Sony quality dropping fast? (1 Viewer)

[RichardMA]

First, I hear about a flaw in their televisions they can't correct because it would mean incorporating technology from a non-Sony company.
Then, no appearance of the TA-E10ES that was to replace the old TA-E9000ES.
Now, the 4ES receiver seems to be a major cost cutting effort compared to the old 5ES receiver.
Is Sony slowly headed toward the pure mass market (albeit offering $10,000 big screens) and away from any pretense
at higher quality? This is a shame.

 

[Dan Joy]

Richard,
Are you upset about a Sony product you have/had or just venting in general? I own some ES products as well as other makes and agree that Sony Corp. makes some rather interesting(STRANGE) decisions but what is your exact complaint?

 

[Stuart R.]

I was into Sony for quite some time. Until "C13:00 error" and "no disc" started showing up 3/4 of the way through many movies from my dvd player. Looked the other way and ended up with a Denon 3803 and Panasonic rp82 in a recent purchase. Stayed away from Sony.

 

[JeremyX]

I think that is tantamount to 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'.

Just because 1 or even a few products have given you problems doesn't mean the entire line is messed up, especially over the span of several years. To limit yourself like that seems myopic.

Some people recognize Sony is good at making some components and not so good at making others. Which is probably a pretty balanced view. I myself think they make some of the best monitors in the business..but I wouldn't buy one of their computers.

Every manufacturer has some issues at one time or another.

My only complaint about Sony, is that I think most of their stuff is over-priced.

 

[Grant B]

For a company that makes as many diverse products as sony. it's hard to make such a broad statement.
I have the TAE/TAN 9000ES and think it was a great buy for the money.
Its easy for a company to put out a few high end mega$$$ products.
When you put out everything from cheap to high end you are going to get a few thuds

 

[NickSP]

Sony probably sells a big number of their products when compared to other manufacturers and in comparison don't seem to have too many flawed products out there in the market. Some other companies such as HK have come out with products that are flawed to a great degree with bad customer service and they still are enjoying good reputation on these boards while Sony gets a bad rap.

 

[RussKon]

I own 5 different Sony units - 2 dvd changers, a digital camcorder, and 2 DAT recorders. All of these units have done an outstanding job over the years.

My experience with Sony has been one of total satisfaction!

Russ

 

[JackS]

Whew!!!, I must be living on borrowed time. To make matters even worse than they already are, at the end of the month I'm going to buy a Sony TV. Many of us will never learn. Oh well most of my ES gear has at least a year left on warranty so I shouldn't concern myself until that final day of complete protection dissapears and I'm left completely in the cold to suffer the "sure to come" problems with this inferior stuff.

 

[RussKon]

jack

lol

 

[Greg Schwabacher]

Now, the 4ES receiver seems to be a major cost cutting effort compared to the old 5ES receiver.

Don't believe everything you read (especially at Audioholics, where much of "the inferiority" of the 4ES was "exposed" but where opinions vary widely on the forums ). The 4ES is a great piece, and for its street price of ~$700, I just don't see how one could possibly expect more. I've had seven Sony ES pieces, and (knock on wood), they've all performed flawlessly.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sony, the most widely recognized brand name in the world, makes so many different products in so many different categories that it's absurd to make a blanket statement about the entire marque.

I've had excellent experience with Sony products for several decades. My only complaint with their direct-view TVs is that, out of the box, they run way too blue even in the Warm color-temp setting. A calibration is a must if you're buying an XBR- or HS-series Sony TV.

 

[Lee M T]

Jack Briggs, interesting information about the Sony direct-view TV's. I'm getting one for Xmas, KV-27FS100 FD Trinitron WEGA. Anything I should be concerned with when setting it up? I'm really not too "up" on all the details of TV gadgets.

