small companies making today's best products

I go the opposite direction as Elizabeth. I hardly own anything from larger companies, and have rarely invested in audio gear that comes from any of them throughout all my years in this hobby. Sure, there have been exceptions, but I tend to prefer to invest in the smaller companies as I do believe the products and customer service are superior - at least they have been in my experiences over the years. I also have had the great pleasure of providing services to a few small companies and have made some friends in the industry so have some outsider's sense of some of the factors at play there (not nearly as directly as Duke, of course). The aspect of engineering time that Duke touched upon is something I might suggest expanding upon. Smaller companies, in my experience, tend to run on a lower overhead that doesn't begin to approach what a large corporate entity might invest in the same things: Advertising, packaging, brochures, promotion, mailings, R&D, rent, employees, insurance....all of these are significantly lessened when compared to larger corporations. The latter, by economic necessity, must make up the additional investment in the markup of their product. If there are distributors involved there is an additional markup as opposed to buying direct from some manufacturers (though I think it's really difficult for a small manufacturer to deal entirely direct these days, there are still those that do sucessfully). Dealing with a large manufacturer does not guarantee longevity, or reliability or superiority (nor does dealing with a small manufacturer for that matter). For me it's also a personal decision; having been freelance and a business owner all my life, knowing what I can deliver for less $ than any corporate competition could offer, I have far more faith in the small business person over the large corporation. Also, the few times I've ventured out to CES or RMAF, I am far more impressed by what the smaller manufacturers are offering vs their corporate counterparts, and especially when you look at the comparative costs. Here's a list that I'd consider over any corporate counterpart, in no particular order, that offer far more for the $ in comparison IMO of course - this will be just fast off the top of my head, most of which I've had direct experience with and or owned at one time or other, but not all (some are confined to the headphone world):

Atmasphere
Audiokinesis
First Sound
Modwright
Wavelength
Audio-GD
Audeze
Quicksilver
Apex Peak / TTVJ
Empirical
AudioMachina
Decware
Silverline
Wright Sound (RIP George)
Daedalus
Schiit
Eddie Current
Soliloquy (OOB)
DH Labs
ACI (OOB)
Anti-Cables
Signal Cable
Tyler

....I could go on...

Hey guys, I can give you both sides of the argument.

I am a dealer and when I stared my company I could not get many of the larger companies and so was forced to sell many of the smaller companies products.

Over the years I have had many companies that I replaced with bigger companies products:

I had DK Designs, Dehavilland, Butler, Acoustic Zen, Harmonic Tech, Edge, Cayin, to name a few.

I have moved into Chord, Cary, Conrad Johhson, Kubala Sosna,Dali, Kef, and many, many others.

I have found that the best sounding products are indeed coming from the bigger companies who have more money to spend on r&d, can purchase or design their own parts, and have the resources to design whatever products they wish, as well as being a retailer you don't have to worry about the longevity of the larger companies so service and support over time is almost guaranteed.

You also have to remember that many small companies over time may grow to become large well established companies,
take Wilson for example, and Magico and YG are becoming well established companies.

So is smaller necessarily better sometimes yes, sometimes no, I have found for me the best sound is coming from the larger companies, however in retrospect most of even the larger companies in audio are tiny, tiny companies this is especially true when you compare our favorite companies to most other industries.

Dave Lalin, President, Audio Doctor, www.audiodoctor.com

Large or small, I would trade off a small amount of sound quality for superior build quality, long product life, good resale reputation, good dealer network, and reliable service (that hopefully will never be needed). Of course, it very hard to judge some of these when dealing with the new and small unknowns.I try to investigate and judge if a company is really doing anything original and worthwhile, or just another "me too"? I also look to see how much of the product they really build, or are they just another marketeer or importer? I too have noticed, over the years, that HE manufactures tend to have a life cycle that is somewhat typical, with the best products usally a few models before they sell off to someone like Harman or the orignal owner quites or loses financial control of his own company. I just wait until they get good and stop buying when they start to go downhill.