I was very interested in those speakers but I wrote asking for home trial and he doesn’t do that. Customer assumes the full risk. So, because home audition is a deal-breaker for me, if I were to go boutique, I’d go Zu, Tekton, Omega, Ascend, Salk, Fritz, at least in lower price ranges. All of them, except Omega, allow home trial. Only Fritz has provision for shipping both ways.
What's your favorite boutique speaker maker
Seeing a few discussions recently about Fritz made me curious about what other artisan speaker shops are out there.
I'll cast my vote for Louis at Omega Speakers in CT. His high efficiency full range Alnico drivers, impeccable craftsmanship and very reasonable prices make a compelling option. I've had some very nice speakers over the years but these put a smile on my face like no others could. My search is over.
No affiliation with him, here's a link to the ones he built for me the beginning of this year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7RE-f7JiW6/
I'll cast my vote for Louis at Omega Speakers in CT. His high efficiency full range Alnico drivers, impeccable craftsmanship and very reasonable prices make a compelling option. I've had some very nice speakers over the years but these put a smile on my face like no others could. My search is over.
No affiliation with him, here's a link to the ones he built for me the beginning of this year.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7RE-f7JiW6/
162 responses Add your response
@treyreynolds155 It sounds like you had a good experience. I was trying to get that assurance from Omega and I was told up front "no returns." If the speaker was defective, I'm sure I'd get good service. But the others on my list say quite explicitly as a matter of policy that you get to see if you like the speakers on a trial basis. Not everyone does this -- and not every customer needs this -- but I did. To each his own. Omega seems to be doing fine with their policy, so let 1000 flowers bloom, I say. |
hilde45: Wow I'm really surprised to hear that. I can't say that I blame you at all. I'm local to him and he had a pair of floor standers using his smaller non alnico drivers that he let me play around with. These weren't my cup of tea at all but I ordered the previously linked speakers on faith and after a lot of research. |
@jayctoy I had heard good things, agree. I live in Colorado. So, when I got to the point where I thought of the many different ways I could spend my money -- and then thought of not being able to return one pair but being able to try and return Salk, I went with Salk. I realize now that many others speakers would also have let me try and return them. And I did try, in my home, Focal, Martin Logan, Klipsch, Dynaudio -- and none of them quite worked, but all were returned. |
I was very curious about Daedalus but a bit steep for me and too big, I think, for home audition, shipping, etc. I was also very curious about Legacy Audio; they have a dealer in Denver but he would not let me drive them 3 miles back to my house for a home trial and I didn't want to sit in a closed room with Covid (I have parents in their 90s that I'm helping out.) So, the door closed on Legacy, but I have heard they're amazing. |
Hard to tell what a boutique brand. Is it determined by company size? Audition accessibility? RBH Sound is forever an unsung brand in my book. Long established but not that large a company. Catering to the custom market, it's always been difficult to find a pair to addition. Shane Rich is their terrific speaker designer. Find a pair of RBH signature reference series or RBH's Status Acoustic line to take a listen. |
I’m a little confused over what actually categorizes boutique branding and price will play a big factor in the level of engineering that goes into the design of a good speaker system. The type of music genre you are trying to accommodate as well as room size and acoustics can totally make or break any sound system. As for my system, I am a tried and true Harbeth fan. Sold exclusively in impedance matched pairs the midrange drivers are unparalleled. I would suggest you research a set of SHL5+ or if you have the room, Harbeth 40.2 reference monitors. They will set you back a pretty penny but man I learned long ago that the biggest investment in any sound system should be the speakers. https://harbeth.co.uk/index.php |