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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2019 22:50:57 GMT
I'd like to name a few. Be warned, the list is in non alphabetical order.
Graham Slee Audio
Magnepan
DNM
NVA
Exposure
Sonneteer
Those brands typed above gets my respect. No bullshit, just good simple old school straight forward business.
Can't think of many more brands yet. Anyone else is welcome to list.
S.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 5, 2019 4:18:24 GMT
I'd like to name a few. Be warned, the list is in non alphabetical order. Graham Slee Audio
Magnepan
DNM
NVA
Exposure
Sonneteer
Those brands typed above gets my respect. No bullshit, just good simple old school straight forward business. Can't think of many more brands yet. Anyone else is welcome to list. S. Waited decades to hear a DNM series 3a then got one and never bothered wiring it up. Sad. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 5, 2019 4:26:23 GMT
One brand I love for being unpretentious and keeping great value is Audio Technica. The AT-OC9 was pretty much the same price in the 80s as it is now. And it was a bargain back then. Ive had loads of their accessories over the years and it’s always been good.
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Post by macca on Jul 5, 2019 7:36:21 GMT
Can we have some examples of pretentious brands just so I know what the F#ck you're going on about?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 8:47:25 GMT
Can we have some examples of pretentious brands just so I know what the F#ck you're going on about? 😂 |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 9:04:43 GMT
Can we have some examples of pretentious brands just so I know what the F#ck you're going on about? Where would you start? Hi-Fi is a pretentious idea in the first place. Normal folk just have audio. |
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Post by dsjr on Jul 5, 2019 9:07:23 GMT
ARC - expensive, under-performing and with a deliberately altered tone. Models change regularly, facilities and prices rise but the performance doesn't change. One older reference model in it's mid - period se version, bypassed a gain stage but left the circuit active so it didn't look as though anything had been removed (claimed in an ASR thread by a service engineer).
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Post by antonio on Jul 5, 2019 9:36:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 10:18:59 GMT
Surely not?  |
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Post by macca on Jul 5, 2019 11:30:19 GMT
So anything that's expensive and a bit crap or anything in a fancy case is a pretentious brand?
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Post by antonio on Jul 5, 2019 11:36:42 GMT
Just say blinged up and over advertised.
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 5, 2019 15:01:17 GMT
Linn would be right there at the top of pretentious for me. Pink triangle in their day used to sneer at others and they’d have qualified for me. A few cable companies such as TQ, Synergistic research etc.
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Post by macca on Jul 5, 2019 15:49:24 GMT
Cable companies often have ludicrous names for their cables www.siltechcables.com/products/'Royal Signature', 'Triple Crown' etc not sure if this counts as pretentiousness or just clever marketing though. Croft I would say is an unpretentious brand, at least in its current incarnation. |
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Post by antonio on Jul 5, 2019 17:03:42 GMT
I think naming cables 'Royal Signature' is rather pretentious and agree about Croft.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 17:07:52 GMT
Croft gets a nod from me. Good brand! Spoke to Glenn once. He came across as down to earth and aloof.
S.
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 5, 2019 17:19:44 GMT
Pretentious simply for the name: Von Gaylord,
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Post by dsjr on Jul 5, 2019 17:44:35 GMT
Croft gets a nod from me. Good brand! Spoke to Glenn once. He came across as down to earth and aloof. S. +1
Glenn ain't aloof, but he was quiet when I dealt with him. Another small maker, but at least he sells through dealers, his gear is all but bomb-proof and easily repaired if needs be.
I suppose one should mention Sonneteer as well. Tiny company now it seems and the UK mainstream all but ignore them sadly (not enough UK customers I bet). Prices are high for the power on offer, but maybe that's survival for you*.
* One thing I've recently learned from the 'current' loss of NVA is that making 'on the edge' stuff by hand in one's spare room and selling at bare bones prices online is fraught with hidden costs that come up to bite later on. AVI made good quality universal gear but didn't carry parts (CD transports/control IC's and so on). A large batch of Philips transports went down and nearly broke the company. This stung them hard and this explains why they abandoned separates and went into lifestyle dinky active speakers where they had more control I gather, although again, the speaker drive units weren't kept in back-up stock when a revised version came along, meaning an expensive replacement pair of drivers if one was 'partied' by the teenagers  |
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 5, 2019 17:55:17 GMT
I heard years ago that Glenn had issues interacting F2F and became nocturnal to avoid people. Not true then?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 20:13:58 GMT
Another decent and unpretentious brand is Sugden Audio. Patrick Miller - another good-minded and down to earth individual. Spoke to Patrick on the phone a couple times.
S.
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Post by macca on Jul 6, 2019 7:29:35 GMT
What about the Japs?
I'd say Sony and Denon: Unpretentious, Marantz: Pretentious.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 12:32:39 GMT
Rotel and NAD always used to be straight forward and good prices. Rega too, but less so nowadays
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 17:11:56 GMT
SMSL?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 17:15:58 GMT
What about Royd Audio guys? I'm talking about the original company.
S.
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 6, 2019 17:34:53 GMT
What about Royd Audio guys? I'm talking about the original company. S. I think the guy is undeservedly revered tbh. He found a set of measurements that he liked and replicated them. That’s about as much as he deserves credit for. He had limited market success with various variations on that theme. His latter day models were a bit of a sellout on his principles if you ask me. A maker of insightful but slightly uncouth 7 litre speakers. Workmanlike but not earth shattering. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2019 17:57:37 GMT
What about Royd Audio guys? I'm talking about the original company. S. I think the guy is undeservedly revered tbh. He found a set of measurements that he liked and replicated them. That’s about as much as he deserves credit for. He had limited market success with various variations on that theme. His latter day models were a bit of a sellout in his principles if you ask me. A maker of insightful but slightly uncouth 7 litre speakers. Workmanlike but not earth shattering. Daft question to ask. But why the hell do Joe's speakers sound bright? Is that his taste, or are they voiced that way on purpose? S. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 6, 2019 18:05:06 GMT
I didn’t really hear them as bright, but others seem to. DSJR doesn’t like the Scanspeak D2008 which he used. The SEAS D19 he also used is very much a poor man’s D2008. His best speakers used the D2010 which I actually do think is bright and uncouth.
I don’t like excessive cone doping which some of Joe’s designs used. The better ones are undoubtedly the ones with no doping. The worst are the ones with gunk all over them. All IMO of course.
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Post by dsjr on Jul 6, 2019 18:31:38 GMT
The SSSSSintra was painful, but you must remember the times Royd was popular. Flat earth bloated vinyl used with Creek or Naim amps and so on. Dull cartridges with a bass lift and a 5db hike in the tweeter to compensate.. The little bass a Sintra had was clean and the mids were excellent though as I recall (steel plate on the cab innards...) The ELA competitor wasn't as tidy and the large Abbots were sloppy to me. I lost touch until the Minsrel SE, which I really liked apart from very limited loudness - that bass unit was easily damaged I remember.
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Post by macca on Jul 6, 2019 18:32:35 GMT
Pretentious simply for the name: Von Gaylord, In fairness it is the bloke's actual name. I suppose he could have changed it to Smith or something before starting the company but then hindsight is always 20:20 isn't it? |
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 6, 2019 18:56:20 GMT
Pretentious simply for the name: Von Gaylord, In fairness it is the bloke's actual name. I suppose he could have changed it to Smith or something before starting the company but then hindsight is always 20:20 isn't it? I didn’t know that. Now I just feel sorry for him. |
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Post by macca on Jul 6, 2019 19:15:42 GMT
If he's gone to my school he wouldn't have survived to adulthood. Even the teachers took the piss out of the kids with odd names.
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