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I've been in the industry for 16 years - Ive worked with nearly all of the major brands and many of what I would consider 'off' brands. I've also been on many sides of the table at the retail level - sales, installation, purchasing etc..
A legitimate company has an true engineering department, a technical support department, a sales/support staff that works with an actual outside sales force, and actually has involvement with the design/manufacturing/assembly/QC of their own product.
I've sat at a table over lunch at the Consumer Electronics Show and listened to a great conversation. It was what I would consider a 'flea market brand' representative discussing his companies options for the 2000 product line. He was meeting with his companies prime manufacturer from China (not uncommon). This company literally paged through a parts book for their product line! It was very enlightening. The guy picked out a flashy amp heat sink from dozens of choices - then was told what pre-assembled boards would work with them. He literally picked out 5 sizes and said 'that'll be the 300W, that'll be the 500W' etc. Same for subwoofers - they literally said 'that cone, this basket, that motor' etc.. And this was a HUGE name (as off brands go). An entire amp/woofer line was 'developed' at my table over a 40 minute lunch!
So they slap it all together, throw some specifications up in the air and see how they land on paper, ship a container full of it to an office park warehouse, and some poor guy/gal ends up dissapointed in his $149 1000W amp or their $29 800W subwoofer they bought out of the back of a Jegs catalog, the internet, or the traveling 'super sale' that blows through town.
Are there 'off' brands that offer descent value? Yes. Are there big name brands that are nothing more than a marketing company? More that I care to admit.
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Nelson
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