This is the list of the best makers of audio equipment. Respond if you disagree

So I guess Mcintosh, ear, constellation, burmester, lavardin, SME and several other manufacturers don’t enter the equation because...🤣😉

I used the best cassette tape to make decent recordings on Tandberg deck (don't remember the number) and Nakamichi ZX7.   Problem-So many recordings given to me were made on cheap-ass cassettes (molded/no screws, cheapest ferric oxide) non-dolby for me to transfer to digital format.  Those tapes sound worse than VHS tapes look on my 4K TV.  My cassettes still sound really fine but not as good as my Tandberg 9000/Technics 1500 RR 7.5 ips tapes or DAT tapes-those are amazing!

TDK or Maxell?

To effer's list, I would add:Saul MarantzHenry KlossAvery FisherEdward VilchurPeter WalkerJon DahlquistRichard SequerraJohn CurlBruce MooreConrad and Johnson
Arnold Nudell....and this only gets us up to about 1980, and I've undoubtedly left out some great designers, thinkers, and all around eccentrics that have made this hobby a labor of love.