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Advantages of owning equipment from major audio brands vs. boutique shops?

As someone new to home audio, the many brands of equipment is overwhelming. I learn about a new brand almost daily. Today it was Valvet and their A4 MKII monoblocks. Is it correct to assume that advantage to owning equipment from the major players is a result of the dollars they invest in R&D and the company stability, translating to piece of mind via their warranty, and the ability to get a component repaired? I would think resale value also plays a factor.

Because the small shops often sell direct, cutting out layers of profit, there appear to be some good deals on well performing kit. Other than price, are there advantages to investing in boutique brand equipment? It seems the offset to a better price might be their instability in the market, resulting in possibly owning a very heavy, expensive paper weight should they close their doors and your component need service, and a lessor resale value.


kcpellethead
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 

A lot of variables.  Huge companies can be a nightmare dealing with to get a repair done (Sony, Marantz) and will eventually let the serviceability of a component expire.  Also, look at the thread on repairing Esoteric.

Small companies may close, but if they don't you're likely to get years and years of attentive care, concern, and if necessary service.

Different companies also have different identities: look at Bryston and their fabulous after-market rep.

Different components are going to have different lifetimes--a loudspeaker vs. the latest DAC.  You may well want to keep one going long after ditching the other.

Also, different components have different levels of repairability regardless of whether the original company is still around; again, a loudspeaker vs. e.g. a CD-player.

This doesn't even get into issues like specialization, commitment to a product type, experience, knowledge, R&D resources, etc. etc. 

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falconquest's avatar
falconquest
1,108 posts
 
Thinking about speakers in particular, when you deal with small boutique shops you often can deal with the owner directly. Think of Legacy, Salk or Daedalus. They will work with you to find just the right speaker for your particular situation. I had the opportunity to tour the Salk facility and meet with Jim himself who is just a fantastic guy. While there, he told me how a guy sent a year old speaker in with a blown out tweeter. It was obviously over driven but Jim replaced it at no charge. Good luck getting that type of service from some of the big companies. 
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I wouldn't generalize about this. There are companies of all sizes creating great products and having great reputations for customer service and support, and there are companies of all sizes for which a bit of research will disclose histories that in one or both of those respects are controversial at best.

And yes, if the principal at a small company eventually retires or passes on there might be problems having a component repaired. But as has been said above such problems can also arise with large companies, for any number of reasons including poor customer service and unavailability of parts.

The good news, as you indicated, is that there are many choices.  So choices can usually be found for which both sonics and customer service and support are exemplary.

Regards,
-- Al
 
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tonykay
1,302 posts
 
There's a lot to consider here. Of course, there are companies of all size creating some great products. Since the choice is mine, I usually consider how easy it might be to sell a component when the upgrade bug hits in the future. I rarely change components, but when I do I want them to sell quickly. Highly touted companies, like Oppo, McIntosh or even Nakamichi sell quicker than their lesser-known counterparts.  
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