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What's more important; sound or brand name?

I have had several people leave comments about my inability to hear things with my system because of quality of one or more of the parts. They seem to think it's not good enough to reproduce whatever sound is being discussed on that particular thread. The issue I have is I think my system is pretty good inspite of the fact that some of the componants might not be a popular enough name.

Many of the comments were based on my choice of speakers. I cannot describe how happy I am with the sound quality of the Sony SS M9 speakers inspite of the name on the grill cloth. Yes I have heard many other 'Hi-end' speakers over the years. Some have sounded better than the Sony's, most have not.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining because someone else doesn't like my gear as much as I do. I just wonder if people care more about the name on the product than the sound of the product.

If Sansui made a great product I would consider it inspite of the fact that I consider their stuff to be mostly junk. Maybe Sansui is a bad example since I prefer to buy American but you get the gist...

Any opinions? Have you noticed this happening?
128x128nrchy
metonymie
19 posts
 
Some brands somehow draw me instinctively and I seek them out first based on philosophy or reputation, whether they're well known or not. I neverthelesss try to stick with components that can be resold here on Audiogon without taking a massive loss. This is said as a relative beginner still looking for the sound that I need. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but every piece at least teaches me something.
kinsekd
252 posts
 
Nrchy, a very interesting thread. While most of us would probably agree that sound is the most important part of the buying decision, there are other factors to consider. Price to value ratio, reliability, build quality, WAF, warranty, aesthetics, resale value, and yes manufaturer's reputation. Everyone has their own hot button.
mscommerce
21 posts
 
Brand name. Conrad-Johnson. Burmester. Audio Research Corp. I want the assurance of an established reputation, a long life servicing and supporting equipment, serious engineering smarts when I spend my hard earned $. My most dearly beloved pair speakers is now 20 years old. The designer, Per Kirksaeter is still designing after 40 years in the business and will chat on the phone and support his product.

That's really what I'm looking for, not for the frisson of excitement that passes through the pages of Stereophile or TAS upon the arrival of this year's star new component.
wmcmanus's avatar
wmcmanus
171 posts
 
"LESS FILLING!!! TASTES BETTER!!! LESS FILLING!!! TASTES BETTER!!!"

Does it really matter - if you like it - "why" you like it? Or what anyone else thinks about it?
ozfly
887 posts
 
Good point Unclejeff. Got me to thinking ...

As I reread this thread, I wonder if we all have different definitions of brand. There's the mass market brands (like Sony), the mass audiophile brands (like Krell), the specialty audiophile brands (like Montana), the price competition brands (like Stealth, perhaps) and the no-names (like, ... well, uh, if I knew who they were they wouldn't be no names). Plus there's stuff in-between and beyond. The original question was around the potential stigma behind an audiophile buying mass market brands but some of us took it further. I took it to the "nobody ever heard of this brand before" extreme. Many of the answers covered the brands that are smaller and less stable. That might help explain why the answers are a bit all over the place.

At this point, I would agree that the right course of action for me is to just jump in headfirst into the music. Even if the piece lasts just a year, oh what a year! That assumes the off-brand is really better than the rest.
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