Quicksilver! Mike Sanders has quietly been building some of the finest tube amplifiers for over twenty years now. His products are well designed, sound remarkable, are hand-built like tanks, and are reasonably priced. Mike doesn't do any advertising, and has a very small operation, so his overhead has always been relatively low when compared to other manufacturers. I've owned three pairs of his mono amps and currently own and love a prototype pair of 300B SET's he built. Unfortunately Mike is not a big fan of SET design so he decided not to manufacture these. It's a damn shame as they are of the most amazing amps I've ever heard. I've also heard from a good friend back East that his new 6C33C based amps, called "The Triode", are to die for! I have not heard them myself, but do respect this person's opinion. They are pretty pricy at $5800 a pair. One of his highly regarded outright audio bargain's, at around $1000 a pair, is the 25 watt Mini-mite amps Mike builds.
Another tube manufacturer who is close to me (in location), and with whom I had the pleasure of meeting and touring his shop, is George Wright. His phono-stage...I think it's the PP100..has met with high praise by users, and is reputedly a bargain at the $800+ asking price. I think he recently came out with a new (and slightly more expensive) phono stage based on the use of some different tubes as one or more of the PP100's tube array is becoming harder and harder to find. I have no first-hand long-term experience with his products, so cannot comment other then they are highly regarded by many. Again, a small manufacturer with virtually no advertising and low overhead.
OK, now this is a big company, but in the guise of it's orgins it may have fallen into line with this thread: Paul W. Klipsch started out his company in a shed in Hope, AK with no advertising, a passionate conviction and great genius. The speakers Paul himself designed remain great, even among today's more modern designs. The company, sadly, has gone down the toilet as far as any remote resemblence to the high-end goes. The only good things they produce now are still the designs that Paul himself came up with. It is now owned and run by Paul's cousin, who seems to be more interested in the "Bose" market than in the high-end. Vintage Klipsch remain an all time audio bargain on the used market IMO.
Another tube manufacturer who is close to me (in location), and with whom I had the pleasure of meeting and touring his shop, is George Wright. His phono-stage...I think it's the PP100..has met with high praise by users, and is reputedly a bargain at the $800+ asking price. I think he recently came out with a new (and slightly more expensive) phono stage based on the use of some different tubes as one or more of the PP100's tube array is becoming harder and harder to find. I have no first-hand long-term experience with his products, so cannot comment other then they are highly regarded by many. Again, a small manufacturer with virtually no advertising and low overhead.
OK, now this is a big company, but in the guise of it's orgins it may have fallen into line with this thread: Paul W. Klipsch started out his company in a shed in Hope, AK with no advertising, a passionate conviction and great genius. The speakers Paul himself designed remain great, even among today's more modern designs. The company, sadly, has gone down the toilet as far as any remote resemblence to the high-end goes. The only good things they produce now are still the designs that Paul himself came up with. It is now owned and run by Paul's cousin, who seems to be more interested in the "Bose" market than in the high-end. Vintage Klipsch remain an all time audio bargain on the used market IMO.