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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
plato
1,543 posts
 
Sound and brand recognition are both important. Sound quality is important when listening, and brand recognition is important when you go to upgrade and need to recoup some money on your old component toward the new item. Happily, with some equipment, you can have both.
khokugo
122 posts
 
I mostly agree with previous posters. Sound is the most important factor, of course. But I am also mindful of the brand's track record - reliability, durability, quality, and servicing. "Famous, popular, big, and expensive brand" does not necessarily mean them to your satisfaction.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
BOTH.
Ecpecially for the brand names that don't have overpriced and unreliable units.
Manufacturers and dealers at CES should realy hide their equipment behind the curtain to let visitors to audition blindly. It's entertaining as well!
At the end of CES you get "Answers" what were in particular "blind" room.
nathanu's avatar
nathanu
93 posts
 
For better or worse, brand name also translates into marketability. For those who are concerned about resale value or simply the ability to unload equipment in the future, brand name can be an important feature.
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Sony is not well known as a speaker builder in the U.S., so their first thought is (sony speakers?). It's not just sony, the same thing can happen with any of the big mass market companys. I saw a Denon amp for sale the other day ($17,000 used), you don't see many of those for sale in the U.S., these companys build high end products, most people on this side of the world just don't know it and look down their nose and figure it must be mid-fi if it's a sony. Sony has built speaker systems that sold for around $8,000 at one time, I did not get a chance to listen to them but did read a review on them that stated they were very good speakers. A lot of audiophiles start out as music lovers and then transform into gear lovers, when this happens all the fun goes out of it, they wake up and go to sleep thinking about cables, power cords, tubes, tweaks, ect. ect., you have to beware while they are in this state of mind, never tell them you have sony speakers, If they ask or if you must tell, change the letters around (noys) so you won't have to lie, they will want to hear these noys speakers so invite them over and help them get back to listening to music for a change. I always hide my krell amps before they come over so that they don't know how brite my system sounds. Before I started this practice, they would always run out of the house with their hands over their ears, works every time.
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