Brands you like...

... rather than love. There's no right or wrong answer, just brands you admire as opposed to "Wow! I want that..."

Surprising brands for me:

Naim: I really want to love Naim and in some ways I do, but everytime I hear their amps I just think "nah, not for me".

Arcam: Shock... horror. Well no. I love some of their amps such as the A65+ and A85. The old Alpha 8 and 9 are wonderful. The rest are mediocre. The A18 I like for the money, but wouldn't spend money on one.

Cyrus: Similar to Naim I'd like to gravitate to the brand but find it grates.

Many others, so let's here (or read) yours.
 

CnoEvil

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My threads are full of the brands I like:

Arcam (AV stuff); Electro; Audio Analogue; Lavardin; Creek; Classe; Linn (DS); Sugden; Plinius; MF (especially AMS); Quad; McIntosh; Audio Note; Conrad Johnson; Pure Sound; VTL; Unison Research, Icon Audio; Pathos, Peachtree, Audio Research; Kef; Sonus Faber; Spendor; Harbeth; Proac.; Mark Levinson; Jadis (almost certainly)

I'm sure there's more, but that's a good start.
 

chebby

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Rega (owned something from Rega for all but about 12 months of the last 29 years).

Panasonic (TVs and/or VHS + DVD recorders since the late 1980s).

Mordaunt Short in the Durford Mill and Havant era. (Up until they became just a label).

Sugden for still making the A21 after 44 years.

Acoustic Research (Ed Villchur) for inventing so much of the following 30 years of hifi in the 1950s and early 1960s (and for my old AR18s).

Technics.

Yamaha.

Denon. (For similar reasons to Acoustic Research).
 

busb

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I really wanted a Primare i30. I eventually picked up their i21 ex-dem for £500 that I've since swapped for an older item. I lusted over Totem Arros then by chance also picked up an ex-demo pair for a fairish price.

Fisher valve amps, Sonus Faber speakers, Moon mono blocks, Michell record deck dCS DAC, Rockport record deck (ouch) & anything by SME. My list is shorter than the brands I love to hate! >)
 
T

the record spot

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Mission, Marantz, Sony, Tannoy, McIntosh. Oh yes, Onkyo and Acoustic Energy. How did I forget?!? :)
 

floyd droid

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Brands i admire.....

Inspire HiFi. For mixing it with the big boys and doing rather well thankyou. Has anyone on here seen the Monarch TT in Zebrano finish, luverly.

Opera Consonance. For producing some absolute dogs in the amp dept but still come back for more with a new (hopefully better) model.

Macintosh for producing one helluva ugly TT that sells . Got to admire that, but hey its a Mac.

All the little guys who travel under the radar I would guess to a lot of folk on here but make brilliant stuff. Graham Tricker (Tron)

Audiomods . Transfi , plus many many others .

Panasonic . Like Chebby ive been a panny user it seems like forever. Still got a donkeys yrs old crt in a spare room that tbh is as good a picture as my Panny Plasma.
 

dalwen

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DENON (owned 90's)..still fancy a lot! :p

MARANTZ

PIONEER (owned, 80's

NAD (owned 90's)

TECHNICS (owned, 80's)

YAMAHA (current setup)
 

matthewpiano

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My favourite brands are Sony, Sansui, NAD, Denon, Marantz, Wharfedale, Pioneer, TEAC, Dali, Roksan, Acoustic Energy, Rotel, and Onkyo.

The brands I admire but can't get overly excited about are Arcam, Naim, Monitor Audio, Rega, Cambridge Audio, and Cyrus.
 

Sizzers

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The brands that I grew up with (I'm now 53) would include: Sony, Panasonic/Technics, Hitachi, Grundig, Mitsubishi.Now that I'm old: Sony, Panasonic, Marantz, Denon.

The brands that I grew up with (I'm now 53) would include: Sony, Panasonic/Technics, Hitachi, Grundig, Mitsubishi.

Now that I'm old: Sony, Panasonic, Marantz, Denon.
 

Macspur

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Brands I know I like... Sugden, Harbeth, Electrocompaniet,ProAc, Naim... brands that intrigue me and would like to hear some time... Bryston, Audio Analogue, Pathos, Musical Fidelity.

Cheers

Mac
 

Hi-FiOutlaw

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Huuum...

Stereo

Rega Leema McIntosh VTL Densen Classe Prima Luna

Monitor Audio ProAc QUAD Shahinian Spendor Focal

QED Chord Co Shunyata Van Den Hul. Grado AKG

Home cinema

Yamaha Samsung Sony Loewe Runco JVC

For Now...
 

hoopsontoast

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Speakers-

Keesonic (rare 80's Monitors)

Kord (rare 80's Monitors)

Tannoy (Big old ones)

ATC (SCM7, SCM10 and SCM50A)

Amps-

Sony (Legacy ES Battleship amps)
 

crusaderlord

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I really like Arcam - not a suprise given my set up - for me i like their design and their CD players are amongst the best from the CD73, CD192 to the FMJ range and my CD37.

I very much like and am tempted by Naim - i also like the way they design and set up their kit with some great combinations now such as the Uniti etc. Another company i really like is Unison Research which is bit more quirky but are lovely items to look at.

I have never taken to Cyrus both in terms of sound, style and the number of boxes they tend to suggest you need to stack up to get the best from them.

At the budget end NAD has always been a favourite.
 

shafesk

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Cambridge Audio-great bang for the buck, Naim and Cyrus (Drool factor), Musical Fidelity (I just get

a sense of passion from Anthony), Electrocompanient (never heard one, but would love to own one), Cayin (recently bought an amp from them, build quality and style is just astonishing even before

you find out the price).

Then there are brands that I love, but I really don't like how they sound:

Bowers and Wilkins (always too boomy for me), Marantz (a bit midrange-y for me, although I own their tt.....having said that I'm a big fan of Ken). Arcam (always look stunning to me, but I find most of their kit too warm for my liking....and I own a tube amp :O)
 

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