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

Showing 3 responses by ozfly

Agree with all above who suggest that some larger companies also provide larger service and a better resale market. Would I buy a no-name? Absolutely not -- unless it is inexpensive (so it doesn't hurt to throw it away if it's bad) or if there is a trial period so I can hear it in my home. Buying a no-name is hard to do. You'd have to literally stumble across it at a dealership (used equipment section) or a friend's house since a true no-name has no formal or reliable informal reviews.

Apart from the servicing and resale, another advantage of known products is that you can find more reviews and advice about them (e.g., here on A'gon). For either initial ownership or longer term ownership, those are valuable.
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.
Psychicanimal, please don't generalize. I have never given you grief for your choice of system components and I bet I'm not alone among those responding to this thread. No need to stereotype (pun intended).