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
Of course, the sound is most important. With radically different-sounding gear receiving competing raves, I think that one should respect one's ears, not brand names.
It's easy enough to say "The sound, of course.". But what if its a choice between a no name speaker versus a Thiel, a B&W, or a Magnepan. Or a no name pre amp versus an Audio Research, Krell, Mark Levinson, etc. I wonder how many of us can answer that honestly.
Kinsekd:

If the company is financially sound, and build quality is equal to the Namers and they have reliable customer service and a fair warranty, I would pick the No Namer without hesitation!