What brand was better than it is today?

Dual, Sansui, Adcom ... solid value icons of the past ... I had all of these in my youth ... but they are gone and so don't really qualify as answers to  the original question.  They have been replaced with more modern .. and better .. alternatives from Rega, Rogue Audio and Outlaw respectively.

I have a new Marantz for my home theatre and I think it to be a most excellent product and at least equal to anything from the past in its inflation-adjusted price range.

For me, the clear answer to the original question of this thread is Infinity.  I still have a Modulus satellite-subwoofer system I bought brand new in 1989.  When I bought it, Infinity gave me a personal tour of their factory in Chatsworth, California.  That system represented the zenith of Infinity's excellence and it served me very for many years.  I attend AXPONA every year and always listened for speakers that could better that Modulus system.  Of course many always could, but at what price?  I eventually replaced the them in my reference system with a pair of Magico S3.  I never have heard any speaker match those Infinitys for the $3300 I paid.

Ihasaguy.....I have a Dual 1219 on my 3rd system that looks like it was made yesterday and sounds better tan new due to upgrades
M

Nearly every vacuum tube manufactured today is inferior to the originals, many from the 40's and 50's.  They had secret metallurgy that is not available in today's tubes.  Also, the manufacturers of most tubes have inferior quality control and technology that the old tube makers had.

@fleschler 

Well, that is to be expected, I think.  Vacuum tubes were in their day essential to the consumer electronics industry as well as to the defense industry.  For whom would it be profitable today to carry on such aggressive research into a technology all but obsolete outside of audiophilia?  The Russians carried on a bit longer than the rest of the world due to dependency on their aging equipment.  I have, incidentally, worked as an engineer on Russian military equipment.  It was extremely robust and reflected some of highest levels of engineering work I have ever seen.  I just re-tubed by preamp with brand new Russian tubes and I think they sound pretty good!

Nostalgia has power.  40+ years of audio and "moments" of great audio stick in my mind...these include many of the manufacturers mentioned above as I wandered about the US audio salons of yore, and many living rooms and now some dedicated sound rooms of today.  Sheer musicality did live in some of those old systems striking emotions and wonder...of what I'd experienced up until then.  That said, if someone let me time travel from the best of the best of each decade, and plunked me down in front of my present system and many of yours, I'm certain...I would simply be overcome and speechless.  We grow with the process of betterment.  It is exciting and keeps everything fresh.  More peace, Pinthrift  

@pinthrift : Amen to that!

I’d give a nod to the old Sherwood and Fisher electronics, generally but not all tubes. I still have some of my older Sansui equipment, AU-111 tube amp, TU-9900 tuner, SR-929 turntable still making good music with a little TLC once in a while. I wouldn’t expect 50+ years of service from today’s offerings. 

It’s just capitalism, in a free market the inefficient loose market share or go out of business, new more efficient businesses take their place. I just went to Axpona there are plenty of small businesses out there offering quality audio products.

I have a half dozen Sherwood 7100/7100A, Yamaha CR620 receivers that work just fine.  I suspect current electronic equipment built to mid-fi standards should last a long time as well.  The parts quality have improved once you have electronics retailing for $2500+.  Cheapo video/audio equipment probably not. 

Fried speakers

Has anyone said McIntosh? Because it belongs high on the list. The new stuff is just gawdy mid-fi priced as high end.

Really?  I went through a very large number of rooms at RMAF and wasn't impressed until I got to the McIntosh / Sonus Fabre room.  This was one of the first rooms where I felt "there was something special".  It was very excellent sounding, but still too laid back for my own personal preference (which is a characteristic of McIntosh).