tidal but here are a few more brands for your next list, worthy of Audiogoners' interest. A wildly varying bunch, but each one will appeal to a different sonics/price/tec-specs/looks preference. I heard one or the other product from most of these at the Munich High End, others directly at the constructor's or distributor's (mind you, not always enough to give detailed descriptions of sonic peculiarities, let alone subtle differences between them)
Admittedly, "obscure" is not a valid description for some of these in their home markets, e.g. Audioplan in Germany, WML in Austria or Davis in France, but they are fairly unknown to the audiophile community at large (sorry guys, some of these do not have websites in English)
Horn Manufaktur (Austria)
http://www.hornmanufaktur.at/en_index.html
Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur (Austria)
http://www.wlm-loudspeakers.com/indexengl.html
Floating Systems (Belgium)
http://www.floating-systems.be/home.htm
Waterfall (France)
http://www.waterfallaudio.com/
Venus Acoustics (France)
http://www.venusacoustic.fr/index/index.html
Davis Acoustics (France)
http://www.davis-acoustics.com/gb/enceintes.php
Audioplan (Germany)
http://www.audioplan.eu/03e_products/03e_prod1_ls/03e_prod1_ls.html
Audiaz (Germany)
http://www.audiaz.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=5
Black Forest Audio (Germany)
http://www.blackforestaudio.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=8
Ikon Akustik (Germany)
http://www.ikonakustik.de/lautsprecher.html
Mythos Audio (Greece)
http://www.mythosaudio.com/results.php?cat_id=15
Rosso Fiorentino (Italy)
http://www.rfspeakers.it/prodotti.htm
Daluso (Netherlands)
http://www.daluso.com/ |
Another brand I found at the UK HiFi show in london last weekend, Acoustic Plan.
http://www.acousticplan.de/html/products.html
A very nice open baffle design, with base drivers that can be driven actively or passively. That gives a sensitivity of 98 driven active and 88 passive. They really sounded very good, open, transparent, good soundstaging. I always think if a sytem sounds good in show conditions, it must really be good. |
I would add Hawthorne Audio. Haven't heard them myself, but an interesting design of drivers for open baffle implementation. They have their own friendly and informative forum and first rate customer service. |
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I wldn't call Zu obscure! Anyway another one would be Audio Machina's Pur System....I wish I coud audition them. They are very interesting indeed. |
Here is a list including everything mentioned:
ACI,
AAD,
Almarro
Amphion,
www.aminaaudio.com
Analysis Audio,
Apogee acoustics?,
Ascend Acoustics,
ATC,
AudioKinesis,
Audio Mechanica,
Audiovector,
Blue Sky Audio
Cerious Technologies,
Classic Audio Reproductions,
Cogent,
Daedalus,
Danish System Audio,
Devore,
Duevel,
Emerald Physics,
Escalante,
ESP,
Gershman,
Gr Research,
Gradient
Green mountain audio,
Hornshoppe,
Huff,
Intuitive Design,
Ikonoklast,
JM Reynaud,
kcsloudspeakers.com,
Lansche,
Leema
LFD,
Linkwitz,
Magnestand,
Mark And Daniel,
Meridian,
Morrison,
North Creek Music,
Omega Loudspeakers,
Oskar Heil Speakers,
Penaudio Serenade,
Pi Speakers,
Podium,
Quads(not off the radar, inc. since it was mentioned)
Rethm,
Ridgestreet Audio,
S.A.P.,
Salk,
Sanders Sound,
Selah Audio
Shahinian,
Silverlines,
Sonicweld,
SP Technology,
Talon,
Tidal audio,
Tonian Labs,
Trenner & Friedl
Tyler Acoustics
Von Gaylord,
Wolcott Audio,
Zu,
Cannot verify for spellings as I copied from above responses.
Let me know If I have missed any. |
AAD speakers by Paul Jones |
Anyone looking into Feastrex online already knows how ardently I admire them, so I won't repeat all that here. Another really nice Japanese speaker that is cheaper than Feastrex is the Flat series of drivers made by FAL. I heard their Supreme-S and was extremely impressed. If I was not a Feastrex user I'd probably be using FAL.
http://www.fal.gr.jp/catalog/english/supreme-s.html |
Dgarretson, I got to hear the Feasterex at RMAF, where the installation was much more musical than their installation at T.H.E. Show. The driver is easily at the top of the full-range driver firmament, like PHY or Fertin.
