Is Sony really that bad?

[myriad1973]

Judging from the posts I've been seeing on here, it seems Sony has quite a bad rap. Did I make a bad choice in purchasing Sony products? My old system was a Pioneer reciever and cassette from the late 80's. I'm pretty happy with what I have gotten so far. Am I to expect something bad happen in the future?

 

[wire]

As long as your happy with it .
I run a 4 channel Sony N220 in my 5.1 set-up and i can live with it .

 

[mike c]

sony is fine as long as it works ...

 

[Hi Ho]

Certain people don't like Sony for a number of reasons. I, for instance, don't like their business practices and the fact that many of their products are of inferior quality. They charge for their name, just like Bose and Monster Cable.

My opinion has been reinforced lately since I started working at a local home theater shop, which is also a Sony service center (along with many other brands). Sony has, by far, the highest rate of repair out of all of the brands (Including Yamaha, Denon, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Samsung, Panasonic, and Sanyo).

As you can probably tell, I have a rather obvious bias against Sony. However, you shouldn't let my opinion prevent you from enjoying your system.

 

[DaveOCP]

Not a fan. There may still be some quality left in Sony ES products (but I think even that is fading). The regular stuff, I'd stear clear. Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc are just all around better.

 

[myriad1973]

I already purchased everything I have through Ebay. The reciever seems to be built very well. I did my homework on everything before purchasing. I noticed the K-series recievers are junk. So I got this DB series reciever from 2000. It apparently borrows a lot of ES elements in it. The previous owner spoke well of it, and I didn't notice anything unusual, plus it is in mint condition.

My Pioneers have has lasted 16 years without a hitch, except the equalizer LEDs went out a few years ago. I'm a huge believer in quality, and I'd hate to think I bought stuff that is not going to last.
What's the most typical problem with Sonys?

 

[gmichael]

You should enjoy your Sony and not worry. As long as you like it, who cares what anyone else thinks or says?

 

[Audioholics]

The only problem I ever had with recent Sony AV products is that they don't tend to follow the typical way of laying out menus, interfaces, or user controls so you really have to hunt and peck to find everything. Haha, in fact just go to their website and see how many clikcs it takes you to find their displays, then look for ES stuff.

Their displays took a hiatus for a while, but now their LCoS (i.e. SXRD) stuff with Faroudja (i.e. WEGA) processing seems to be very good.

 

[myriad1973]

Thanks for the input folks. I'm just going to enjoy what I have. It's been a long time since I have upgraded my stereo, and I'm glad I did. Especially after spending hours and hours (and driving my girlfriend nuts) researching everything before buying it.

I know what to look for in good equipment.... I was just a bit alarmed at how critical some folks are of Sony. As far as I knew in the past, they put out a good product, and I was going on past reputation I guess. Luckily most everything I bought *was* from the past.

 

[jonnythan]

When you're the biggest, you get the most criticism.

Sony products often don't have the highest price/performance ratio, but a lot of their stuff is fine. If you're happy we're all happy

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Enjoy your equipment. If you search hard enough, you'll find bashers on almost all types of equipment. There's the camp that says US A/V equipment isn't as reliable (Rotel, Adcom, NAD), those that say Japanese equipment doesn't sound as good, Bose and Monster bashers, Harman Kardon reliability bashers, Japanese and Chinese speaker bashers, esoteric bashers, refurb bashers, Worst Buy/Twitter/Circus City bashers, cable and surge suppressor bashers, and those that say there are no competitive subs that compare to SVS and HSU.

Now, don't ask about fanboys. That's a whole other can of worms.

 

[drybo]

Just to add my 1 cent, I was very happy with my low end sony str 835. My ignorant and poor friends thought I had a super system LOL. Then I bought a yamaha 5860 and couldnt believe how much better the sound was, especially the 2 channel bass, and the surrounds were 100% better.
But
I couldnt stand the yam menu, it took forever to adjust the sub level up/down(to me) compared to the sony so I got a midlevel sony db940. Its better but still not as good as the less expensive yamaha, imo. guess I'll try to go to the ES line when I can afford it, aaarg I'm turning into fanboy!

 

[f0am]

I had a sony receiver for years, I had alot of problems with it.
1) When turning the volume up or down you would hear static from the volume control motor.
2) The right rear channel faddedo out.
3) Sound quality was poor after about 2 years

I recently bought a rotel receiver for $900 sounds alot cleaner. Makes me cring when I put in cheaper equipment and have beter results.

Ive yet to have a problem with sony tv's though.

 

[myriad1973]

The STR-DB840 I recently bought is about 5 years old or so. It seems to sound fine, especially compared to my 16 year old Pioneer reciever. The Pioneer is 0.07% THD compared to the Sony which is 0.09%. Not much difference either way, but I checked everything out on it when it came in. No problems thus far.

 

[PENG]

The STR-DB840 I recently bought is about 5 years old or so. It seems to sound fine, especially compared to my 16 year old Pioneer reciever. The Pioneer is 0.07% THD compared to the Sony which is 0.09%. Not much difference either way, but I checked everything out on it when it came in. No problems thus far.

Sound like you have got yourself a good deal. There are plenty of great reviews on Sony receivers in the U.K. Here's a link:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreviews.php

The DB and ES receivers are of much better quality, and heavier than the entry level ones.

 

[myriad1973]

I figured it was an awesome deal since I only paid $100 for it. The shipping was a lot though.

 

[billnchristy]

I replaced a Sony-STR-DE935 with a Yamaha HTR-5790 mainly for more digital inputs. Of course the Yammie was well over twice the price of the sony so yeah it sounded better.

I had the sony for 6-7 years (dont remember when I bought it) and the only problem with it was the display started fading out...though that seems to have stopped, I just started using it upstairs.

I have had sony TV, DVD changers (300 and 400) and VCRs for 8 years now (5-6 for the changers) and havent had a problem with any of it.

I have learned that there is better out there for around the same money though.

 

[Hi Ho]

Ive yet to have a problem with sony tv's though.

I wish that was the case more often. Why? Because I'm one who has to lug those 300 pound TV's around when they break, and they are breaking left and right. The number of Sony CRT's I have picked up for repair is unbelievable. The ratio of Sony repairs to other brands is probably 10:1.

 

[PENG]

According to the manual, the DB840 has 5.1 pre-outs. So you have the option of adding an external amp for better sound quality. For $100 and in mint condition, it is definitely a great deal.

 

[bandit]

Just my .02 cents worth. Hi Ho do you think it is possible that the ratio of sony tvs being reparied is 10 to 1 because they have that much or a fairly large portion of the market share? Just a thought.

My personal experience with Sony recievers revolves around a DA555-ES 5.1 channel reciever that must be pushing 7 yrs or so. I have had not a single problem with it although I think it runs to hot. It replaced an Adcom GTP-500 preamp/tuner and GTA 545 power amplifier. I was concerned when I made that step that I woud be losing a bit of sound quality but it was time to get into the home theater scene. I was very suprised and pleased that I lost no sound quality and if anything gained a bit. One side note - I did have to send in my Adcom GTP 500 in for repair as it lost one channel when it was about a year old. Bad capacitor if memory serves me right.

I've also have a Sony 48" inch rear projector that is older than the ES reciever that has not had a problem and a about 4 year old Sony Wega 32" CRT monitor. I've had no trouble with that either. I guess my opinion is that I wouldn't totally dismiss Sony - unless you have issues with marketing practices and support after the sale.

Bandit