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The Forgotten

Every time I come across a gem in this hobby I inevitably come to the conclusion that there must be a ton of wonderful gear out there that has either slipped through the cracks or been forgotten. I decided to start a thread hoping some of you would spill the beans.  

I’ll start, but I don’t have a tone of experience. Totem, I believe to be very underrated.  I find they truly have a magic to them.  I’d throw out Harbeth but they surely aren’t forgotten.  Audio Mirror is one I’m pretty fascinated with based on my Tubadour  I recently acquired a Lab12 Integre4 that I think is better than anything I’ve had.  For example McIntosh, Bryston, Audio Research, Primaluna and a bunch of mid-fi.  Anyways, I think my experience is lacking but that’s what I’ve got.  
 

 

 

 

brylandgoodman
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

The Richard Brown Brown Electronic Lab BEL 1001. A superb 50wpc Class A amp from the 80's. I have the first production one made - serial number 0001.

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,890 posts
 

LAB 12 is great gear .   I have their DAC 1 Reference and it sounds really good.   Built like a tank and 5 year warranty is pretty good too.

knotscott
933 posts
 

A lot of the smaller companies end up going out of business as owners age or pass.  Other stuff just falls out of favor due to lack of publicity.  A random list of largely forgotten gems once upon a time that we don't hear much about anymore:

B&K Electronics

Avalon Acoustics

Merlin speakers

Discrete Technology

Grant Fidelity

Melos

Audible Illusions

Lazarus

Well Temperered

 

 

mike_in_nc
1,154 posts
 

I'm always surprised that Janszen speakers don't get more attention, given the compact size, ease of placement, reasonable prices, and great sound (low distortion, even FR, great transparency, superb imaging). Perhaps the issue is that Janszen doesn't release new models every year or two.

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