Glad I made such an impression!
As far as brands go, these are the comparisons I make most often:
Miraphone <=> BMW
Meinl Weston <=> Mercedes
Rudolf Meinl <=> Porsche
Miraphones and BMWs are both extremely well made, and neither are uncommon. New, they are very expensive. Used, they are reasonably priced. They are solid and dependable, and it's more (or at least more than enough) tuba/car for most people. Also, both companies are just the one brand -- not a subsidiary of another company, and not a company that builds other things under another name. Instantly recognizable as a mark of consistency and quality, and never questioned or doubted. I used to own both of these, and for some hard to pinpoint reason, they just felt similar to me. However, I don't have the Miraphone anymore.
Meinl Weston and Mercedes both seem a little more expensive than Miraphone/BMW, and are also extremely well made, and the seem to carry a little more "oomph" from the name recognition. MW and Mercedes also are part of much bigger conglomerates, and the business side of things is a much bigger scale. I hear you can still order parts for a Mercedes, though.
Rudolf Meinl and Porsche, to me, are both the best of the best, even among other high-end products. I'm not just making that comparison because I own a RM, it's a comparison I've always drawn.
I'm not sure where I would place VW or Audi. I don't see a "mid-level" brand in Germany for VW, and I just don't know much about Audi's. Gronitz and Alexander probably fall in the Porsche category as well, but again, limited experience.
There are other comparisons I've made and considered separately from this, like that a King 2341 (or probably a Miraphone 186) is like the Honda Civic of tubas (it'll do everything you ever need to do, perhaps not exceptionally, but it'll get you there), or some other handful of analogies I'm not thinking about right now (like an SUV and a 6/4 BAT... you can do everything with it, but would you really want to?).
American tubas and American cars... I've never owned either, so I can't compare.
Oh, and I guess the clones are similar to how Hyundai (I know, Korean, not Chinese) has developed over the years. Hyundai used to make TERRIBLE cars. That's part of why they started the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty, to get customers and try to rebuild a reputation. Now, they are a very profitable brand, which not only has a lot of inexpensive and small cars, but also has larger cars models up to a $70k car. Not to mention, that $70k car has a lot of style similarities to a Mercedes (and the highest-end Kia looks a lot like a Jaguar).
Okay, enough from me.
