Top Audiophile companies over the last 60, or so, years..your choices?

Some others that have had a huge impact on audio.

Acoustic Research
Advent
Bose (for better or worse)
Dynaco
Shure
Quad
Mcintosh

Todays thread.I love ARC D'Agostino,DARTZELL,CH and AUDIAFLIGHT.

Yes, Advent and the remarkable Mr. Kloss.  I watched an old video tape format of Blazing Saddles on the first prototype of the VideoBeam in the Drake Hotel an evening of CES. 
The early days of "hi-fi" had some......ahh, unusual personalities at the helm. 

Top for what

On my books, "top" means that there is no sour taste in my mouth from the time I made the purchase to the time I sold it, and I’d consider buying the same brand again solely based on how much I enjoy the ownership.

A few that I could quote (in any order):

Viva
Ayon
Burmester
Kharma
Sonic Frontiers
Lamm
MBL


While I am at this, excerpt from my curse list:

VAC
Antique SoundLab
Jeff Rowland
NBS
Kora
Ming Da
Krell