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A vote for the little guy suppliers

Over the years, either by desire or luck, I've managed to gravitate to small volume gear suppliers, most of whom have extensive engineering degrees and operate without advertising or retail entanglements.

I think I have found (with much help from forums like this) the pieces I will be retiring with and I couldn't be happier or more content with my system.  Other than one final turntable change which I promised myself at retirement, I'm done.  

My speakers, phono stage, cartridge SUT, preamp, amp, and cables are all from individual designers, all made in the USA.  I have either met in person or have had multiple phone and email encounters with all of them.  I really like this approach and I'm convinced that great equipment at reasonable pricing can be had this way.  I've had to endure longer wait periods after ordering due to each of them not having factories behind them to mass-produce the gear.  None of them inventory product and most of the gear is really a custom order.  

Only my current TT/cartridge and SACD/CD player are from well known large firms.   

Anyone else like having relationships with their suppliers?  In case anyone is curious:

     Speakers      - JansZen Valentina/zA2.1 hybrid ESL

     Phono stage - custom build by Don Sachs

     SUT              - Bob Devices SKY 20

     Preamp         - Linear Tube Audio MZ2-S

     Amp              - Linear Tube Audio ZOTL40

     Cables          - Cerious Technologies Graphine Extreme speaker, power, and interconnects

My sources are both Marantz units.  The new TT will likely be Technics 1200G.  Current primary cart is a Lyra Delos

jsm71
bigkidz
3,383 posts
 
Stringreen - I know your pain but what you needed to understand is that the products were designed with flaws.  Melos the large amps could not take the heat as other manufacturers also did this.  Counterpoint was well designed but also with flaws, etc.  The real issue is understanding how a quality product is made and what parts are used.  In years past I remember someone looking inside a component and saying wow look how neat everything is - yeah sure it looked all neat inside but the high voltage wires were right next to the low voltage wires - not a good idea.

I also could say the same thing about the long term familiar manufacturers - parts quality is OK, designs are somewhat simple, no point-to-point wiring anymore, etc.  Ever see V-Caps or Vishay resistors or Plitron transformers come stock in any units?  But check out the price of some components, shouldn't they come with these parts for the price?

Happy Listening. 
bjg
29 posts
 
Lampizator 
Modwright 
Herbies audio labs
Spectron 
and mapleshade - 

have all gone above and beyond when dealing with questions related to their equipment - and more importantly - how it may interact with the rest of your gear - in other words - they earned the business and my support - and if I'm looking to upgrade - these vendors are ones that would still be on the top of my list - just because of they way they treat their customers.  Perhaps if they get bigger - their philosophy may change - but they are still small enough to appreciate the business they get 
chrvans
2 posts
 
For your table source, please consider Bruce McDougall's Anvil Table website: https://www.anvilturntables.com

I've owned mine for a couple years now, not one issue ever.  Bruce is a dealer for arms/carts/weights/footers, etc for his table.  It's a work of beauty and sonically sounds wonderful.  Pairs nicely w/my system.  

Good luck in your search. Bruce is very approachable.

Chris Evans


droleg's avatar
droleg
134 posts
 
Let's mot forget Bob at Cerious and Mark at CPT. Great people to do business with.
whart's avatar
whart
3,039 posts
 
I don’t know if these qualify as "little guys" because their gear is well known, but they are essentially one man operations: Lamm; Allnic.
I’ll also throw a vote to Franc Kuzma, despite the fact that he runs what is now a substantial operation- he is very much "there" to answer queries, and is really the motive force behind a company known for producing consistently high quality turntable products and standing behind them.
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