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Why speaker lines come and go

Here's some Monday musings:

The old LAD Starlet amplifier came to mind the other day - the one heavily advertised and reviewed in Stereophile about a decade ago or so.

http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/310/

I never owned one, but it seemed like an aesthetically pleasing, well designed piece. I looked it up over the weekend and of course couldn't find it anywhere, though I did discover that perhaps Von Gaylord had bought out LAD some years ago?

That made me think of Escalante speakers that were, like Talon speakers, out of Utah. Talon is now based in Iowa and is owned by Rives Audio, a company specializing in room treatments and acoustics. Escalante's also gone, their website static since 2009, although their Pinon or Fremont speakers will pop up on audiogon occasionally. I read on one of the forum topics here on agon that perhaps a bad review from Sam Tellig may have contributed to Escalante's dissipation, though I have no idea if that's true or not.

So my question is, more or less, what causes speakers (or other components) to come and go? Is it a matter of quality? Of market saturation in their price point? Of marketing? Why do some lines like Avalon or PSB or MacIntosh last forever while others splash around a bit, then sink beneath the sine waves? Could bad publicity in Stereophile or TAS single-handedly sink a brand?

There's an interesting site here:

http://audiotools.com/dead.html

about dead and defunct audio companies, but I'm curious as to what you all think.

regards,

simao
128x128simao
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
The write-up on Soliloquy was interesting and illustrates the difficulties these guys face. I own a pair and agree with Jmcgrogan1's assessment, wonderful speakers for what I paid.
There was no mention of Meadowlark Audio on the web site which kind of surprised me. I have owned several pairs of Meadowlark speakers (still use a pair of the Kestrels). Lots of info on that company in various reviews.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,431 posts
 
I have fantastic speakers HPS-938 from Hyperion Sound - company that went bankrupt few years ago. They had fantastic, innovative product that won may awards 8 years in a row, but running a business is very different from engineering the product. They lacked marketing and dealer base. Closest dealer to Chicago was in Pennsylvania. Customer support wasn't there either. I called with technical question and was not able to pass receptionist, most likely instructed to dismiss all calls. I would like to keep these fantastic speakers for a long time but sooner or later they might require service. Would I buy again a "giant killer" from small company? Not likely.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,363 posts
 
Here is an interesting history summary from one speaker vendor that has been around quite a while and re-invented itself several times along the way to survive.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Great link Mapman. Interesting that there aren't more posts about Ohm speakers. I would sure appreciate reading more about the Ohms, so hopefully, folks who own these speakers will speak-up (pun).

I'm old enough to remember when the Ohms were introduced back in the 70s and 80s. I just don't recall they were viewed as darlings of the audiophile community. Maybe my memory is fading. :(
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,363 posts
 
"just don't recall they were viewed as darlings of the
audiophile community"

OHM Fs were and still are to some extent perhaps.

But the rest, even the latest and greatest are not that
exotic and pretty boring to look at.

OHMs have never been marketed to audiophiles, though they
did pop up in various B&M shops in the 80s that catered more
to the masses when stereos were still hot items, prior to
the 80's A/V boom.

But my thought is that anyone these days who has heard and
liked mbl and cannot squeeze that should be looking at OHM.
Not the same, but similar, and perhaps even better in some
ways.

THey've been around for over 40 years now, and advertise by
word of mouth only, so must be doing something right worth
noting. I'd say that is focusing on good sound, value, and
customer satisfaction.
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