What extinct Hi Fi manufacture do you miss the most?

Wow, what a stroll down memory lane! Great thread! I would second Nakamichi and Sansui. I still remember lusting after Nak tape decks as a teenager and their Dragon speakers were mythical looking beasts. Nice automotive head units too!

Another oddball I miss is Lafayette, an electronics manufacturer out of Long Island. Had some nice affordable hifi at the time. My Dad had an HA-700 tubed receiver of theirs that wasn't powerful, but sounded terrific.

APT Holman

Another great sounding and reasonably priced pre-amplifier designed by Tomlinson Holman, the audio engineer who later developed the technology of Lucasfim THX and the first 10.2 sound system. Almost got one for myself but eventually decided on the more spartan AGI (no tone controls) to go with the Quad 405.

TOBYJUG posted:

Not surprising that there has not been mention of Apogee Speakers. A Naim amp back in the day would of imploded in a vacuum up through the speaker cables if used probably.  Never heard or even know someone who knows someone who knows someone that has.

Apogee and Krell were as important as Linn and Naim across the pond.

I remember Martin Colloms having the Apogee Duettas or scintillas? with two huge monoblock Krell power amps

It had some extraordinary qualities, not least of which was its ability to suck current!

Goldmund Reference -- the only turntable I've ever heard with true pitch stability

TOBYJUG posted:

Not surprising that there has not been mention of Apogee Speakers. A Naim amp back in the day would of imploded in a vacuum up through the speaker cables if used probably.  Never heard or even know someone who knows someone who knows someone that has.

Apogee and Krell were as important as Linn and Naim across the pond.

My first experience with Apogees was a bit of a disaster. We got a pair for a client who was happy to buy them on the basis of the reviews he saw. He had at that time just moved from Isobariks to Duntechs, (a very good Australian manufacturer), but wanted more clarity. So we got in a pair of the baby Duetta's, along with some Krell KMA-100s to make them work.

The install was commenced with some good red wine, (which generally makes any hifi sound better). Then the unpacking commenced. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the speaker finish was a pale taupe coloured textured paint, which marked oh so easily. They weighed a tonne, so unfortunately I put a big sweaty hand print on the front face as I manhandled them upright and attached the dicky feet struts.

Panicked and wiped the mark with a damp soft cloth which made it worse. Got very, very panicked and some how wired them out-of-phase. So weird sound and no bass. Due to the fact they were ribbons the typical give-aways for out -of-phase were a bit difficult to pick. So mega dollars and millions of kilograms of high end audio sounding really bad.

A few red wines later we pulled out an old 250. Somehow wired this in phase. So smiles, (as now sounding better) but puzzlement, as hadn't picked up on the out of phase hook up earlier. Conformational bias on my part, (of course a 250 is better than those over engineered room heaters from Krell), so thinking the Krells were faulty I lugged them away.

Penny dropped a day or so later. The Krells were pretty good. So were the Apogees. So was the wine. All smiles on the return visit. Muttered something about speaker terminals.

And the 250 hadn't self combusted whilst doing stand in duty on the Apogees. Given that one our favourite pieces of music to sort the men from the boys was Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung we were maybe lucky.

Bet you never expected this reply!

And meant to say, yes the American had, (and still do), some pretty groovy stuff. Krell KMA 100s had astounding clarity, (I tried them on my little Kan's and was gobsmacked), Audio Research was pretty amazing. The Mitchell A Cotter products were little blue boxes that showed much truth. Magnepans were a revelation. And the Apogees had some great qualities.

I listened to a second hand Krell S300i integrated amplifier driving some B&W 804's, all circa 2008 or so. Pretty good! Went on to choose something else, but could have lived with the amplifier.

