What's your favorite boutique speaker maker

I love the look of Devore Orangutans. Although they've been growing their dealer network, apparently they still offer a staggering variety of beautiful cabinet finishes. So a customer can specify, say,  glossy robin's egg blue for the cabinet sides, with fronts in Sweet Gum or Tiger Maple that appear to be book-matched veneers. So the "boutique" choices may have at least as much to do with building a piece of fine furniture as they do with SQ or usability.  But also, if I want to discuss specific issues affecting SQ (such as my low ceilings) then I may want to seek a boutique builder who'll allow custom choices for features such as plinth design, rake adjustment, tweeter positioning, etc. 

We do

Joesph Audio..

+1 for Joesph Audio

Perspective 2’s are a perfect fit for my medium sized room. Tone, texture, detail, dynamics and scale are magnificent.  Build quality is top notch and Jeff is a really nice person too. 

The first company that came to my mind is Merlin speakers. No new production since the owner passed away but Rich Brkich of Signature Sound offers full support, like new refurbished TSM monitors and VSM towers as well as upgrading any model to the most recent level.

Merlin is one of the few speakers that can match the speed, resolution and tonal purity of ATC, my favorite brand (not boutique).

Agree with vdotman completely. Fuselier speakers from the early 80's were something special. Wish I still had my 3.3s which I loved dearly.
John Fuselier was also a commercial airline pilot I believe...

Amphion, this very well built speakers from Finland 
has a great time aligned wave guide tweeter that not only is voiced 
to blend in the vast majority of rooms  ,its tweeter Xover at 1600 kHz is totally out of the critical 2-3 kHz region, most are not , and the balanced rear 
Bass radiator is far better then a port especially for the mid band 
much lower Accurate Bass especially for stand mount speakers  ,also no port noise in the midband, and 
all excellent quality Seas drivers from Norway. a very minimal Xover,  many Recordings studios now are using them for their 
accuracy and musicality, and reasonable cost.

audioman58,
They are good speakers from all reports, but I don't think that they would qualify as a boutique brand. They're distributed internationally and they advertise.

@treynolds155 - that is indeed me; thanks for checking the site out and the kind words.  Cheers

Boenicke

Maybe not <<boutique>> neither fully DIY (as it it does come with xover,,and also not <,commercial lab>> as  the speaker does not come fully assembled.
Here is a speaker kit i hope to add as a  2nd speaker system after i recover from my failed tube flipping business on ebay this year. = huge loss..
I may swap out the W18 for a  W22,,not sure yet\, have to talk with xover over designer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqUDP4Byyo4

I'm curious as to why no one has mentioned Tyler Acoustics


^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tyler made/makes some very nice speakers with the SEAS Excel line of drivers,, THey are too large for my needs, but if you have the room size, and the muscles,, Tyler is <<best bang for the buck>> IMHO Tyler should have stayed with SEAS only drivers , making all sorts of 2 ways and 3 ways.
And also offering xovers with high tech caps, like Mundorf Supreme EVO's. 
This would have given his speakers a  edge over any comp and really put his name on the map.
Xovers should be external, this way buyer gets to see exactly what he is paying for,,as those caps are expensive, but worth it.

My favorite is Sound Labs ESL


^^^^ some audiophiles, reject planars/panels as <,true high fidelity speakers>> I find they are <<disqualified>> to be included in the genre <,speakers>> THey are ina  category all by themselves... why you ask??
The power requirements are<,ridiculous> 100+ watts.. Just crazy.
+ they are pin point directional,, the so called <,sweet spot>> + they are too heavy. 
No I find they are disqualified to be mentioned when discussing <<speakers> 

I would define 
<<The New 21st C Boutqiue Speaker>> 
Has  the xovers external, so you can see exactly what you are getting.
And the components are  from high tech labs, Like Mundorf, Miflex, Jenzen.
Drivers from Scandanavia, like SEAS, Scan Speaker and SB Acoustics. 
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Ellipticor-3.htm

Vapor Audio out of Missouri.. The Nimbus models are a true visual work of art and sound the part as well...

Please accept my vote for Magnepan. In my small house I pair 0.7s with a par of DWMs. Each DWM I wired the two 4 Ohm elements in series for 8 Ohms and connected the outputs of the Hammond 1642SE transformers as follows: 0.7 negative to zero, 0.7 positive to 4 Ohms, One DWM negative to 8 Ohms, same DWM positive to second DWM negative, second DWM positive to 16 Ohms. The 5 k primary of the output transformer to a heavy duty transmitter triode such as the 833A to easily drive it all. It is more than enough power and it sounds most like a live orchestra in the opera house I went to before the plague. Other Magnepans might be ideal in a bigger room.

Me!

