One Man Bands

perart1

Well-Known Member
Mar 17, 2012
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Cheltenham
"This is the trouble buying stuff from "one man bands", they come and go and once gone, their (possibly excellent) stuff is not supported, no one wants to fix them and no one wants to buy them used at anything like what they may have cost new."

I have hijacked this thread from another post because it raises some questions. I am not sure to what extent this is a view that is shared by most WTB forum members.

There are number of 'one-man bands/brands that have of course stood the test of time; Verdier, Simon York, Thoress. to name just a few. There are obviously many more who produce product that aquire a loyal and informed following and who provide an excellent customer service. If they did not then they would go out of business pretty quickly. Even big name brands have their day; Mark Levinson.Cello.Red Rose etc.

There appear to be a number of people in the UK, at least who are capable of 'fixing' kit if needed. A search on the appropriate forum will turn up reliable contacts who can sort out most problems.

I do not know anyone who pays nearly new prices for a secondhand product. In the Uk Dealers will offer you 25/30% of retail if you are lucky and try to sell at 50/60% of retail if they are lucky. I do not think that boutique brands are treated any differently.

Any thoughts and who are the 'one man bands' who should grace the Hall of fame?
 

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
14,606
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E. England
Simon Yorke is no more
 

stehno

Well-Known Member
Jul 5, 2014
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Salem, OR

Only one 1-man band comes to mind and that's Neil Peart who IMO is already a 1-man band hall of famer and quite the entertainer.
 

Yeti

Well-Known Member
Dec 25, 2020
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France
I have a pair of Thiel speakers, a Transfiguration cartridge, a Schröder arm, an Artemis turntable, a Townshend turntable and a whole pile of Naim electronics plus a couple of pairs of their speakers. Naim survived the death of its founder initially as a trust but found it impossible to raise capital for product development so did a deal with Focal, not at the time a great match sonically, and are now owned by private equity but still going strong. Townshend Audio will die when Max does, if it survives that long but he does support his products, at least the Rock, albeit slowly. Artemis went bust but Schröder, who designed the deck and licensed it to them has been helpful with that and his arm when contacted through the dealer but unresponsive direct, he’s younger than me anyway. Transfiguration ended with its owner and Thiel didn’t survive long once the accountants took over, Jim’s brother offers some support through an Audiogon forum thread.
After the Transfiguration wore out I decided my next cartridge would be from a larger concern who might still be around when needed and bought an Ortofon.
 

thedudeabides

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2011
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Same will go with Sanders I think. Very risky to buy from a one name manufacturer. But if you have dollars to burn, have fun.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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i have 3 very significant 'one-man' band products in my system.

Joel Durand, Durand tone arms----own 4 of them.

Evolution Acoustics (MM7 speakers and cables); really a two man band, but only one designer/builder, Kevin Malmgren. Jonathan Tinn (the other guy) does the business and marketing and is active with product conception.

Win Tinnon; Saskia model two turntable.

i'm proud to say that all these guys are friends of mine. all of them are still going strong.....and are currently offering production. i knew all these guys before these companies started.

two other 'one man' band products in my system are somewhat less significant.

Tripoint Troy Signature and Elite grounding boxes; Miguel Alvarez
King Cello Tape Repro electronics--Charles King.

know both of those guys too, not as well as those others. i consider every one of these 'one-man' products and people as top level.

almost every other piece of gear in my system is made by very small companies except my Studer RTR decks, EMT tt and Herzan (Table Stable) active isolation. Wave Kinetics, CS Port, Etsuro, EMIA, Miyajima Labs, LFD cables, darTZeel, Absolute Fidelity power cords (Genesis Loudspeakers), Taiko, Equi=tech and MSB are all small companies but not one-man bands. Possibly MSB comes closest to being mainstream.

i'm not much for brick and mortar type main-stream products.
 
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jeff1225

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Jan 29, 2012
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Peter Noerbaek from PBN Audio has been making phenomenal speakers, electronics and turntables for 30 years.
 
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