I miss manufacturers who are not extinct but in fact do not exist anymore in the way and position they held. And the time when they did. Like Pioneer, who did my first 'serious' amp:

and some spectacular examples of the late 70s' Japanese loudspeaker concept:

I miss the thrill I felt when I first saw this equally spectacular recapitulation of the very idea of loudspeaker:

and the style of home audio:

I miss a few manufacturers of HiFi that were active in my hometown, Torino – a city of industry and production, before FIAT left to become an anglo-american hybrid. Like Hirtel amps:

or ReVac, who did amps but also some adventurous loudspeakers:

and Bartolomeo Aloia, an independent designer and builder whom I used to know. He could be somehow over-the-top:

(he's the guy on the right); or just concrete and elegant:

I miss some Roma-based brands, like ESB, who made successful and unorthodox loudspeakers designs in the 70s:

or Audiolab (not the British homonymous), with their interesting Delta3 floor stander:

Then, to close the reminiscence, Galactron and its futuristic amps:

(yes, they stood vertical) that evenly divided fans between enthusiastic and horrified. Galactron was fashion...

Thanks for looking,

M

Ah the Italians! Used to sell Voxson amplifiers, (and drive a Fiat), back in the late 70's. The Voxson was a great sounding and looking product. Unfortunately they were a bit unreliable. We imported them so we saw the truth.

Seem to recall the Iconic Nakamichi 600 series look was designed by a famous Italian design house. Anyone recall?

Still Voxson's sold today, but it's all OEM low end TV's etc

Linn were a great company that used to make hifi. I think these days it is all curtains and ladies underwear from what I can make out.

steve95775 posted:

Seem to recall the Iconic Nakamichi 600 series look was designed by a famous Italian design house. Anyone recall?

Steve,

you may be thinking of Mario Bellini who styled the Yamaha TC-800?

Yes! Thanks Richard. Was just doing an internet search.

Might have to sharpen up with some red wine... it's Friday 4.30 here in Perth and it's calling me.

feeling_zen posted:

Linn were a great company that used to make hifi. I think these days it is all curtains and ladies underwear from what I can make out.

Have you actually gotten yourself into a Linn dealer lately and heard their digital presentation with space optimization set per the listening room and speakers? Far from frivolous IME, me being a physical media guy.

I heard the latest Linn Akurate DSM a month ago, it was fed by a LP12/Ekos/Kuzma and some non Linn phono stage. Active Isobariks in great order. Sounded very nice. I know this system reasonably, I get to hear it as it upgrades and sometimes just for the pleasure of music.

The 1995 Patricia Barber record we played was real music. As was 2014 Diana Krall and the 1960's Elizabeth Swatzkoff.  Did the boogie things my all Naim system does, some aspects better, some not so.

Our new Linn Dealer here in Perth is very good, and their new gear is very good too. The Exakt  Akudorik demo I heard last year was stunning. I considered this when I bought my S-400's, but unfortunately at the time I couldn't get a demo.  

TOBYJUG posted:

Not surprising that there has not been mention of Apogee Speakers. A Naim amp back in the day would of imploded in a vacuum up through the speaker cables if used probably.  Never heard or even know someone who knows someone who knows someone that has.

Apogee and Krell were as important as Linn and Naim across the pond.

I almost bought a pair of the bigger Apogee Scintillas back in the day, but luckily was warned in time that my poor Primare 928 Monoblocks that I thought were indestructible would almost certainly not have a hope of driving them. They had a 1ohm impedance rating from memory. I was advised that if I wanted them, I should sell my Primares and buy a Krell. Nothing else would survive.

I ended up keeping the Primares and buying a pair of Maggies instead. I'm still not sure if that was the right decision. The Apogees were probably at that time one of the best (if not the best) speakers ever made. I would still love a pair, but I guess it will never happen now.   

Planar speakers have always intrigued me. Came close to Stax electrostatics, loved the Apogee Duetta, (never got to stock a pair of Scintillas), sold many Magnapans, (and trialled MG2s for a few weeks at home). Never had the space to let them work at home though. So many years down the track have S400s with their sort of planar mid/tweeters thing. And this is an extinct product too now...

The great circle of my never ending hiding oddyse.

Massimo,

It seems you forgot to mention Cabre Electronics, if memory serves me well they  was from Turin too

I remeber this pre/amp combo being tested on Italian mags in the early 80s 

They looked great like a sort of mini Mark Levison ML9/10

Regards

Roberto

Another angled cassete deck JVC KDC 720 from the 70's

I still have my Krell KSA50 from some 25 years ago. In fact, Colloms recently reviewed it in HifiCritic. Truly stunning when driving Mk1 Kans!

