Companies that used to make high end gear

Kruppy said:

I read Audio and Stereo Review when I was younger and remember Soundcraftsmen ads. For some reason, I thought all of the colorful LEDs on their amps were cool....never listened to any their equipment so I have no idea on the sound quality...

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Yes I remember Soundcraftsmen, and like you, I also liked all the cool lights

Thanks for sharing

I know that Marantz was already mentioned, but I found some photos of some of their really high end gear from the early and late 90's that I wanted to share. During the mid 90's their high end image kind of went south when they started offering mediocre quality electronics, but now they are totally back in the realm of high quality high end.

Sansui- This company never really reached either the mainstream or the high end markets, and ultimately closed its doors in early 2000. It's a company that could have been great. But they did leave us with some notable products.

Technics- Here's a company (division of Parent company Panasonic) that was truly shooting toward the higher end market. Their cutting edge products back in the late 80's and early 90's showed that they indeed had the expertise, but again their products never quite broke through the way the company wanted.

And after their push at high end, they later started making all in one rack systems, and mini systems. Now they have their focus on the pro DJ market, manufacturing digital turntables and mixing systems.

Beat_Dominator said:

How about the Carver Silver Seven tube amp? Sadly Carver is no more So I felt they qualified.

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Yes, Carver Corporation definitely qualifies. They made some amazing products.

STV said:

Thanks for sharing the pix. What brand is it? Looks like a Sonic Frontiers, but I may be wrong.

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Sonic Frontiers alright!

I too was looking for some Marantz stuff - they made a fantastic valve amplifier in the mid-'90s - Project T1 or something if I remember correctly but I can't find a pic anywhere!

That was yesterday......So here's the T-1 and also the AX-1000 - one of the first digital room correction systems and well ahead of its time!

Virtually all the Japanese manufacturers made good sounding gear into the late 70s - early 80s. Then, most went mass-market and went after the watts-per-dollar crowd. Interesting to note that Pioneer, for instance, still makes some pretty decent gear for the English audio scene, but I doubt it'll ever see the light of day in the US. I for one, purchased a 30 + year old Pioneer SX-727 receiver earlier this year, just to play FM on and am about to finally power it up this week. I'll report the results.

PS: It looks pretty nice and the face is just soooooooooooo cool to look at.

STV said:

Technics- Here's a company (division of Parent company Panasonic) that was truly shooting toward the higher end market. Their cutting edge products back in the late 80's and early 90's showed that they indeed had the expertise, but again their products never quite broke through the way the company wanted.

And after their push at high end, they later started making all in one rack systems, and mini systems. Now they have their focus on the pro DJ market, manufacturing digital turntables and mixing systems.

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Wow! That brings back memories. I've owned a Technics turntable and a Technics receiver and still own a Technics cassette player with dbx and a 32 band per channel equalizer.

STV said:

Sansui- This company never really reached either the mainstream or the high end markets, and ultimately closed its doors in early 2000. It's a company that could have been great. But they did leave us with some notable products.

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When I lived in Okinawa back in '72, Sansui was considered some of the best Japanese gear you could own. I had a beautiful Sansui integrated amplifier and separate tuner back then. Gear was so inexpensive there, that I also owned a pioneer surround receiver then, too. It was back then that I got into Bose 901s. Luckily, I saw the light a few years later. But, I wish I still had the beautiful TEAC reel to reel from back then.

amey01 said:

Sonic Frontiers alright!

I too was looking for some Marantz stuff - they made a fantastic valve amplifier in the mid-'90s - Project T1 or something if I remember correctly but I can't find a pic anywhere!

That was yesterday......So here's the T-1 and also the AX-1000 - one of the first digital room correction systems and well ahead of its time!

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Great find! Yes those two are without a doubt statement pieces. The digital room correction system is really nice and really expensive (or at least was). When it was first made available it was selling for $15,000! Definitely fits into the ultra high end category. Found a few more pix of those two.

slowGEEZR said:

When I lived in Okinawa back in '72, Sansui was considered some of the best Japanese gear you could own. I had a beautiful Sansui integrated amplifier and separate tuner back then. Gear was so inexpensive there, that I also owned a pioneer surround receiver then, too. It was back then that I got into Bose 901s. Luckily, I saw the light a few years later. But, I wish I still had the beautiful TEAC reel to reel from back then.

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Yes, I believe Sansui was huge in other parts of the world, but here in the states it just never really caught on with either the mainstream or the high end crowd. I remember some of the last I saw of Sansui in the late 90's were rack systems. After that I never saw their stuff anymore.

I wish they had become more popular here as they did make some great products.

Yes TEAC made some awesome reel to reel players.


Seth

Counterpoint- A company that was well known for their high quality Amps and Pre-amps, among others products. But after 22 years, things came to a halt in 1998 when Counterpoint went out of business.

Panasonic- Still going strong, but not in high end separates, instead Panasonic is looking toward the future in the realm of digital video products. As a leader in LCD TV's, and one of the top Blu-ray and DVD player manufacturers, many people don't realize that Panasonic was once a maker of cutting edge audio separates. As was their tagline....Panasonic, just slightly ahead of our time.

STV said:

Great find! Yes those two are without a doubt statement pieces. The digital room correction system is really nice and really expensive (or at least was). When it was first made available it was selling for $15,000! Definitely fits into the ultra high end category. Found a few more pix of those two.

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Great find on the pics! I had trouble finding even those tiny ones I posted!

I want an AX-1000 - just to play with. I don't think I'd ever make it part of my reference system, but that thing looks so COOL!

amey01 said:

Great find on the pics! I had trouble finding even those tiny ones I posted!

I want an AX-1000 - just to play with. I don't think I'd ever make it part of my reference system, but that thing looks so COOL!

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Yes sometimes it's very difficult to find good photos. I happened across the ones I posted by accident. Did a search and on one site they had a link, figured I'd try it and voila! there they were!

Yes, I also would love to try out the AX-100. It does look cool. Oh well, since I know that's not gonna' happen, all I can do is drool.


Seth

Here are some pics of some Sansui gear and a Teac 4300. I can't remember if my Sansui gear was the 717 or 719 stuff. It's amazing that you can find this gear for very reasonable prices still. Does anyone still make the magnetic tape? I think it was in '78 that I traded this gear plus some Bose 901s and a Sansui turntable and a Dolby processor for a '74 Norton 850.

Great thread, I owned a SAE RC3 reciever long ago.

Just to jerk a few chains...................................Bose.

http://blog.pcnews.ro/2007/02/25/bose-901-speakers/

Bose 901 speakers in 1968 redefined the phrase high fidelity.

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slowGEEZR said:

Here are some pics of some Sansui gear and a Teac 4300. I can't remember if my Sansui gear was the 717 or 719 stuff. It's amazing that you can find this gear for very reasonable prices still. Does anyone still make the magnetic tape? I think it was in '78 that I traded this gear plus some Bose 901s and a Sansui turntable and a Dolby processor for a '74 Norton 850.

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Truly some great classics there. Even now they wouldn't look out of place in a quality setup. Thanks for sharing those cool pix.


Seth