[luckybaer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chri5peed Read my post thoroughly. I didn't say anything about Sony Headphones in themselves. They could have a limited edition $5000 model that only a handful of people had, but just the fact they had 'Sony' stamped on them puts them into the same bracket of any Sony electrical goods to a 'norm'. I reckon Sony should maybe rename their headphones, perhaps 'Qualia'? Sony could go on them but tiny and hardly noticeable.

Marketing is a crafty thing.

This is why car makers have their "luxury" division. You could make the Honda Accord IDENTICAL to an Acura 3.2 TL, but chances are you'd be unable to charge the same. It is the snob factor.

I believe Bic tried to move upscale with some products at sometime in the past, but people weren't buying because the "Bic" name resonated "cheap."

Cadillac ran the risk of DILUTING their luxury brand's equity when they rolled out crap like the Cimmaron, and they pushed the envelope again with the Catera, although to a lesser extent.

Perhaps in the world of upper end audio Sony might have to acknowledge the snob factor and create (or acquire) their own "luxury" division? In many people's eyes Sony is like Toyota. They make great mass-market products that are pretty reliable, look good, and function properly. However, people that are willing to drop $500 or more on headphones might look down on the Sony brand name because of its ubiquitous nature and mass-market appeal.

I'm not knocking Sony, but it may be a case where they need to create another brand just like Toyota created Lexus, Honda created Acura, and Nissan created Infiniti. Just my thoughts and musings...

 

[Iostream]

Sony already did this, and the result is Qualia. But I think the problem is Qualia is a bit too high end, they should bring it down a bit offer a range. Not to say they should go all the way down the scale, but maybe a premium 3000/5000 and up from there.

 

[luckybaer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iostream Sony already did this, and the result is Qualia. But I think the problem is Qualia is a bit too high end, they should bring it down a bit offer a range. Not to say they should go all the way down the scale, but maybe a premium 3000/5000 and up from there.

Is there stuff any good for the price?

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckybaer Is there stuff any good for the price?

I think for $350, the SA5000 is terrific. For $699 (I believe that's the MSRP) it's not.

 

[Iostream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckybaer Is there stuff any good for the price?

Regarding Qualia, there is no doubt their stuff is "good", for the price is relative as many people have long passed their idea of diminishing returns by this point. the Q10 is their only headphone, which I think is $2600. They also have a very nice projector for $30K I think it is... This is what I meant by being too high end, they should probably start with a $200-$300 can and go up to the Q10, That would still let them differentiate from the Sony brand, and only offer "high end" products. Even in the luxury car analogy, all of those brands offer an "entry luxury" option.

 

[sxr71]

Well there is Sony ES. But I think they could "elevate their standards" a little more. The only thing they have in the ES line worth buying are their CD players which tend to be very good for the money.


As for Qualia, I think they've gone way to far and they seem to be trying to get electronics in jewellery stores next to watches.


Altogether, I really don't care what name is on a good product as long as it is good.

 

[Chri5peed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sxr71 Altogether, I really don't care what name is on a good product as long as it is good.

Yes thats how it should be, just like you shouldn't judge a person on their appearance, but we all know it happens all over the world all the time.

Would 'Altogether, I really couldn't care what anyone thinks on my product as long as its good' be just as accurate? Thats the centre of the arguement here, if you don't care thats cool.

I don't!

 

[sxr71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chri5peed Yes thats how it should be, just like you shouldn't judge a person on their appearance, but we all know it happens all over the world all the time. Would 'Altogether, I really couldn't care what anyone thinks on my product as long as its good' be just as accurate? Thats the centre of the arguement here, if you don't care thats cool. I don't!

Well, I care to hear others' impressions of what I have because they might have the ability to compare something I own to something I've never heard. I think that's the main purpose of these boards.

 

[Iostream]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sxr71 Well, I care to hear others' impressions of what I have because they might have the ability to compare something I own to something I've never heard. I think that's the main purpose of these boards.

Yeah, I think it could be best put "I don't care what others think about what people think about whatever products I chose after I have spent my money" And that is likely the key to making your wallet survive these boards

Otherwise, even if you made the best decision at the time, a new flavor of the month will appear and send you back to second guessing (and opening up that poor wallet again). Not always with the desired results.

 

[fureshi]

sony as a whole makes a lot of good products, including a lot of components that the user never sees. their headphones in the past may have been bit misguided (v600, v700, etc) with the exception of their higher end cans. but even then, those headphones were polarizing. people either loved them or hated them, which seems to be the same concensus as their consumer products.

 

[luckybaer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fureshi sony as a whole makes a lot of good products, including a lot of components that the user never sees. their headphones in the past may have been bit misguided (v600, v700, etc) with the exception of their higher end cans. but even then, those headphones were polarizing. people either loved them or hated them, which seems to be the same concensus as their consumer products.

I think their Playstations are great...

I like my TV and DVD player, too.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I think the SA5000 is a better headphone, on sheer technical ability, than the HD650, K701, DT880, etc. Of course if you don't like its sound presentation, then there is no point. As such I think the SA5000 is a bargain for how well it performs at $400 or so, and would still be worth it at $700, since the only headphones I've found to be significantly better performing cost $800+.

Sony cans in general are pretty hit and miss, however their top products have had a pretty good track record of excellent performance (CD3K, R10, Qualia, SA5K).

 

[Chri5peed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EscaBoi Being the noob i was, it was "WOW!! Sony, they must be good...AND it's the last pair!!" while looking over at the Sennheiser's thinking "what no name brand is that??"

Thats precisely the way of the world. Sennheisers, AKGs, Beyerdynamics may as well be no name brands, I reckon more people must have Celine Dion CDs than have heard of them.

 

[sxr71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckybaer I think their Playstations are great... I like my TV and DVD player, too.

Their Playstations are the worst thing they make IMHO, Sorry it's a pet peeve of mine after they hyped their crappy PS2 which had nothing on Dreamcast when it was "launched." The PS2 is characterized by games with poor texturing and heavy aliasing. As a system it really didn't merit the success it has, and it rode completely on the Sony hype machine that made people buy it and developers develop for a crappy system. Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, I like my DVP-S7000 DVD player too.

 

[fureshi]

yeah, it's sad that sega didn't get their marketing act together as the dreamcast really was a better system. the ps2 is still a lot of fun though. on the other hand, i've never been too impressed with the xbox.