Designer Hall of Fame

I'd nominate any of the builders of Chinese built products that perform way above their market value, i.e., Prima Luna, or the Grant Fidelity 3400B SET integ...toss in a pair of Shuguang Treasure black 300B's into the GF and it will compete with virtually anything mentioned thus far. Before trashing the suggestion try it against your mega dollar setup and you'll hear what I mean. I don't use the integ often, but it's the one component in a system that has a revolving door for components that I've never considered parting with for its performance/price is far too good to part with. Which is a lot more than I can say for many a high priced ticket item I've owned from many manufacturer's on the initial list of this thread.

Coltrane - I believe the OP was referring to great designers of audio equipment, not great designers of a shop floor and workforce to keep costs down. My understanding of just about all the stuff coming out of China is that it was copied from existing designs. Unless I'm mistaken on that point, the 'designers' of the products you mentioned do not get my vote.

Sebrof - Any designer that can produce a product that produces 'the goods' as the two products I've mentioned definitely gets my vote - for the bottom line is what does it sound like? The two products I've cited deserve mentioning if for nothing other than it's no easy trick to accomplish. I understand how difficult it is for some to get beyond buying labels. I listen to results, not labels.

Do I own more expensive gear, yes to be certain. Do I need to spend X amount of dollars to achieve enjoyable sound? These are but two products I've owned that prove I don't...if that's not a design achievement worth recognition what is!

Of course an open minded person would rather experience the product first hand before passing judgement and categorizing it based upon some obvious bias. It may only be my experience but one can deny themselves so much of what life has to offer by possessing a closed mind.

Coltrane - I guess I missed the posts where people showed close mindedness regarding Chinese products, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.
My point was simply that I thought the point of the thread was designers of audio equipment hall of fame. To take an existing design and make it cheaper because you pay cheaper labor just doesn't impress me from a "Designer Hall of Fame" perspective, that's all.
I built a 2A3 amp based on Western Electric's WE91A design from the 1930's for a fraction of what it would cost retail, and it sounds superb. Probably for less money than the GF and I bet it sounds every bit as good. But I don't get my vote for the Hall either.

My sense of great design has little to do with manufacturing efficiency, which is a laudable trait, but not the sort of thing I meant by design, but rather original thinking related to circuit design - the sort of thinking that goes into Nelson Pass' First Watt amp experiments - the genius of originality and a new way of thinking that leads to better music recording and reproduction. Yet, there is something to be said for those that can build a product with high QC and consistency that saounds good and is affordable - but if the bulk of that low cost is accomplished predominantly with low wages, that seems like a rather blunt way of building something good that sell for "little". I prefer a clever design that uses just the part it needs and no more, that sounds very good and is not very expensive, something like the $760 Mapletree Audio linestage handmade in Canada.