small companies making today's best products

Do we want a small company to built an amp to our specs ?
Hand building and wiring an amp from scratch must be time consuming and costly .

Not I. Gordon Rankin certainly does not need my advice to improve his designs.

Customizing is a nice option but not really needed by most.

I would certainly want to have a custom LAMM. What would I want to improve on stock? I would discuss it with Vladimir. Perhaps best to my taste tubes and even better some other parts, a bit more current and power, something else. More expensive? Sure. But if I am prepared to pay this kind of money additional $10k or so should not be a problem. And I would probably keep that thing forever.

Inna, I hope that extra $10k doesn't come out of your prostitute budget. ie: "So, what DONT you spend money on"? thread 3/12/11 sorry, I couldn't resist :)

I have learned that getting involved in custom work is a good way to waste a lot of time.

No one who has come to me with their own custom design in mind has ever gone through with placing an order after many hours of research and modelling and revision and phone consultation on my part.

On the other hand, most people who come to me with a specific problem, and let me come up with the solution, have gone through with it when my proposed solution was something custom.

I think many of those in the first category are DIYers posing as serious customers.

Duke

Mrtennis - which companies have you approached to "modify their designs" for you? I'm not talking about upgraded caps and such, which some of the smaller companies offer, but an actual modified design? Did you supply the specs for the circuit?

Yes, I'm sure some amp builders will do anything you ask for, so long as you don't want to keep sending it back if you don't like it.

mike elliot of aria will make significant changes to his aria wt 100 amp.

changing op amps, resistors, caps and wiring can significantly alter the sound, same with the connectors. suppose you want to create a certain flavor, the big companies would not change the parts in their designs.

i think there is another company that will design an tube amp for you , i think the name is nightshade. he makes a dac called the lampizator.

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http://www.jeffreywjackson.com/

Jeffrey Jackson builds custom amps and horn speakers that sound wonderful. I believe he'll work with you to design and build just about anything you want. He was on the team that developed the field coil Lowthers that Lowther-America is now selling.

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I can vouch for the fact the Jeffrey Jackson will customize to your taste and needs. I own one of his Kahn phono preamps which I ordered with mercury rectification and dedicated stereo and mono inputs. A truly exceptional audio component. Can't wait to get the 71A line stage!!!

Isochronism, no, the prostitute account is totally separate. Besides, they are not as expensive.
But thank you for taking care of me and reminding of that.

Wait, have we gotten this far without an Atma-sphere mention? What a great company and wonderful amps. They are there for customers with questions (especially nice since OTL amps are a bit of a different beast) and offer a number of options for upgrading their amps (power supply upgrades, capacitor upgrades, reduced gain, etc).

Hats off to Ralph and everyone working with him. A real bonus for my amp choice. Nice that an amp purchase can also come with this type of relationship with a manufacturer.

do you think ralph will design an amp from scratch ?

how about roger madjeski ?

Do we really need to design this stuff from scratch?

if nobody else has gotten it right so far, what makes anyone think they can? there are a lot of smart people out there and this stuff requires knowledge but is not rocket science.

Designing probably no but highest quality custom parts yes.
And fine tuning. And fifty years warranty on parts with ten on labour.
I read here about Albert's Studer deck. He had custom head block installed to be able to play and record all kinds of tapes. I think the price was $20k or so.

the purpose of designing to satisify the customer is to produce a product which is consistent with the tastes and preferences of the buyer. since no product is perfect, the idea is to build a component with a certain sonic signature.

those who think components should be as accurate as possible, need not consider this idea.

it's like telling a chef how you would like him to prepare a dish. very few will do this.

since all do not have the same idea as to what a stereo system should sound like, customizing a component as like getting a suit made for you.

This thread reminds me of the good old days of buying DIY amp kits that we built and continually modified , I don't no if we ever got it just right but it was fun and educational , and finding the best ingredients for home made power cords . That made audio a fun hobby .

Tekton, Zu and Decware are three I have come across recently that I would like to experience.

Also a fan of the Audiokinesis approach to things, though have not actually heard.

THough also have not heard, gotta give a plug for HHR Exotic Speakers as well for forging ahead with the Walsh speaker design and keeping costs manageable.

Did I forget OHM? Here's to John Strohbeen as well!

Audio Research....still the cornerstone of tube amp products?

mhdt systems: very good DACs for not much cost.

Bel Canto: I like this company's products and service a lot though there is tons of competition.

Dynaudio are they too big? A gold standard in modern speaker design I would say.

How about Triangle? Not up with their more recent products too much but like what I have heard.

Manley and Rogue....I like these two companies products that I have heard though I liked Manley's old price structure a lot better than the new.

Magnepan, not too big to mention, right?

Haven't heard Atmasphere but I suspect Ralph's tube amp products are quite exceptional.

I suspect Classic Audio Loudspeakers may have some of the better sounding speakers out there especially with use of their field coil drivers.

I heard charming and reasonably priced large horns from The Cathedral Speaker company a while back that caught the ears of many at a show in addition to myself.

I tend to levitate towards products that are unique or innovative relative to the norm. There are many small companies making good stuff out there.

For me it is hard to what are big companies and what are the small ones beside the obvious ones like Sony, Marantz etc. What might be a small brand in one place can be big somewhere else. For example VanderSteen speakers a know brand in the US if I have to believe this forum. But where I live I doubt you will find 1 pair of vandersteen speakers amnong 1000 audiophiles.

Also I think Symphonic Line is a big name in Germany but beyond Germany it is mutch more a niche brand.

I know brand name =/ company size but still.

Anyone here knows about Metrum DAC's?

o think my intention of this thread is to imply that small companies that sell direct have an advantage over others which have a dealer network.

companies which don't have a dealer network don't have to contend with the problems which dealers may present to a manufacturer.

they may not have to be concerned with the need for a review, they may offer an audition for a period of time, only requiring the potential purchaser to pay for shipping.

dealers may or may not offer audition periods, other than some stores which will lend a component for a day or two.

in addition,it is nice to be able to chat with the designer and ask questions which many dealers do not or cannot answer

I've always brought home possible suspects from my local salon and keep them until I'm satisfied there fully run in, usually a few weeks. Then I'll do some research, including chatting up the designer when possible and reading reviews to see if there ramblings concur with my thoughts. Getting a few audiophile friends over to scrutinize the equipment and price is the final step. My dealer tells me I average trying six components in store and at home before a purchase. I must be a bloody pain in the arse.

Mrtennis, very good thread with well made points. I assembled my system somewhat recently and am extremely happy with all components. I will investigate some other cabling options in time. My small company choices are from Wavelength and Doshi. I don't see (hear) reason to EVER change those!
Extremely well designed and executed!