small companies making today's best products

I go the opposite direction as Elizabeth. I hardly own anything from larger companies, and have rarely invested in audio gear that comes from any of them throughout all my years in this hobby. Sure, there have been exceptions, but I tend to prefer to invest in the smaller companies as I do believe the products and customer service are superior - at least they have been in my experiences over the years. I also have had the great pleasure of providing services to a few small companies and have made some friends in the industry so have some outsider's sense of some of the factors at play there (not nearly as directly as Duke, of course). The aspect of engineering time that Duke touched upon is something I might suggest expanding upon. Smaller companies, in my experience, tend to run on a lower overhead that doesn't begin to approach what a large corporate entity might invest in the same things: Advertising, packaging, brochures, promotion, mailings, R&D, rent, employees, insurance....all of these are significantly lessened when compared to larger corporations. The latter, by economic necessity, must make up the additional investment in the markup of their product. If there are distributors involved there is an additional markup as opposed to buying direct from some manufacturers (though I think it's really difficult for a small manufacturer to deal entirely direct these days, there are still those that do sucessfully). Dealing with a large manufacturer does not guarantee longevity, or reliability or superiority (nor does dealing with a small manufacturer for that matter). For me it's also a personal decision; having been freelance and a business owner all my life, knowing what I can deliver for less $ than any corporate competition could offer, I have far more faith in the small business person over the large corporation. Also, the few times I've ventured out to CES or RMAF, I am far more impressed by what the smaller manufacturers are offering vs their corporate counterparts, and especially when you look at the comparative costs. Here's a list that I'd consider over any corporate counterpart, in no particular order, that offer far more for the $ in comparison IMO of course - this will be just fast off the top of my head, most of which I've had direct experience with and or owned at one time or other, but not all (some are confined to the headphone world):

Atmasphere
Audiokinesis
First Sound
Modwright
Wavelength
Audio-GD
Audeze
Quicksilver
Apex Peak / TTVJ
Empirical
AudioMachina
Decware
Silverline
Wright Sound (RIP George)
Daedalus
Schiit
Eddie Current
Soliloquy (OOB)
DH Labs
ACI (OOB)
Anti-Cables
Signal Cable
Tyler

....I could go on...

Dear Elizabeth, I got from your answer, you don't like dealers. !

Hmmm, I didn't get that at all. The only time she mentioned dealers was to thank one for chiming in. Where were you getting that she was criticizing dealers?

FWIW, with almost 30 years in this hobby my experience of dealers is a mixed bag. I've met as many good ones who know of what they are talking, as I have ones whose opinions I did not respect nor agree with, and some real a$$hats as well (fortunately few and far between, but they are out there, even among the most prominent dealers). Just like the variety of folks posting here on Audiogon - I agree with you there to some degree - you really need to ferret out those who aren't talking from very little or no experience, and or just blowing smoke. I do imagine that it's very frustrating being a dealer and having to deal with such a unique (being kind) bunch of characters as audiophiles. I suppose there are also rewards as well (one would hope so anyway). Good dealers may indeed be choosing components on the basis of how well they work together to offer their clients what they think performs best to their ears. But as we regularly see, different strokes for different folks - what sounds good to you, may not be my choice. If there were one single set of best components all dealers would be carrying the same stuff. The fact is there is any infinite number of permutations one can arrive at with all that's out there and none are quite the same. No one has a monopoly on the right answers, but it's certainly nice to have a good guide. That could be a dealer, a manufacturer, a friend, or someone offering suggestions here. The opposite could just as well be true for any of those resources.

snip
I think, in truth, that you have to consider every company and every product on its own merit and avoid the childish tendency to make categorical rules of acceptability. Amen!

Well said, Macrojack.