[acs236]

Maybe, maybe not. Does anyone know?

Speculations?

Did a Sony technicaian with a headphone fetish syphon funds from the Betamax II R&D department to create these woody wonders?

On the surface, it seems odd that a mass market company like Sony would want to design the most expensive (or close to it, what do I know) dynamic headphones in the world.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

There is a story, I might have read it on here actually but I don't remember. So someone else should be able to help you out.

Sorry I'm not much help hehe.

Biggie.

 

[hongda]

Don't know about the story, but I view it the same way that Ford makes a SVT Lighting or Honda produces a NSX Type R. They provide a showcase of their engineering talent and is a demo of the different designs that can be incorporated into lower level designs.

 

[HD-5000]

ditto

 

[acs236]

Headphones just seems like an odd choice, if Sony was acting with the same motivations as Honda. I mean, Honda is known for cars. Sure, they might build ATV, lawnmowers, whatever, but it's not that unusual for a car company to make a really souped up car.

Further, the Honda probably knew there was a significant market for the NSX -- I don't know about the R10.

 

[hongda]

notice I said NSX Type R

lightened body, insulation and tweaked engine. Anyway. Sony is an audio/video company as I perceive them. Headphones are a niche market for enthusiasts. Racing is a niche market for enthusiasts, although a larger number of enthusiasts. If not for Gran Turismo, most forms of car racing would be very low mass appeal.

Also Honda, Toyota etc also do CART and F1. Now there is a small niche market. But it gets publicity and a way to develop products.

 

[kelly]

Flagship products are mostly for public relations. They tend to typically not make their money back from the expenses on R&D.

I don't know how well the R10 was received in Japan but it was never released in the US. In the US, releasing products like the Sony XBR Wega televisions have gained them a lot of publicity and positive reviews that trickle down to many sales of their lower end models.

Sony is known for making headphones, by the way, and I suspect moreso in Japan than in the United States.

 

[jlo mein]

the story behind the sony r10's:

sony realized that there are many headphone audiophiles out there with big pockets....so they capitolized on it...

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by acs236 [...]a mass market company like Sony would want to design the most expensive (or close to it, what do I know) dynamic headphones in the world.

Sony is also the manufacturer of some very high-end audio gear other than the R10s. The XA777ES and SCD-1 SACD players and the ES SS-M9ED speakers come to mind.

They sell lots of mass market stuff, but that's far from all they do.

 

[RoninDiesel]

there seems to be a lot of sony dislike on these forums but i think sony is great. they are big business and therefore serve to the masses. the products they ship out do a fantastic job serving to the market. head-fi and the people here are audiophiles. we want nothing but the best in audio when it comes to headphones etc. Therefore average (sony) does not cut it. They are by no means terrible, but by no means sennheisers or grados. I personally applaud what sony has done w/their mass market products. and for those that think the v700's are overpriced, i really have nothing to say. audio will always and forever be subjective. personally i find them to be fun headphones.

 

[jatinder]

Hi all,

I don't know anything definite about the history of the R10.

What I have heard and read is that they were released about 1989 throughout the world (certainly UK, Europe, US, Japan). In the UK approx 15 pairs were sold mainly to studios and then Sony pulled the plug on the R10. Since about 1994 (I think) they were only available in Japan.

They were pulled out from the rest of the world due to poor demand - and we now know that they were recently "discontinued" in Japan.

I learned most of this from one of the guys who moved the furniture from house to house during my recent house move. He apparently, used to move things for Sony UK and knew all about the R10, Orpheus, vibration isolation, ac conditioning etc!

There's also been some (?academic?) research into the R10 and Orpheus which I'm trying to get hold of.

--Jatinder

 

[acs236]

hongda -- sorry, I wasn't familiar with that flavor of NSX.


I'm by no means a car buff, but I do appreciate nice cars. While I will probably never drive a Porsche 911 (I'm not giving up yet, though), I still appreciate them. I imagine many Honda/Acura drivers feel the same way -- they appreciate the nice, high end sports car, but for one reason or another, they drive an Accord. I still think it makes for sense for Honda to build the NSX type R then it did for Sony to make the R10s.

There are plenty of audiophiles that never would consider spending that much on headphones. I guess my point is, I would have expected Sony to make either a super high end CD transport/player/d/a converter -- whatever -- then I would have expected them to make the R10s. For that reason, I thought there may have been a story behind them. Apparently not.

I still want to believe that the R10s are brainchild of an eccentric Sony executive or technician.

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by acs236 I guess my point is, I would have expected Sony to make either a super high end CD transport/player

They [size=small]D O ! [/size]

 

[jatinder]

What about the R10 range of electronics:

MDR-R10 -- the worlds best headphones?

???-R10 -- one of the worlds best CD transports?

???-R10 -- hybrid electrostatic speakers - one of the worlds best speakers?

And people say that Sony don't make high-end components!

--Jatinder

 

[andrzejpw]

I think one of the reasons sony has such a "bad" name in the american audiophile world is because it doesn't bring some of its best products here. Sure, we get some ES products. But there are MANY more transports, etc, that sony just doesn't bring to the US.