Cruz
The Cruz is a re-branded PRK Flamenco style cajón made in Spain and sold in the UK by celebrity cajónista Heidi Joubert.
DeGregorio
DeGregorio is one of Spain's top cajón producers. DG offers about a dozen Flamenco cajóns many with beautiful exotic wood tapas.
ERakkustik
ERakkustik makes uniquely shaped and painted artisanal premium cajons as well as standard designs. All are hand made in Germany. Most have reinforced portholes and an internal chamber design that produces a strong, separate snare and bass sound. Rock drummer Enrico Riedel is the "ER" owner of the company.
Fat Congas
These were the first high-quality cajons made in USA. The company went out of business around 2010 and has been sold at least twice since. Swan Percussion is the most recent buyer of the line and is offering these cajóns afresh as of May, 2013.
Gon Bops' Alex Acuna signature models
These are nice, traditional Peruvian sounding (i.e., little to no snare) cajóns made by Atempo in Peru.
J Levia
J Levia makes outstanding and beautifully screen printed cajóns in Spain. They patented a folding design which they sell as the Omeya Travel, then they collaborated with DeGregorio to co-produce the similarly collapsable DG Siroco.
Katho
Katho of Spain makes about fifteen different Flamenco cajóns. They definitely know what they're doing. One of my favorites is the Rusti-Katho which looks like a shipping crate and cleverly incorporates castanet panels on the sides. The Rusti crate design has been copied (usually without the castanet panels) by a few other cajon makers.
Klanginitiative
Klanginitiative epitomizes the clean modern German design aesthetic. I think they were the first to incorporate the square porthole; many of their current designs feature a distinctive rectangular port. The same company makes the more traditional looking cajóns sold through cajon-direkt.de. I love the Klanginitiative cube kit although it's not a cajón, per se.
Kopf
Kopf produces consistently good cajóns in the USA. Their popular S Series has two playing surfaces and a thick, comfy cushion on top. Anecdotally, these seem to be favored by fat guys.
LP Mario Cortes models
LP' offers two Mario Cortes cajóns; both are made in Spain and sound great.
LP Americana Series
LP's new Americana cajóns are made in the USA with high-quality touches such as dovetail construction. They're really nice premium cajóns which are easy to find in the USA through major retailers.
Mario Cortes Flamenco
Mario Cortes offers a range of cajóns through flamenco-world.com in Spain. While LP offers two licensed Mario Cortes cajóns, you can obtain something more unique by going directly to the Spanish source (and spending more money).
Meinl Artisan editions
Meinl's premium cajóns are very nice but, at their price point, there are many other great quality cajons from smaller producers to consider. The Meinl Artisan editions are hand made in Spain.
PRK
PRK builds high-quality Flamenco style cajóns in Spain with lots of options for custom colors and designs.
Pearl Boom Boxes
Pearl expanded the Boom Box range to three designs in 2013. These are nontraditional fiberglas cajons with molded bass ports. They're inexpensive and they have an exceptional modern drum kit sound.
Remo
The Remo Crown was pretty-good for an entry level cajón but I think it's discontinued. The Remo Mondo is a nice cajón, made in Spain, featuring textured areas on the tapa that work great with brushes.
Schlagwerk
Schlagwerk hand makes good-to-great cajóns in Germany. Unlike Meinl and LP, Schlagwerk's entry-level cajóns are worthwhile instruments.
Sela
Sela gained a reputation for quality then shifted their primary focus to marketing. They now offer fewer designs, primarily build-them-yourself kits which produce fine cajóns. Their latest innovation in 2013 is the ability to customize the tapa of a CaSela cajón based on your own submitted artwork. I think their marketing strategy is very smart and they will be increasingly successful in the coming years.
Sonor
Sonor has been making fine drums and percussion in Germany since the nineteenth century. Their cajóns are a relatively recent addition, continuing their tradition of quality. Many of their cajóns are ported with holes cut in the shape of Sonor's dual mallet logo; this porting looks sweet, but precludes modification with a CajonPort or similar reflex tube.
Swan
Swan puts a lot of thought and quality into their instruments; they feature multiple playing surfaces and great snare and bass sound. Their Flamenco model has a playable carved Guiro edge I've never seen on any other cajón. Swan is into that square porthole thing, too.
Valter
Valter Percussion has been manufacturing cajóns in Sweden for many years and their commitment to quality and design is evident in their products. These are excellent cajons. Valter originated the adjustable bass port opening which a few other manufacturers now imitate. Valter's designs are consistently innovative without being gimmicky.
Wolf
Wolf is a one-man artisanal cajón maker in Austria who produces extremely fine woodwork.
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