Audio Brands that don't rip you off.

I thought we should create a list of audio brands people can look to to buy gear when looking for something, instead of constantly asking.

My main requirement would be that

1. Does not indulge in excessive audio jewelry. I think schiit stuff actually look good.
2. Does not take advantage of market trends and the general stupidity of people (me included), ie charge a high price to be relevant and releasing new flagships every year.
3. Available direct from factory (if possible) or have very nice secondhand pricing.
4. Actually good stuff in general. You can't really go wrong.

I'll edit it by category and update the first post once we get things moving.

Here's my list

1. Schiit - they sell good stuff and you can even buy new, hold value very well.
2. Accuphase - Top class solid state amps. Their integrated stuff is spectacular. If you buy one, make sure to buy them through pricejapan, or from japan and hong kong. As its priced 2-3 times more expensive everywhere else. Holds value incredibly well, especially in asia.
3. Eddie Current - Just well made stuff all round. Holds value very well.
4. VPI - Great stuff, holds value decently well, but dont buy from a dealer unless you call them up and force out a 30-40% discount.
5. Mjolnir Audio - Great stuff, bit expensive, but if you can pick up a carbon second hand you wont regret it.
6. Fitear - Amazing stuff, holds value like a king.
7. Decware - Pretty nice stuff, value holds very well.
8. Bluejeans - Nice cables, so good and cheap you wont even bother finding a secondhand one.
9. Norne - Nice cables, actually buyable new, they dont drop 50% overnight like cardas or dhc.
10. Stax - Expensive, but so so so good. Value holds like a king. Always buy the best ones as electrostatic lovers tend to always aim for the top.
11. Headamp - Long ass waiting time, great built and sound ensure the values hold like a champ. Releases new models like pre global warming glaciers.
12. Pass Labs - Great stuff all round, but don't buy new, wait for a secondhand unit.
13. Ayre - Nice stuff for speakers, not sure bout headphones, don't buy new.
    
14. Kondo - Budget for the super high end. Silver wound transformers etc etc. The real audionote. Buy secondhand always.
15. ECP Audio - Incredibly well made and well sounding amps. The circuit design is also *gasp* innovative !!
    
16. Sennheiser - Great stuff from top to bottom.
17. DNA - Great tube amps for those in love with that classic tube sound. Super long wait times and incredible builds ensure they hold their value like a champ.

 

It's no brainer, but since you haven't mentioned it, I nominate Sennheiser. Sure, they do release uber-expensive overpriced audio jewelries called Orpheus, but that only happens once every couple decades or so. Their real-world flagship HD800(S) beats the pants off most of the stupidly priced ($3K and above) so-called TOTL headphones from other companies at a less price, while their "mid-fi priced" HD6X0 stands the test of time after well over a decade while outperforming newer offerings that cost much, much more. After years of buying and selling well over a dozen headphones, a modded HD650 and HD800S are the only headphones that remain in my collection in the end.

I should mention ecp audio too because I've enjoyed the heck out of its L-2 amp for about a year, in fact there was a time when I thought it was end-game for me. Excellent build quality with a simple yet beautiful minimalist design, sold factory direct, and fairly priced. The only qualm I have is that all their products are produced in limited runs, and after that, they become unobtainium. But, if you think about it, I suppose that's what makes ownership of an ecp audio amp something special.

I think Donald North Audio also deserves a special mention. I've never personally owned but only heard their Stratus, it seems to hold its value quite well even after many years of use. It's not cheap per se but isn't crazy expensive either, in fact for its outstanding performance I'd say it's more than reasonably priced.

Lastly, Stager Silver Solids. I didn't think I would be nominating a cable company, but it in a world where the audio cable market is being tyrannized by soulless corporate giants charging $$$$ or even $$$$$ for overbuilt cables claiming huge differences in sound, this respectable company run by a nice chap has managed to produce a single line of pure silver interconnects, offered in RCA or XLR without any fuss, for nearly 20 years at a very reasonable price of $100-150 or so. After fuddling with several cables that cost $500 or more like an idiot, I finally settled down on these affordable silver cables for my Yggdrasil/ZDS and am perfectly happy with them. If you're looking for a decent pair of interconnects without breaking the bank, I say look no further and grab these.

