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Great speaker companies that came... and went

I don't know about Great in the absolute sense but I wish Unity Audio had been more of a success. Based in Lansing MI and active until about a decade or so ago. Their PARM system and Fountainhead Signature speakers were outstanding. I owned 5 or 6 pairs. My mom still loves her Model CLA Ones. My brother has CLA 3's that I gave him and my wife has some kind of 2 1/2 way monitors upstairs. They had really beautiful cabinetry featuring exotic veneers and solid woods.
 
I have a set of Dante's. Do they still exist? I am not sure if they ever scored a top set, but I sure like them.

I did a google search and one AK'er called them crap. Well, my set is FAR from crap. It is one of my favorite three maybe four sets. I have about 30 sets too.
Mark
 
Tangent: produced speakers with KEF drivers in the mid to late 70s. I heard they sunk too much money into R&D.
http://www.thunders.ca/tangent/tm3.php

Advance Speaker Korp: started by former genesis and epi employees I think. They are similar to genesis.

We have examples of both companies speakers still in use at home regularly. I just recapped both.
The Advance V-II
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I think Genesis is still around. Atleast there is a high end company called Genesis, whether it is the same company or not I don't know.http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/
 
I agree with IMF, shocked it wasn`t mentioned earlier in this thread :) !
a great loss! They had several superb speakers!

Out of IMF came TDL, and their second largest (TDL Monitor) is my personal favourite. Transmissionlines that sings from 18-35000 Hz ! (you should HEAR them! they go so DEEP its almost ridiculous)

This is the TDL Monitor : the ones i`ll keep forever..

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To the left in the next pic is the big brother in the family (TDL Reference Std, it extends to 16Hz)

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Ofcourse I need to Mention Tandberg (beeing a Norwegian)... The Studio Monitor definately has a following. Back in the days, the (legendary) Tandberg man himself (Vebjørn) said to his engineers : Make the best speaker in the world.. cost not an issue. : (at least thats what I`ve heard ;).. these were pretty expensive back then)

tanmon.jpg
 
AnalogDigit said:
I'm surprised that no one mentioned Realistic from Radio Shack.
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Your right! I have a pair of Optimus T-200's in the basement that need new surrounds (probably mids and tweets too) as they were paper and foam. I bought them new around 1980. They were great sounding when they were in service, though! Just didn't fare as well over the years. :tears:
 
vegabass25 said:
Ya i had an old pair of energy ESM-3's and they where awesome for easy listening. Lost them to a fire:tears: a couple years ago. Im still a fan of energy (my second favorite speaker company) and anything by API But im sure klipsch will F**K them up.:thumbsdn:
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I currently have an Energy set (RC-50s and RC-LCR) and they are beautiful in a gorgeous rosenut finish (now discontinued) but from what I have seen Klipsch is definitely dragging the company to be a lower end offering. Its a shame.:sadwave:
 
The companies whose passing most bums me out are:
Teledyne Acoustic Research
Advent (original and Jensen)
ESS
M&K
Genesis Physics
Altec

...and the companies that are still in business just ain't what they used to be, ala JBL, C-V, Klipsch etc.
 
tarior said:
The companies whose passing most bums me out are:
Teledyne Acoustic Research
Advent (original and Jensen)
ESS
M&K
Genesis Physics
Altec

...and the companies that are still in business just ain't what they used to be, ala JBL, C-V, Klipsch etc.
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Naa CV is still good. They are still as advertised. A big, loud bassy speaker that is good for rocking:music: As for the others, their hi end stuff is pretty good but you could get wayy better in that price range IMO:thmbsp:
 
Here's a few that are seem to be long lost and maybe unheard of by most:

Frankmann Research, Kustom Acoustics, Kirksaeter and Sidereal Akustic
 
Waveform, a Canadian company that tried to market a highend speaker.
 

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Any opinions on Soundcraftmen's speakers, esp. the Lancer line? I've got a pair made with a couple years of 1970 in either direction that sound pretty great to me, though I'm no expert.
 
I just heard of one coming back! I was in Speakerlab the other day looking at some Focals and I asked what ever happened to their speakers. The sales guy smiled and said that they were in development on new kits and that I should check back in a month or two. My first speakers were their .1's back in the '80's, so I may just wait and see what they do. It didn't sound like anyone bought them, so hopefully they will do something good!
 
Woofman said:
Here's a few that are seem to be long lost and maybe unheard of by most:

Frankmann Research, Kustom Acoustics, Kirksaeter and Sidereal Akustic
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Nice post, Woofman..I know this is a thread revival, but now that I own a pristine pair of Kirksaeter's, I've become amazed at how rare a bird they really are..:thmbsp:
 
I've read the whole thread and unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned Bob Fulton's speakers. Those were pretty nice.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
exhilaration157 said:
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I think Genesis is still around. At least there is a high end company called Genesis, whether it is the same company or not I don't know.http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/
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It's probably the same company. Gary Leonard Koh bought the company a few years back from Arnie Nudell (I think he owned it). Arnie remained head designer until he left the company a couple of years ago. It's located in Seattle and Gary is a member of the Pacific Northwest Audio Society.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
TerryO said:
I've read the whole thread and unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned Bob Fulton's speakers. Those were pretty nice.

Best Regards,
TerryO
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Indeed they were, a pal had a pair of the big modulars with the RTR tweeter array, excellent speakers. And the FMI 80 was an ear opener.
 
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