Sorry for the typo “I bought Nagra”. Also would like to add tube preamp solid-state amplification now. I leave my present system on 3 to 4 days at a time and it is going on two years old and still dead quiet with the original tubes.
Manufacturers past their heyday
There are many companies that we all recall from years gone by that are gone. There are some companies that while still around, seem be be past their glory days. For instant, while Conrad Johnson is still around, they just don’t seem to be nearly as relevant as they used to be. Of course, my thought on CJ are purely subjective. And yet other companies seem to be as relevant today as they were 20 of more years ago. VPI perhaps? Definitely McIntosh.
Who are the other former high flyers that seem to be operating on an altogether different level these days?
Who are the other former high flyers that seem to be operating on an altogether different level these days?
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Wow, you youngsters do not know much audio history. There is only one company that I can think of that is around today that is not near what it used to be in terms of the product it makes. Saul Marantz started a company in 1952 with a preamp he built in his kitchen, The Consolette. By 1965 his company was the undisputed maker of the finest audio gear in the world. It was also the most expensive and the best looking. He created the formula that dozens of audio entrepreneurs would use in the future to jump start companies over and over again, Mark Levinson, Dan D'Agustino, Nelson Pass, etc. The beginning of the end was in 1964 when Saul sold out to Sony Superscope. By the mid 70's Marantz was reduced to making high profit cheaply made mass market receivers. Their best equipment had been overtaken by newer marks and no more would you see Marantz the cornerstone of high end audio stores. |
Just like Marantz, KLH is another in name only. Sure ain’t the same company that Henry Kloss started. https://klhaudio.com/ |
One of my father's friends was Rudy Bozak. In the late 1950's, he made my dad a custom pair of Bozak speakers. We lived in Connecticut close to where (Dr.) Bozak had a facility - he was a great fellow, and I do not think that his work was archaic during the time in which he lived, but I am not sure whether his brand lived on in any manner. |
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