 

On Birgir (Mjolnir Audio), he does not actually make a profit, however, his prices are a bit higher than others, due to the taxes in iceland for audio parts up to 40%. Having said that, once you take that tax into account, he is charging as he says "Cost" or pretty damn close to it.

Having said that if you want something cheap but good, id suggest you look for a Chinese builder (I can recommend one), here's what Kevin Gilmore says about Chinese audio equipment.

"My point was not that made in china was crappy, it was that made in china is priced such that made in usa cannot compete.

Audio-GD for example makes ultra high caliber equipment, and at a price that i cannot even buy the parts for. Ksa5 boards now on ebay that are my layout stuffed with parts and assembled and sell for a fair bit less than i can buy the parts for."

 

IMHO inflationary factors such as local tariffs and EOL parts should not increase a product's perceived value unless the end result is performance that legitimately exceeds that of lower-cost alternatives. As an example I believe the KGSSHV's performance level to be worth ~$1500 and nothing more in the context of some sub-$1000 Stax offerings like the 323 and secondhand (modded) 727/717 offerings (NB: the latter two are not on the same level, just a much better value).

Of course relative valuation might become a bit more challenging when you are pursuing the pinnacle e.g. a $7k EC Studio or $12k+ commissioned DIY-T2 as you're generally paying $$$$ to squeeze the last bit of achievable performance and doing so willingly.

There are some kit offerings from the likes of Bottlehead and ECP (T3) and the KG schematics themselves that deserve mentions depending on whether you value DIY labor as a chore/cost or a bonus. If you passionately enjoy it, DIY is simply hard to beat.

 

The value of a Mjolnir Audio product is that it is made by one of the two most influential and knowledgeable members of the so called stax mafia. You know that when he made it, after sale service will be well taken care of, the product will be very well made and there will be some of his personal modifications done (quite significant ones).

You're not just paying for an incredibly well made amp, but also his reputation that is built over so many years.

You can however build one yourself, or buy one from china (they duplicate it very quickly). The schematics are always released first for free anyway, and you can always ask for help on head-case where advice is very freely given by the members.

Parts for the carbon will not go EOL as the transistors are used by the very rapidly growing wind energy industry.

I do love ECP Audio stuff, pretty amazing.

 

Add Koss.

When a company makes small headphones as good as the Portapro and the KSC75 and still does not go SkullCandy they deserve my applause and money.

 

Nice to see Blue Jeans on the list. No rip off, no bullshit --- and free education! Great articles as well as great cables.

 

Also no questions asked lifetime warranty too. On my third set of portapros, my go-to portable headphones for the past 7 years.

 

Monoprice!

 

After read your fist post about TFZ 3 I was expecting those brands: TFZ, FiiO, Audio-GD, HifiMan, DUNU in the list, haha!

 

Based on my experiences alone:

FiiO - They make good stuff at decent prices. They've refined their products' usability to the point where I can say it's better than good chunk of other Chinese stuff out there. Plus, while they have steadily been going more upstream with their DAPs, I'm not sure if anyone can call them ripoffs based on all of the features and SQ they offer at their price points.

Etymotic - They still haven't raised the prices of the ER4 since its introduction around 20 years ago, even with the newer models coming out. And IMO I think the price of the ER4 is good considering how well they stack up against other IEMs on the market.

 

Fiio is heading in a good direction now.

 

Headphones:
Sennheiser
World's best headphone maker has great stuff at every price point with the legendary HD 600/650/800 perhaps being the world's best headphones. The HDVA 600 is a good but warm amp but the HDVD 800 DAC section sucks.

Koss
Cheap but not horrible portable stuff while the ESP 950 is cheap for an electrostat and sounds better than most STAX.

