What's happened to Sony?

[grampi]

Sony used to be a company you could bank on. Their products were always some of the best, if not the best in terms of being well built, but in recent years their stuff has turned to crap. I know they're not the only company that's allowed their products to contract cheapitis. What is going on with these companies? I realize the main reason to be in business is to make money, but don't any of these companies care about what these garbage products they've putting out over the last fews is doing to thier reputaions? 10 years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to buy a Sony product. Today, I avoid them like the plague.

[Lexmark3200]

Sony used to be a company you could bank on. Their products were always some of the best, if not the best in terms of being well built, but in recent years their stuff has turned to crap. I know they're not the only company that's allowed their products to contract cheapitis. What is going on with these companies? I realize the main reason to be in business is to make money, but don't any of these companies care about what these garbage products they've putting out over the last fews is doing to thier reputaions? 10 years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to buy a Sony product. Today, I avoid them like the plague.

Hi Gramps,

I totally agree with you.....I think I would only consider purchasing a Sony TV set or one of their portable products (i.e. Discman, boombox, etc)....the ONLY Sony home gear I would purchase --- if I had to --- would be from their ES line. A friend of mine had one of their single well cassette decks (an ES) and it was close to 900 bucks....this thing made tapes that sounded like CDs....I am NOT kidding. VERY impressive piece of gear. I wouldnt touch anything from their non-ES stuff; I own a 27" Trinitron screen and have beene extremely happy with the picture, as a testament to my comment regarding their TVs....

[grampi]

Lex, how old is that TV? I wouldn't get too comfortable with it.

[Lexmark3200]

Lex, how old is that TV? I wouldn't get too comfortable with it.

Why do you say that?

[grampi]

Because it's a Sony and they seem to be more interested in cutting corners than producing quality products these days.

[Lexmark3200]

Because it's a Sony and they seem to be more interested in cutting corners than producing quality products these days.

Well, I understand all your concerns about this manufacturers' products as of late, but I was saying, based on performance and life of MY particular set, I believe they make good, clear-looking TVs/screens/monitors; any other piece of gear, i.e. receivers, that are not of their ES line, I would AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE....talk about cheap crap; that's Sony's non-ES gear in a nutshell.

But my TV has been working great and delivers a GORGEOUS picture for a 27" display, honest....and to answer your question, I have the set for well over three years now; it originally sat in my family's downstairs den and when they moved to Vegas a couple of years ago, it came with me to my studio apartment here in New York....has been fine ever since. Watched animated gems like Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo on this Sony, and the images just jump off the screen at you.

[kelsci]

Hi Lex; As long as your tv works and has been working for the past few years, just continue using it. A few years ago, I was in Brandsmart here in Fla. Sitting in the tv dept., the sets that caught my eyes playing were the FD Trinitrons. My brother and a person I know own the 35 inch basic model for a few years. It ran him about $700. It is a most pleasant tv to watch and play dvd's in the interlace mode on this set. The broadcasts themselves take on a look of visual dynamics and outstanding color fidelity IMHO. I have scene both the equivalent 27 and 32 inch models and they play equally well. I have a 20 inch version in my living room. It is rare to see such consistency in picture quality from 20 up to 35 inches from other manufacturers. I did here there were some problems with other model Sony tvs probably with the WEGAS. I have scene on occassion an XBR widescreen WEGA however that played extremely well, something similarly reviewed recently by audiorevolution.com. There is definite problems with their audio receivers. I have not cared for the sound quality of the standard or ES line at all. Be thankful you have an Onkyo receiver. Their DVD player quality at times seem to be erratic in video quality although my brother's friend bought a recent basic model single player which played extremely well on his friend's PROSCAN tv. A few years ago, there were some good PROSCAN's out and both he and my brother got one each. Just keep on using your 27 inch Sony. How long it last will really tell how really reliable your particular model was. Kelsci...

[Lexmark3200]

Hi Lex; As long as your tv works and has been working for the past few years, just continue using it. A few years ago, I was in Brandsmart here in Fla. Sitting in the tv dept., the sets that caught my eyes playing were the FD Trinitrons. My brother and a person I know own the 35 inch basic model for a few years. It ran him about $700. It is a most pleasant tv to watch and play dvd's in the interlace mode on this set. The broadcasts themselves take on a look of visual dynamics and outstanding color fidelity IMHO. I have scene both the equivalent 27 and 32 inch models and they play equally well. I have a 20 inch version in my living room. It is rare to see such consistency in picture quality from 20 up to 35 inches from other manufacturers. I did here there were some problems with other model Sony tvs probably with the WEGAS. I have scene on occassion an XBR widescreen WEGA however that played extremely well, something similarly reviewed recently by audiorevolution.com. There is definite problems with their audio receivers. I have not cared for the sound quality of the standard or ES line at all. Be thankful you have an Onkyo receiver. Their DVD player quality at times seem to be erratic in video quality although my brother's friend bought a recent basic model single player which played extremely well on his friend's PROSCAN tv. A few years ago, there were some good PROSCAN's out and both he and my brother got one each. Just keep on using your 27 inch Sony. How long it last will really tell how really reliable your particular model was. Kelsci...

