Any of the modern-day hi-fi companies have any of the vintage DNA left in them?

[Comten]

That is, the Advent of recent years for example or Altec-Lansing or JBL or Pioneer or whoever else - are any of those once-famous "old names" in vintage hi-fi still true to their heritage and roots, or are they all pretty much "profit centers" for some monster conglomerate that also sells carpeting and real-estate in Europe?

AFAIK, Bose is still a true hi-fi-focused company. Klipsch too? Anyone else?

I mean if I'm ever going to buy "new", may as well buy new from the old-guard.

Thanks!

[bmwr75]

AFAIK, Bose is still a true hi-fi-focused company.

SHEEVS has a new alias I see.

[F1nut]

 
AFAIK, Bose is still a true hi-fi-focused company   

Nobody can be that ignorant.......can they?

[Comten]

 
AFAIK, Bose is still a true hi-fi-focused company   

Nobody can be that ignorant.......can they?

Bose was making 501s and 901s when I was in short pants. Who owns Bose? Oh yeah, Bose.

Hate on Bose all you want, they still are into audio as their main business.

What does Dynaco or Advent make these days? ADC still make hi-fi? ADS? B&O? Was Polk a player in the mid-70's?

I dunno, that's what I'm asking, aside from Bose and Pioneer and maybe McIntosh or Klipsch - what happened to the rest? No Kloss DNA in any modern products from any manufacturer?

It's as if an entire industry went off-shore CHICOM plastic when all the local brick/mortar hi-fi stores were abducted by aliens?

[Jim Pittsburgh]

Marantz has made quite a nice comeback. Their recent stuff has all been designed to feature the Marantz sound and low THD and are very musical... and their design / features are first rate. Denon, from the same factory as Marantz, is also pretty sweet.....

[AdamG]

"Harman International Industries, Incorporated (HII) is an American audio and infotainment equipment company that designs, manufactures and markets audio equipment for automotive, home, theater and other applications — as well as electronics for audio professionals. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, HII maintains major operations in the Americas, Europe, as well as Asia and markets its products under more than twenty brands — prominently Harman Kardon, Becker, AKG Acoustics, JBL, Mark Levinson, Lexicon and Infinity."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harman_International_Industries

"Audiovox Corporation markets its products under the Audiovox brand name and other brand names, including:

Acoustic Research
Advent
Audiovox
CarLink
Code-Alarm
FlashLogic
InVision Technologies
Jensen Electronics
Klipsch
Prestige
Pursuit
PursuiTrak
RCA
Surface Clean
Terk
RCA Symphonix
Hirschmann
808 Audio"
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voxx_International

"Headquartered in Southern California, DEI Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of some of the most respected brands in the consumer electronics industry. DEI Holdings is the largest designer and marketer in North America of premium audio (sold under the Polk Audio®, Definitive Technology®, and BOOM® brand names),"
From: http://www.deiholdings.com/

[ataudio]

Not too many of the "golden era" companies are around any more.  Very sad. But this holds true to just about any hobby.
One of my other hobbies is photography and nearly every Pittsburgh store is closed. Minolta is gone. Kodak is all but gone. Film is dead. Etc.  Time marches on...tastes change...markets change and so on. Smart phones have replaced audio gear and cameras....just an example.  There used to be a bunch of hobby shops that sold balsa wood/tissue paper airplanes....mostly gone.  Slot cars tracks...gone.  I guess that's why the old tube gear from Fisher, Scott, HK, etc command such high prices. Their likes will never be duplicated.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Marantz is still good stuff, but I can't say they have "Vintage DNA" (at least as I understand the term) since they were sold to the company that also owns Denon.

[MacGeek]

Same is true of toy trains. While the Lionel brand exists (and bought American Flyer), the ownership is several layers removed from that of the 1950s.  On the other hand, there are several manufacturers that are relatively new and the choices available to consumers are plentiful and reproduction parts for the vintage stuff allow us big kids to keep things running.
 
While many, even most of the old, classic names in audio are gone or considerably changed, it's remarkable to me that we can still keep 40 and 50 year old gear running and sounding as good as it ever did.

[non-prophet]

All you guys sound really old! 

[ataudio]

All you guys sound really old!

The mind is the 2nd thing to go.  Can't remember the 1st.

[F1nut]

   they still are into audio as their main business. 

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree. Bose has always been a marketing machine first and foremost who happen to peddle gimmicky audio products of sub-standard quality that have nothing to do with high fidelity.

[Comten]

All you guys sound really old!

Pushing 60 in a wheelbarrow.  I can recall when pretty much any store of decent size size had an audio department. Even JCPenny's had their re-badged MCS line.

Glad to discover that Marantz and Denon are both under the same parent company and still into hi-fi. My 2240 is now happy to know the distant family is still alive and not owned by a sewing machine company owned by a shipping company owned by a meat-packer owned by a flooring company owned by a Euro-conglomerate reporting to a Wall Street shark-tanker.

As for speakers; guess I will continue to lurk on CL or evilbay for something true to the original Kloss lineage.

Gotta run, the Bose guys - not being into audio anymore - are here to install the new hotwater tank, they're supposed to show up in one of the new electric trucks they sell...

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Nothing inherently wrong with making audio and electric trucks.   I'm rather fond of Yamaha receivers and Yamaha motorcycles.

[Jim Pittsburgh]

  I'm rather fond of Yamaha receivers and Yamaha motorcycles.

LOL   Vwry good! Also, a big fan of both.

And yes, I am old.... sixty is the rear view mirror....