Owners of speakers by obscure companies chime in

Zu is hardly obscure.

Their ads/reviews are in all the mags and websites. Furthermore, they do shows all over the world on a regular basis.

Hardly the acts of an obscure company. Maybe the owners are a bit reticent after reading all of the cheerleading posted by a few forum contributors.

You'll see them here and elsewhere incessantly waving the Zu flag.

Dealer disclaimer.

I own and run Lucidity Audio and apparently decided to go public at a bad time considering the market plunge and all but this started for me as a hobby because I just couldn't find a speaker I liked in my price range and decided to build.
7 years later I was selling them to friends and giving pairs to family members for birthdays ect..
My website is in the works and I have 4 models available right now and have 2 more in the works. All of my speakers are build to order and I usually have a demo set available to listen to and if not I'll snag one from my brothers for you to hear :) Word of mouth is a big advertiser for me and getting a demo might not be easy because I'm in Tucson AZ and we seem to have less audiophiles here than most large cities.
I do all demos I can in the perspective buyers house so they don't have to worry about the room differences affecting the sound. Look me up in a couple of weeks at www.lucidityaudio.com and have a look around.

If you would like a demo just let me know
lucidityaudio@cox.net

Jason

I'll ad Sonist to the list. i have a pair of Concerto2 that are just fantastic with my 5 watt amps! Heard them at THE SHOW in Las Vegas.

If Zu is still obscure, I'll recommend you investigate their products. It would be fair to say they act obscure.

How do you hear them? You rely upon the generosity of those who post their system on Audiogon and are willing to host you over to listen to their system. I love my GMA Callistos, and would allow anyone seriously interested to stop by and listen to Roy's work - as well as a turntable by Chris Brady, cables by Jim Aud, and most of my electronics courtesy of Charles Hansen.

I've been using speakers from Daedalus Audio for the past several years, first the original DA-1's and now the most recent DA-1.1's. I was able to audition my first pair at Response Audio in Binghampton, NY (a 10 hour round trip for me) but now Lou only sells direct. Most people hear his speakers at shows like RMAF or The Show in Las Vegas. Some of Lou's more enthusiastic customers (like myself) are always willing to have prospective buyers over to hear his speakers in our homes. Finally, Lou has a retail shop where he sells his speakers and other gear outside Seattle. Lou's speakers offer high sensitivity (97-98db), authentic tonality and dynamics and are handcrafted from renewable hardwoods--they are simply gorgeous. There are several (I'm told very favorable) reviews poised to appear on the internet mags so he may not qualify as "cottage industry" material much longer but for now I think Daedalus is sufficiently off the beaten path to qualify for your post.

i don't know if Gradient will qualify for such a designation but I hear very little buss from this company and imho it deserves wider recognition. I own gradient revolutions after many in & out try out,s and I have no plans on looking elswhere.

Ascend Acoustics makes some very nice monitors. I currently run Mobile Fidelity's OML-2 towers. Bought on the strength of couple of professional reviewers ... one comparing them to Tyler Acoustics Signatures (which I was considering at the time) and other speakers in the $3-$5K range. Haven't looked back.

As a small manufacter, I will try to answer what I think the ? is. How do we get to hear small manufacters products? So this is what I will address. KCS my small manufacter of loudspeakers had our sales started by pressure from friends, family, locals to purchase my DIY loudspeaker systems. Made more sence after awhile to build more than 1 pair at a time to meet needs and save on production costs. A few years after 6moons reviewed one of our loudspeakers. We did demos of our products for a few years but found out this took much time and since sales are more worldwide demoing in WI seemed a waist of time for us. We have submited a loudspeaker for review to soundstage still waiting. But I know it is hard for folks to hear products and get imformation about new manufacters. Most of our customers have heard my work from other local audiophiles friends our are repeat customers and already own systems from KCS. We also have folks take the chance without hearing 1st. Or knowlegable hobbiests who want custom design. I do list our demos prototypes B stock on audiogon. Ive found this not only helps clear out space get some of the cost back but also helps seed new customers for KCS. Like I said most of out sales are to repeat customers. If I was looking to hear new designs from small manufacters audioshows are the best bet. But KCS wont demoing be at any for a least a few years for personal famliy reasons. But KCS isnt going away, weve been at this for over 9 years and going strong have many new designs, lots of new transducers availble, plus my sons are designing systems already and are willing and able to take over from the old man when the time comes. My youngest built his 1st design at 4!!!I didnt help at all, he pulled out all parts new drivers[without me knowing] used a tube for cabinet, installed drivers using heavy packing tape,installed damping and picked right size port from my box of many sizes, he found wires to connect I only needed to connect wire to drivers. His own design brough a tear to my eye. Sounds good, 2 of my poor friends built pairs with veneer on tubes instead of tape;) Till later take care and happy listening. JK-K.C.S.