Hello Again My Very Good Friend,

Hope Florida weather is treating you right! Been very humid up here....

Anyways, thanks for your thoughtful post, as always. I agree 100 PERCENT about Sony's audio receivers; in non-ES guise, their stuff just screams cheap, and sounds it. Are you sure about the quality of their ES merchandise? Has it slipped too?

I remember a good many years ago, the same friend that I mentioned above who had the $900 ES tape deck, wanted to sell me a Sony Pro Logic receiver; we hooked it up in my entertainment room of my family's old house and man did this thing suck....all kinds of shorts ran through it, the sound was crap, the buttons were falling off....what a piece of ****, honest.....in no time at all, he was returning the thing to Crutchfield and had an ongoing feud with them regarding Sony's so-called "unbreakable products."

[Woochifer]

I think Sony took their eye off the ball and spread themselves out way too thin in mass market channels. From what I understand, they do a lot more outsourced manufacturing than before and they have definitely cut corners with their product quality to the point that I don't buy Sony anymore. I've had too many recent failures to have any confidence in their products. Plus, a friend of mine who used to work in AV sales has noted Sony's reliability problems across several product lines; and it got to a point that he did not do any Sony demos unless a customer specifically asked about Sony. He had way too many product failures and unhappy customers to risk his livelihood by recommending Sonys. Often, it's not that most Sonys are that much more unreliable than other brands, but the problem is that when specific models or production runs have reliability problems, they are unreliable in a huge way. Just as an example, about half of the first production Sony Wega TVs that his store received failed within the first week. You really are rolling the dice as to whether or not you wind up with one of those types of problematic batches.

It used to be that Sony products were a cut above the other mass market competitors in performance, and they charged a premium for that extra performance and product quality. Nowadays, I don't see Sonys priced all that differently than the JVCs, Panasonics, Hitachis, Pioneers, Toshibas, and Kenwoods on the market. The performance is still good, but the product quality has definitely slipped as they blended in with those mass market competitors.

I also think that Sony no longer has the same technological advantage over their competitors that they once did. Just think back to when the Trinitron tube was still relatively new, and how much better the Sony TVs looked than competing products. Back then, the Sonys cost more, but that extra cost was justifiable. Of course, back then people were also willing to pay more to get higher quality. Not so sure that's the case now, and Sony's current pricing structure might very well reflect market reality more than anything

[Lexmark3200]

I think Sony took their eye off the ball and spread themselves out way too thin in mass market channels. From what I understand, they do a lot more outsourced manufacturing than before and they have definitely cut corners with their product quality to the point that I don't buy Sony anymore. I've had too many recent failures to have any confidence in their products. Plus, a friend of mine who used to work in AV sales has noted Sony's reliability problems across several product lines; and it got to a point that he did not do any Sony demos unless a customer specifically asked about Sony. He had way too many product failures and unhappy customers to risk his livelihood by recommending Sonys. Often, it's not that most Sonys are that much more unreliable than other brands, but the problem is that when specific models or production runs have reliability problems, they are unreliable in a huge way. Just as an example, about half of the first production Sony Wega TVs that his store received failed within the first week. You really are rolling the dice as to whether or not you wind up with one of those types of problematic batches.

It used to be that Sony products were a cut above the other mass market competitors in performance, and they charged a premium for that extra performance and product quality. Nowadays, I don't see Sonys priced all that differently than the JVCs, Panasonics, Hitachis, Pioneers, Toshibas, and Kenwoods on the market. The performance is still good, but the product quality has definitely slipped as they blended in with those mass market competitors.

I also think that Sony no longer has the same technological advantage over their competitors that they once did. Just think back to when the Trinitron tube was still relatively new, and how much better the Sony TVs looked than competing products. Back then, the Sonys cost more, but that extra cost was justifiable. Of course, back then people were also willing to pay more to get higher quality. Not so sure that's the case now, and Sony's current pricing structure might very well reflect market reality more than anything

Well put.