Thanks,
Lee

 

[SvenS]

Yeah! Every Sony product out there will break down! That's why Sony is the largest electronic manufacturer in the world! :rolleyes

 

[Greg Kolinski]

WOW,OK ,I own NO Sony products,so this is a rather unbiased
opinion.Through years of knowing"just enough to be dangerous" about H/T stuff I have owned a wide variety of products.In MY opinion ,ALL manufacturers have some issues with certain aspects of their products,but none are bad enough to blanketly say the whole line is junk :frowning: .My last RPTV was a non digital Toshiba 50 in,and it ran into convergence problems JUST out of warranty,about the same time I found the firmware problems with their 3108 DVD players.The TV had the typical "cold soldier "connection problems that I see a lot of in the automotive Field im in.
They policy adjusted the TV ,and it works fine,gave it to my mother .I still like Toshiba products,and was looking at them when I bought th HDTV ,only reason I didnt get one was the great open box I got on the JVC 56 in.
Like cars,and all mass produced items,they all have good days,and bad days.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

To repeat my previous anti-sony sentiment:
Not only was I burnt by Sony three times but so many of my friends were too.

I think we heard you the first time. About 3 years back, I had problems with their 19" Trinitron monitors. The model was the 420GS. I had my "pair" of monitors in their service center within one week of their arrival. The geometry issues with the monitor were horrible. Their attempt to repair them didn't resolve the issue. Sony then sent me a new "pair" via overnight shipping. I finally got "one" good monitor. Sony then overnighted a 2nd monitor to me - which was horrible also. Sony finally agreed to refund my purchase price and send a courier out to pick up 4 of their bad monitors that were sitting in my garage. The one 420GS that I kept was a great monitor for the next few years that I owned it.

You would think that after the Sony experience that I went through, I would never buy one of their products again. It was simply just an issue with "one" of their product lines. I wasn't ready to write the whole company off.

Two years ago, I purchased a 32" Sony Vega TV. Awesome set! Awesome quality! I'm also the owner a their STR-DA4ES receiver. Awesome receiver!

One just has to be selective in the products they purchase. There's no way that I'd purchase 100% of my gear from one company. It's simply too hard to find the "best of the best" when sticking to just one company.

Simply put, you can't just write off a company based on a bad experience. Each company is bound to have some "issues" with their products from time to time. The quality of Sony products is no less than their competition.

 

[NickSP]

I think what SONY suffers from is an image problem, especially in the audiophile community. Sony makes everything from a 2" TV to you get the point. This is why many an audiophile does not take them seriously enough and these same audiophiles will attak Sony the first instance they get. I have owned Sony TVs, VCRs, and two ES receivers the DA4ES being the current one used as a prepro and I haven't had one problem with the anything I have owned from Sony. On the contrary, I have had problems once with a Denon and an HK receiver and 2 NAD receivers that I recently tried as a prepro. Someone correctly posted above that breakdowns happen to almost every manufacturer that makes electronic equipment but Sony ends up taking this beating primarily due to it's lack of a serious image amongst audiophiles.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Lee: You are getting a nice set. Be sure to adjust the color-temp to "Warm"; for all you know, it may track close enough to the D6,500 standard. (Also, watch it in "Movie" mode and disable the SVM.)

 

[Lee M T]

Thanks Mr. Briggs. Will do!

Lee

 

[Rick_FL]

I've never had any issues with Sony stuff, then again I've never bought any of their receivers. But, I do have other sony stuff, it doesn't seem to fail any less than other stuff. Sony also makes and sells many more products than any other electronics manufacturer, you're gonna hear more complaints on the net. Not many people hop online to praise a product. I'm sure the happy people would far outweigh the disappointed

 

[BenK]

Sony makes all kinds of electronics short of the kitchen sink. With their name recognition and diverse product line I'm sure they have a greater market share compared to competing companies in a given product line. Thus they have more of they're products in consumers hands which is going to fail on occasion and seem like they fail all the time. Its really all about number of failure rate compared to products sold. As a side note of reliability I have seen Consumer Reports show Sony tv's as midpack when it comes to reliability. So they're reliability CAN be shown to be worse than another company. Now with that said I am not a Sony fan nor against them. I know people who will buy a Sony product based solely on name. As someone else stated I buy whatever product has the best performance/features for the price. I have owned and currently own Sony ES products but definitely not because of the name.
SvenS

Yeah! Every Sony product out there will break down! That's why Sony is the largest electronic manufacturer in the world!

Just because Sony is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world doesnt mean they're product has better reliability or is necessarily better. General Motors is the number one car maker but that doesnt mean their cars are superior. Even though I like GM cars