Etymotic

Harman
makes some good stuff even if most of it is crappy consumer shit. The AKG K7XX/K712 aren't terrible and the K7XX is well priced. JBL speakers are great.

Electronics:
Schiit
The M2U stuff, Asgard 2, and multi-bit DACs are exemplary products but I don't like the AK4490 warmth in the newer Modi and Bifrost. The Rag is the Sabre of amps and the OTL tube amps are just okay.

Emotiva
Great bang for buck American company too. The DC-1 is a great DAC

Eddie Current:
Expensive but they actually scale up in performance. Black Widow rules. Need to hear the Studio.

Audio-GD
The headphone amps are good but not great (reduced treble, boosted bass impact) but the Sabre DACs are excellent. I've heard great stuff about their speaker products too

Matrix
The M-Stage gear is the standard for Chi-fi sound. The X-Sabre was only surpassed by the Audio GD NFB-7 for Sabres I've heard.

Lynx
Great pro audio gear for decent prices.

Grace
Great mic stuff, good but not great DACs and headamps.

DNA
Meier

Lenovo and Dell business grade notebooks.
Direct USB port to Battery! No cheap out USB CONTROLLER! All 3.0 port backwards compatible. Thinkpad T series still great.

Cables

Monoprice
Amazon
Blue Jeans
Straight Wire
Sennheiser (until you need balanced when you must buy the ridiculously overbuilt and overpriced cables)

Vinyl:
Audio-Technica
Their headphones are mediocre but their moving coil cartridges are awesome. The LP1240 Super OEM table with a tonearm replacement is the best bang for buck one right now

Hanpin:
See above

Pallas
Best pressing plant in Europe.

Svart
Finnish act only label but all of their vinyl pressings are extremely well done.

Nuclear War Now!
Awesomely packaged vinyl boxsets of rare underground metal and $5 dollar CDs. FIVE DOLLAR CDS! I REPEAT HE SELLS HIS OWN LABEL'S CDS for FIVE DOLLARS! It's mostly noisy black metal but still five dollars!

U-Turn
What the hipsters should be buying instead of Crosley, Rega, Project, and the cheapo AT tables.

"They f**k you at the drive through." - Joe Pesci, Lethal Weapon 2
FiiO still sucks and always has. It doesn't matter if your products are cheap if your products are shit and inadequate for anyone who actually has a transducer that needs them.

Jerry Harvey
You invented IEMs but are still just some tinkerer who mostly makes junk only around as you lent a Corvette to Van Halen

Simaudio / Moon Neo
Amps and DACs sound bad and are overpriced for their performance. Weird shit going on.

Astell & Kern

JDS Labs

Apogee.
Old Apogee stuff with the purple knobs was great. The nu Apple store stuff is crap.

Chord
"I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Apple
Beats suck outside of the Solo 2. Optical line-outs are spotty even at Redbook sample rates. built in headphone outs on the laptops are spotty due to weird signals getting picked up by the bodies even if the grades of parts in them are as good as teh Dell/Lenovo business ones.

NWAVGuy

Mayflower

Beyerdynamic

Stax. I said it.

Rega and Project
Shitty MDF platters and rubber belts

 

As someone looking around the stat world at the moment, what builders would you say are at a similar level to spritzer and happy to do commissioned work? I only ask as I'm looking around for a carbon at the moment.

 

Headinclouds, georgep and kerry.

But it will take time. Id keep my eye open for a secondhand one, they can be gotten for 3 - 3.5k. Quite reasonable in the stax world, especially since this is the best measuring stax amp and is considered equal to the T2.

 

Ill keep an eye out. Theres also a good builder in Australia (my location), John McLean but ill have to wait for some used units to hit the market.

 

Suggest Mogami (and other studio standard like Canare) for cables/wire. Various places (ex: proaudiola) do custom made any length cables with Neutrik termination for completely resonable pricing. High quality construction, proven sound, priced right.