Audio Mechanica of Fort Collins, CO, is another for the list. |
i heard the feastrex driver at the show. you can have it, and take the lowther two. both are not too my taste. i hear an unbalanced frequency response, i.e., too little bass and too much treble. |
Curious if anyone has heard Feastrex. These must be partnered with an enclosure of choice. They are notable for the exotic magnet construction & for their potential to surpass Lowther as a high-efficiency single driver. |
add podium to the list. regarding comparing all the speakers, it is better to listen to them and judge for yourself. |
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Add Talon to the list,I'm sure Rives will back me up on this... |
Excellent lists, although I am surprised nobody mentioned Zu unless I missed it. :)
However, IMHO the list is beginning to sound like Lake Wobegon where every child is above average. It would be good to know if a speaker stands out even among these good ones, and if so, how: Perhaps you could indicate the value a speaker provides: is the best speaker up to certain price point? Is it much better suited to certain kind of music or space than most others? Maybe the best WAF. :)
I also like the idea of local audiophile societies picking up the task of speaker comparison. Whether manufacturers cooperate or not, people could always bring what they have and have chosen and demonstrate them to others. |
add to that ikonoklast and mark and daniel.
the former is a very interesting design. it uses two ohm/walsh tweeters and a transmission line. supposedly it has the transparency of a quad 57 , but i don't believe it. it sells for $4000/pair. |
http://www.aminaaudio.com/
Benny is awesome, he is a very good tech and his speakers are amazing, I have listened to a ton of speakers but his are so smooth and musical its very impresive....
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I would like to propose a suggestion to the off the radar small companies making speakers:
The one way audiophiles meet and share ideas and do some listening together is through the local audiophile societies dispersed throughout the country.
Maybe a program can be developed through a concerted effort between the speaker(or other manufacturers) companies and audio clubs, and distribute on loan for a fee to all the audiophile societies for a set amount of time. It can be a rotating system that goes from one a. society to another. And in a years time 12 different brands will be heard in each of these clubs.
And as a bonus, each club can descibe their experience using the equipment at hand to point out which equipment matches best with the different speakers.
What do the manufacturers think on this idea?
I purchased my speakers after hearing them in someone's house, I didn't have any intentions of buying speakers at the time. |
yes i'm biased because I own a pair.
Tonian Acoustics is one of the very best yet least known companys in audio land.
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Salk speakers,beautiful sound,beautilful looks,great value. |
Duke,Well said as always: |
Ascend Acoustic is another company that doesn't advertise and follows the sound quality over looks philosophy. They concentrate on the budget market with their most expensive offering being their Sierra 1 monitor that is under $1K. The Sierra 1 is likely the first consumer price level bamboo cabinet speaker. I know Escalante uses bamboo cabinets too but wouldn't consider them to be consumer priced.
Escalante should make this list too. Very neutral and balanced sound. |
Thanks for starting this thread, Pedrillo. I and the other small companies appreciate the acknowledgement and are encouraged by your efforts here to raise awareness and interest. And most of us are friends with each other. One of us (Dale Pitcher of Intuitive Design) was quoted as saying something like this:
"I'm not trying to take market share away from these other small manufacturers; I'm trying to take market share away from B&W!"
As the number of two-channel brick-and-mortar stores dwindles, and as audio shows and internet word-of-mouth plays a larger role, the playing field between the little guys and the big guys may be levelled out a bit. And I think many of us can give 'em a real run for their money on sound quality. |
I never heard of Silverlines, but even if I had they still belong on this list, they are not as well known as Maggies or Quads. The idea of this list is to see how many options are out there, where they are coming from and also to discover the variety in concepts and materials of these new cutting edge designs.
It's not our responsibility to get the word out to the unbeknowest p*nk I mean citizen, but obviously this industry is certainly fragile, and can use help in any way possible.
As much I like to support the family owned bistro and THE LA Trattoria when funds allow me to, I would like to do the same with audio equipment, Sony and Mcdonalds will not be disappearing any time soon, but these small companies hang on a string.
The future looks bleak when all we see is Duane Reades, Payless and Wendys. I used to cross the streest to avoid walking past these chains (think of all the outgassing) now I have to walk down the middle of the street, then I run into Mr. Softee what do I do then?
I wonder if those guys selling the Shish Kebobs on the streets of nyc are running a chain they all taste the same? Thank g*d for the internet, wait that's not run by a family is it? (Actually it is run by a family, they live in Switzerland and handle your money for you, well not your money, or my money or even U.S. money. If it was really your money you wouldn't be charged tax on it.) But I can't go back to morse code or pidgeon carrier, they got us now we are doomed!!! Those chips they plan on inserting into our brains will be made by a big corporation and not your local butcher, oh well it'll probably be cheaper. (Too bad if it came from the butcher we'd be getting glandulars(I live in an ethnic neighborhood) and that would extend our lives, good thing glandulars are still available in supplements). I see those chips coming, I hope it'll be analog I would hate to think in digital, we have to fight for analog chips with some tubes so when we light up nobody can tell if it is an idea or it is the tubes?
Just think about it, we won't have to do any thinking, we will be just like the masses who are glued to the tv following orders without even knowing it. Believing everything they hear and read. When did they start the subliminal messages? I hope it never made it into the vinyl, but if it did I bet it started with.. wait vinyl came after relig ,,, Got to go. |
I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Silverlines. They do not advertise. They do go to the shows, and they have had quite a few of their products favorably reviewed in the mag's and on the 'net. So they might not be as obscure as some of the others. Essentially a 'one man show' though. |
