What brand was better than it is today?

Definitely Marantz- 

This usually happens when the original designers/owners decide to sell the business and the new buyers are only interested in the "name".

Altec Lansing! Now reduced to sell desktop speakers! So pitiful! Glad I have my vintage Santana's, Segovia's and Stonehenge's! 

Heh, I'm going to throw out a brand from left field.  Emotiva.  Even though their preamp/dac have been pretty steady (okay but nothing special), their amplifier design has slowly taken a nose dive over the years due to compromises in design.  The latest Gen 3 stuff is the worst because of that damn switching power supply and, based on the bias resistors, they are running with a lower Class A bias, making their amps close to a Class AB/B type.  Nothing as good as their Gen 1 XPA or XPR series.

Sansui is out of the game and only makes televisions so they technically do not count.  Altec Lansing comes to mind. 

The early Marantz tube gear before 1965!
http://audiohistory.com/files/documents/marantzhistory.pdf

Infinity was once made great speakers. Not any more.

Quad, when they were make in England. In contrast,, the London cartridges are better in every way than the Deccas were.

Koss - I remember the days in the early 1970s, driving my ESP-9 electrostatic headphones with a Crown DC-300 amp. I don't know if I've ever heard sound quite like that since. Certainly not from the current offerings of Koss.

Also I remember wandering the city streets playing cassettes on a (large!) Nakamichi 550 portable cassette deck. Before Walkmans existed, it was a surreal and novel sensation.

Mark Levinson comes to mind.  Its modern offerings ain't as listenable, relatively speaking.

Wadia were legendary then.  

I'd feel Krell fits into this category too, but my limited experience can't speak for it.

Don't take my words.  Just Google.

Acoustic Research from the mid 50s to mid 70s.  Very influential products - acoustic suspension bookshelf speakers which set the stage for all others.  Tough to stay above the competition for 60 years.


I think a more positive thread would be brands that are way better today than they were in years past. ;-)