Most overrated audio manufacturers?

I'm not against people making money, but what I dislike are crazy claims, high prices and no engineering justification for it.
I'm reminded of the ML HQD as a prime example of this. A $28000 speaker system in 1984 that measured poorly and sounded even worse according to Stereophile. However the designer made big claims and apparently tried to mislead the reviewer and was caught. Unfortunately this type of stuff goes on in the age where it is even easier to verify things.
Some equipment clearly justifies it cost from an engineering standpoint, exotic materials, superb manufacturing, etc. Of course all that money being spent doesn't necessarily mean you have a better product, it just meant you bought a more expensive product.
I could sell you a Camry for $25000 or I could put another label on it, coat it in gold, sell it for $100k and say it is a better car, but is it?

"I could sell you a Camry for $25000 or I could put another label on it, coat it in gold, sell it for $100k and say it is a better car, but is it?"

I hate to say it, but this is irrelevant. What defines "better"? If someone is willing to pay the price - then it's worth it to that person. Period.

Does a Patek Philip tell better time than a Casio? Is it a "better" watch? I'm willing to bet that 99.99999% of all people on the planet will say no, especially when you tell them what they sell for.

I have no problem with people selling their products for whatever they can get out of it. Lying and misleading people is a different thing altogether - but if you listen to the HDQ (in your example) and still plunked down the $28k - then how can you possibly complain about it's performance?

Tie
Bose in the low-mid market and Magico at the high end.

12-26-14: Gpgr4blu
Tie
Bose in the low-mid market and Magico at the high end.

And your viewpoint wouldn't be influenced in ANY way by the fact you have a long history of preaching the virtues of Wilson speakers on here, would it? Lol!

I suppose my previous message was primarily focused on Mark Levinson the man. He is the most overrated thing in audio and probably did a huge disservice to the hi-end community. He may have single handedly created the voodoo market. His ridiculously priced 4 quad speaker system, amps that were interesting (not always in a good way), but got much better once Harman bought the brand. Then came Cello. And finally his masterpiece Red Rose which was relabeled Chinese hi-fi for multiples times the price.
He felt his name was worth money and not the product. He has lived his whole life that way. However, he may be ashamed of it because there is no mention of any audio related stuff on his wikipedia page which I'm sure he has edited to make sure people forget his past.