What brands have fallen off the radar?

K

KeithR

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I was perusing Audiogon and saw a Jeff Rowland piece - I owned the Concentra II back in 2001 - and thought, you really don't see much of Jeff's stuff reviewed or many new products from JRDG these days.

Has the decline in CES as a major dealer-oriented show also affected some US brands/new releases?

KeithR
 
Dunlavy and Thiel would be two - both due to the demise of their founders with no (adequate) succession. Krell is certainly diminished from what they were back in the day.
 
Devialet
Manley
VTL
Classe
Basis Turntables
EMM Labs
...lots of others



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cary does direct sales now. There all-in-one unit made some waves. They still have dealers.

I met Jeff Rowland at Axpona a couple years back. He had a room.

VTL has some really nice gear. I have a dealr within 50 miles, I've been meaning to get over there.

I wonder if some brands are keeping costs down by not advertising as much, or, perhaps now, relying on social media more.

Devialet brought those powered speakers to market and the advertising over shadowed their other gear. I made a recommendation to someone to give them a listen, they didn' even realize they had integrated amps.

It also seems like brands will bring something out or do something to create a buzz on the forums, then the buzz will dissipate. Most high end brands don't introduce models as quikly as mass-market, so it takes more to create a buzz.

If you like a brand, like their Facebook page and you'll get updates, some are more active than others.

As an example, when was the last you heard from Conrad Johnson? I saw on FB last night they made an upgrade to their CAV-45.
 
Heathkit, Lafayette Radio, Radio Shack, Dynaco, Dual, Shure, KLH, Acoustic Research, Advent, Cambridge Soundworks. In related areas - the top names in their fields - now all gone: Kodak and Polaroid, Word Perfect, Lotus 123, Netscape. I owned them all, fortunately not their stocks.

Larry
 
astrotoy said:
Heathkit, Lafayette Radio, Radio Shack, Dynaco, Dual, Shure, KLH, Acoustic Research, Advent, Cambridge Soundworks. In related areas - the top names in their fields - now all gone: Kodak and Polaroid, Word Perfect, Lotus 123, Netscape. I owned them all, fortunately not their stocks.

Larry
Click to expand...

You mean all dead?
 
Audioseduction said:
You mean all dead?
Click to expand...

I think Radio Shack still barely survives, having filed for Chapter 11 and then being bought. But all the rest are either dead or not doing hifi or sold their name to some other company which markets products under the brand name. Correct me if I am wrong. Larry
 
Brands I used to see at shows or dealer or read about. Now nothing
Avalon
MIT
Kimber
Verity Audio
Bryston
and some others
 
Mordante said:
Brands I used to see at shows or dealer or read about. Now nothing
Avalon
MIT
Kimber
Verity Audio
Bryston
and some others
Click to expand...

I still see Kimber on the Audio Advisor website and it looks like they still have a number of dealers. Larry
 
astrotoy said:
I still see Kimber on the Audio Advisor website and it looks like they still have a number of dealers. Larry
Click to expand...

A few years ago the standard cables brands I used to see at dealers were Cardas en Kimber. Now almost every dealer sells AudioQuest as "affordable" option and a high-end brand.
 
KeithR said:
Avalon is a good one- they were ironically used a lot with JRDG back in the day.
Click to expand...

Yes, Avalon used to be really hot in the 90s. Wilson and Avalon, it was back then. Wilson is still hot two decades later, Avalon not so much.
 
KeithR said:
I was perusing Audiogon and saw a Jeff Rowland piece - I owned the Concentra II back in 2001 - and thought, you really don't see much of Jeff's stuff reviewed or many new products from JRDG these days.

Has the decline in CES as a major dealer-oriented show also affected some US brands/new releases?

KeithR
Click to expand...

Keith, Are you referring to brands currently in business but not as prominent as as they used to be or brands that were prominent but are now defunct (e.g. Advent, Apogee, Dahlquist,TacT)?
 
Mike said:
Devialet
Manley
VTL
Classe
Basis Turntables
EMM Labs
...lots of others



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Why EMM? I've always thought they were kind of niche/under the radar to begin with (other than show mentions, no mainstream press) but they seem to have been busy putting out new versions of older gear and introducing new flagship models while also branching out into amplifiers.

Parker
 
Yep, Bryston was/is on the audio tour with the tri-amped system. Saw them at this year's Axpona. They just released a new A/V processor. I recently seen something about their turntable, for some reason I thought their table was already out for a while.
 
Dizzie said:
Keith, Are you referring to brands currently in business but not as prominent as as they used to be or brands that were prominent but are now defunct (e.g. Advent, Apogee, Dahlquist,TacT)?
Click to expand...

That’s what I was wondering. Out of business, or just comfortably coasting.
 
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