I think you can still get parts for the Apogee speakers, and I know someone does rebuild them

I discovered just how fragile ribbons can be the hard way - I was moving my Magnaplanar MG2.5Rs around and had removed the stands to take them down the road to show the local blacksmith in order to get something better and stronger made up.  I had left both panels leaning against the wall.  I hadn't put the ribbon protectors on and at some point one of the panels fell over onto the floor.  luckily there was nothing in their way so they were superficially undamaged until I eventually saw the crinkly ripple of the ribbon.  They still sounded OK but you just knew they weren't perfect, which was most annoying.

Roberto,

very true: I forgot Cabre Electronics and yes, they were from Torino too. Then there was Coral Electronics, who started distributing then, I believe, manufacturing Utah loudspeakers. My hometown was a very lively place for audio... :-)

M

In the late 1960s my new neighbor returned to the Washington DC area after a stint in the UK as an Air Force pilot. He brought back two objects that turned my head: a Jaguar XKE (?) sports car and a these flat loudspeakers (Quad ESL 57). He spent most Saturdays tinkering with is Jag and listening to the Quads with their companion electronics playing mostly jazz but he did allow his daughters to play their Monkees, Hollies, Peter and Gordon and other soft rock LPs.

At the time my dad had a decent hi-fi rig: ElectroVoice loudspeakers, Gerrard 303 (?) turntable, and Harmon Kardon integrated amp. But my Animals, Beatles, Stones, and Yardbirds LPs sounded so much better on Col. Wilson's system, despite my Dad's system being able to play much louder. This got me interested in the design and engineering of hi-fi and eventually led to my profession in acoustics and pro audio.

As for memory products, I had an Advent cassette deck in the early 1970s that was a fun piece. It used a single VU meter - averaging both channels - to make it easier to set recording levels. At the time, I figured I would have to mow  500 yards in one summer to be able to afford the Nakamichi 700 that had just came out and was receiving rave reviews in the US hi-fi press. So, I settled on the Advent at one-third the price.

Another product I lusted after but could not afford, despite working in a hi-fi shop and receiving trade discount, was the Dahlquist DQ-10 loudspeaker. This looked like the Quad ESL-57, but was a 3 or 4-way cone driver system with the drivers in an open baffle, except the sealed woofer. The drivers were time-aligned, very revolutionary for the mid-1970s. 

And then I heard the LS3/5a loudspeaker in 1976 which I though was a nice loudspeaker for its size.

jon honeyball posted:

I still have my Krell KSA50 from some 25 years ago. In fact, Colloms recently reviewed it in HifiCritic. Truly stunning when driving Mk1 Kans!

I did insane things with Kans too. KSA 50, KMA 100s, 135s, some Audio Research model forgotten, Stax mono blocks, Luxman LRS series, and so on. One of the other guys in the shop had a pair of LS3/5a's with a KSA 50, it was a brilliant combo.

I agree with Massimo when he talks about conpanies that have mutated into something else. There are those that were bought out by a global holding company, had production switched overseas and now hang on the 'designed in UK' etc label. Or those that hit hard times but managed to hang on somehow. You spend all your time saying 'this is from the era when they were good'. 

My very first system was made by a German company thatI had a turntable which was well regarded amongst the budget offerings of the time. However, being inexperienced I matched it with a their own receiver and cassette deck. Now, they are still selling in Europe but things like alarm clock radios etc. You can tell from the boxes and instructions that these are cheap and cheerful. My first hifi is thus perceived by my peers as a piece of foreign tatt, when it was actually competitive at the time. 

My first turntable was one of these; a Connoisseur BD1, which came as a kit. I used it with their SAU2 arm, with both attached to a piece of chipboard that I veneered myself in the school woodwork room. It was supported on four upturned steel egg cups. I guess I was about 14 at the time. I changed it for a Technics direct drive, which sounded no better, and probably worse.