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
Definitely brand name ;<{) I mean, whenever I buy jeans I go out of my way to spend more dollars to advertise someone else's name on on my butt - it lets everyone else no where my intelligence is seated...
I've always said "buy what YOU like and will make YOU happy". If it is a big brand name or something built out of a garage, if it costs a small fortune or was found at the local "resale shop", it really doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter what i or anybody else likes for that matter as we won't be listening to it or using it. At least, not as much as you will : ) Sean
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PS... I personally like "out of the ordinary" gear that one can consider a "find" all their own. These are typically great ways to get good sound without the price tag that big reputations bring with them.
Nrchy; I've enjoyed the thread and find much to agree with in the above posts. As to your Sony M9 speakers, several years ago (after the Stereophile review) I had them on my short list to consider for purchase, but could never find a place to audition them, and ended up w/Vandersteen 3As.

I certainly would not have been biased against the M9s because of TOO BIG A NAME, and BTW & IMO they are very attractive speakers to boot. Sound vs Brand name?-- not to worry, you can have both. There are so many small, but known among audiophiles, product names that it sometimes boggles the imagination-- tremendous diversity. I love it! Cheers. Craig
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