What Japanese audio brands, besides Sony and Audio-Technica, are the best for headphones, speakers, or audio equipment?

Somebody mentioned Technical Audio Devices. On their website they say:

Technical Audio Devices Laboratories, Inc. (TADL) is the only Japanese high-end audio manufacturer that specializes in both audio components and speaker systems

 

This is true. Asian audio companies traditionally do not manufacture high end speakers. They mostly leave the high end speaker business to American, Canadian and European companies. The reason for this is because Japanese people rarely live in big enough homes where they can make use of large speakers. Most Japanese, like other Asians, live in small high rise apartments or villas. This means having a large speaker system just isn’t very feasible – both in terms of volume level and being able to fit it in their homes.

That’s why companies like Sony, Panasonic, Yamaha, Nakamichi, Onkyo, JVC, Pioneer tend to focus on small soundbars and TAD perhaps being the only high end Japanese speaker company.

As for amplifiers and headphones well that’s where Japanese audio companies can excel at because they definitely have enough room for those in their homes.

for headphones, besides Sony and Audio-Technica, there’s also Denon, Fostex and the legendary STAX which introduced electro-static headphones to the world, STAX being the most high end.

For amplifiers and receivers, there’s quite a few including Luxman, Accuphase, Yamaha, Technics, Denon, Marantz, Kenwood – with Technics, Luxman and Accuphase being very high end.