I would add George Short of north creek music systems sadly he closed up his business. He moved on to Wisdom audio as chief designer. Over the life of north creek he sold thousands of kits ,fully built , crossover parts and licensing of designs to other manufacturers. I own his manifest speaker a very fine design . But he had many designs from floor standers to book shelf. Marc

...Not sure if this company is a 'boutique speaker maker', but the German company Manger Audio manufactures some (really!) impressive 'Speakers, their flagship S1 active floorstanders, which use a novel architecture for their drivers (called that 'Manger Transducer', as well as a damping technology called the 'Star Damper', as well as built-in Class-AB amps for both the (full range) driver and the twitter, are really impressive 'Speakers, which, admittedly, don't come cheap (retail price in the US is about $24,950), but then again, consider that the 'Big Boys' in the field, such as the Magico M3 ($75,000 sans an optional dedicated stand, at $9600, and (if for some unexplained reason) need to be augmented with subwoofers, they cost $22K each...The same goes for companies such as  YG Acoustics, Giya Audio, Revel, Focal, MBL, Wilson-Benesch, and the list goes on and on...So, taking into account the price of these, the Manger Audio 'Speakers are a great VFM proposition! And, the company manufactures a full line of other, less expensive, but equally impressive 'speakers. 

drbarney1,
You're not the first person to nominate Magnepan, but they are NOT a boutique company, and haven't been for many years! 

I’ll add my vote for Volti Audio. Fantastic speakers!

I recall years ago when the owner of Volti was just offering refurbs on older Klipsch speakers. He's really come a long way.

Von Schweikert, Lumen White, Volti.  Would Harbeth be considered a boutique speaker manufacturer?  Never heard a less than musically interesting speaker from these manufacturers.    

Ohm Acoustics in Brooklyn, NY

Carl Marchisotto/ Nola speakers. 

Viking Acoustic in Sante Fe.  The difference between a boutique company and a well known brand is the personal relationship that you receive with the boutique company.  I ordered a pair of Grande Voix speakers from David Counsell who is the owner of Viking.  You get to design exactly what you want and then you have ongoing discussions during the build process.  It also helps to have a master cabinet builder.  

+1 for Salk!  I love my Supercharged SongTowers!  I worked directly with Jim through the selection and build process - he sent me pictures of my speakers being built at various phases of construction and was extremely responsive throughout the process (and years later when I sought advice on hardware to reattach the plinths after the original bolts were lost in a move!).

I ended up with a gorgeous pair of hand built speakers that I've been enjoying for 7 years now - they continue to improve as I upgrade all of the other components in my system (currently simplified to an ELAC DDP-2 for streaming/playing files stored on a NAS feeding via XLR an older 3 channel Krell amp where I'm only using 2 channels).

To my ears they are very detailed without being harsh or fatiguing in any way, image to the point that you sometimes feel like you're awkwardly staring down the throat of vocalists and can precisely and separately identify different instruments in space, and have surprising bass extension and weight for the driver and enclosure size.

I also purchased a matching 15" sub built at the same time that Jim fabricates using Rythmik electronics.  When properly dialed in to match the mains, the combination is enthralling!

Simon Mears Audio.

Of note: quite a few speaker brands mentioned here that have nothing to do with "boutique." Let's sharpen them pencils, please. 

I took a look at Simon Mears Audio and boutique they are. Not to my taste but I imagine they sound wonderful.

Selah, out of Cary NC

Selah, out of Cary NC

Ophidian Audio UK .Micro-monitors.Minimos (ver1).Interesting engineering approach .The soundscale these put out given its dimensions  http://www.ophidian.co.uk/ is unique. ( No affiliations)

I used to own Chapman T-7 speakers. Chapman Audio is still in business and he is a speaker genius. I wish I could afford them now. Things have gotten more expensive and probably better over the years. Used to be my reference when I was in the audio cable business along with Coda electronics. Den old days. 

PBN Audio for me.

can meridian be considered boutique? 

I'm curious as to why no one has mentioned Tyler Acoustics. Have any of you owned a pair of his speakers? There are very few reviews out there for them and I would like to hear what the Audiogon community thinks.

Tyler speakers had been discussed extensively about 10-15 years ago. Not much any more. I've owned Linbrook signature systems. Very good for the money, and the maker is a really nice guy. Their used speakers don't come for sale as often these days.

Would to hear the Daedalus Muse speakers. They would work well with my room size. Maybe not fit my wallet at this time. 

Magnepan.  In their day, Thiel 

Magnepan. In their day, Thiel


Neither of them woould be considered boutique.

Has anyone mentioned Burmester e.g. the B100... ? 
Pretty boutique still now, even in Germany. 
M. 🇿🇦 

Roxy54, thank  you for deciding what is true for other  people.  How very enlightened.   

whatjd,
I'm not deciding anything for anyone sir. I think most members will agree that these brands sold by far enough product as well as spent enough advertising dollars that they would not be considered boutique manufacturers.

Everything in the high end is boutique.  What is sold at Wal-Mart, the local TV/hardware store and the rest of the chains is what most  people use to play "their music".  Where most people get their
 boombox type of thing is also the place you can buy a toaster and a snow shovel.  

High end audio is a very small part of electronics sales in this country.....Not much in the way of  "high-end" comes from Taiwan or Wal-Mart. 

Even whatever Sony makes that could be  considered "high-end" is a very small part of their business.

Yamaha is first a music company, but the average American thinks of them as a motorcycle makers.

"The company was originally named Nippon Gakki, which translated means 'Japan musical instruments'. It was changed to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. In 1887 Torakusu Yamaha created his own version of the reed organ before starting his own business in Hamasatsu."

If you look at the logo on the side of a Yamaha motorcycle there is a symbol with three crossed tuning forks. 





  

whatjd,
All very interesting, (and common knowledge). You are STILL wrong about Magnepan and Thiel. In the small world of the high end, they would still be considered big players.

+1 Devore Fidelity

GR Research

Emerald Physics

Considering all the fantasized universes and other worlds, speaker makers here are boutique.  ;)