|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
69.87.203.163
I have owned some Sony ES gear over the years. The 77ES power amp, the 80ES preamp (both purchased used), 90ES preamp, 7AES speakers and 20ES cd player (all bought new in '99).
When my Counterpoint Solid 2A took out both midranges in the 7AES speakers (servo failure), I contacted Sony on their 800 number parts line. Even though my speakers were less than a year old, they did not have any replacement mids. I ended up substituting some Vifas with Madisounds help, but they did not sound the same as the "custom" original mids.
My best friend has the X7ES sacd player. A week or so ago the laser block failed. He brought it to the Sony Service Center in Westwood, MA. He was told the laser block assemblies are no longer available from Sony. His mega-buck player is now nothing but pretty junk.
The way Sony has abandoned SACD and their parts obligations is criminal.
They are having much deserved troubles right now. It's no wonder.
Follow Ups:
...
Antonio Melo Ribeiro
was never the same after Morita, it's founder, passed away. When he was in charge Sony had the lowest failure rate in the industry: 1 to 2%. Now Sony reliability is the same as anybody else's, and the industry average is 5%. The bookkeepers have taken over the management and the intense pride that Morita had in his products has dissipated. Much like Philips, the attitude is now "good enough."
"X7ES sacd player" no such model exists. Which one are you really talking about? If it's the SCD-777ES, the optical blocks for that are still available, as are most all the other parts too. If you are talking about the XA7ES (CD player only , not SACD), then that's an older unit - but it shares an optical block with other units so spares should not be hard to find. There are a few even older sony ES players that indeed have parts that are NLA. Thevintageknob.com is a good resource to research on this.FWIW, I have had good luck with all my sony stuff which ranges from things as humble as the CA9ES changer (about $700 new maybe? I forget) to the TA-N1/TA-E1/SCD-1 combo.
I purchased a new 19" Sony Trinitron for the bedroom because I really liked the picture quality even though it was one of the most expensive sets in its range. A month after it went out of warranty the CRT went out. This thing only got a couple hours use a day at most. They of course would only fix it out of warranty and the CRT (NOT including the labor to install it) was $10 less than what I paid for the set new. Before I tossed it out I asked a local TV repair shop if they wanted it for parts and they told me they already had a mountain of Sony TVs all with bad CRTS as that was a pretty common problem it turned out. Never bought anything new from Sony after that...
nt
Dean.
nt
And only one of the several Sony tubed tv I've owned ever broke - a 6 year old thing that I had no problem spending $200 bucks on to get it fixed - as opposed to throwing it away and buying a new one like I do with lesser quality products.Sony audio products are a different story. Usually better than average midfi quality, CDPs even better, and often fantastic values for the money even before the normal discounts.
However, as good or better than average the stuff might be, it breaks often and unlike the tubed TVs it's really not worth fixing. When my 555ES SACD/CD player "broke" like one day out of warrantee I took the loss and sold it "broke".
No I won't buy the stuff again either. And tubed TVs are a thing of the past so there isn't much Sony in my future.
I've owned a few Sony CRT TV's over several years and none of them ever broke! When I upgraded, I ended up giving the old Sonys away to friends or relatives because they simply kept working with excellent picture quality.The only "old" Sony TV that I've kept is a small unit with 10-inch color CRT. It's all black and shaped almost like a cube. It looks similar to a security monitor or TV studio monitor. I use it for occasional video projects. This one was purchased in 1991. The others that I gave away were much older.... and still working!
As for Sony CD players, I liked the XA7ES which was their flagship model for a while before SACD hit the scene. The XA7ES was very well built with a very nice sound - although I have found newer players that sound better.
My favorite Sony CDP was the XA777ES - which had SACD. No sure if this was the 2nd or 3rd Sony 777ES CDP with SACD. Never owned it just had it here for about a month.Believe or it not I concluded my stereo sounded better without those big Sony digital products sitting in it. Can't explain it - my FM and TT sounded best without the 555 or the 777 around.
Haven't bought a ton of Sony stuff over the years, but I sure hope my R10 headphones don't go out! Getting them serviced would probably be a NIGHTMARE. I've certainly heard enough horror stories to make me jumpy. Which is a shame, because when Sony WANTS to make a statement product, they can do some incredible work. The R10 is a stunning case in point.
...as is the SCD-1! Yes it's a shame!
I have a Grand Wega KF-42WE610 that is ONLY 4 yrs old that needs an optical block($1800), that it is currently out of warranty(1 yr from original date of purchase).
I called Sony service and they can offer no help in this matter other than tell me "it's out of warranty - sorry" therefore there is NOTHING we can do for you.By the way...it's the 3rd block that is needed; the original was replaced within a year of purchase(covered under warranty), so currently it's on its 2nd one that now currently failing...so much for Sony quality!!
Also, adding more pain to my misery, I have replaced 2 bulbs since it's purchase at $200 a pop. 3 bulbs over 4 years is utter bullshit, these are supposed to be 6000 hrs bulbs.
I believe Sony settled a class action lawsuit and agreed to replace these optical blocks out of warranty. You need to check into this!
I am aware of this settlement.As per the Sony's website I did not quality for the "out of warranty repair" as I did not show the qualifying symptom(s) of a "stationary scribble or random line pattern on the screen".
Unfortunately I have other issues that cause my picture to be less than perfect, caused by a defective optical block that Sony will not cover, even though they(Sony)acknowledge the block is the part that is casing the problem and is at fault and needs to be replaced to solve the problem. If you can believe that...!
back in 1987 and paid $400 for it (expensive compared to the off brand names back then).Well to make a long story short, and after 20 years of daily use (repeat:daily) it plays like I just bought it yesterday. Sure, the buttons don't work like the used to (that's what remotes are for) and it's pretty scratched up, but it's the best investment I ever made.
But since I've got waaaay to many TV's in my house now, I took it to the disabled Veteran's thrift store last month.Not so sure they make em' like that today, my brother's gone through two or three due to different problems he's encountered since I've had mine.
"Live life as if you'll die tomorrow... -Gandhi
Learn life as if you'll live forever..."
That's what's good about it: It's 20 years old, made before the company's qc and customer service tanked.Still, the vestigal brand name is so strong that when I think about buying a new tube TV I first think of Sony....
Their clock radios: Never again!
- This signature is two channel only -
I'm well aware that things have changed, but I have a 19-inch Trinitron purchased in 1984 that is still lovely. True, it doesn't get much use (the occasional ball game in my office), but 23 years later, the picture still sparkles.
for me for Christmas in '05. I made one tape (2 hours) with it that day. Worked fine. Put in another tape and over a few months I recorded the occasional thing here and there. When I played back the second tape I discovered that the last half of it didn't have any sound. I tried two more tapes to make sure it wasn't just bad tape. Nope. The camcorder wasn't playing/recording any sound.Contacted Sony and they said that it would be $195 fee to fix it unless there is something seriously wrong!!!!!!!!! I asked about the warranty. The surly punk on the phone said that since it was a "gift" the warranty expired in 90 days. I spoke with someone who pretended to be his supervisor and got more dismissive crap. He finally told me, "well, you'll just have to pay the $195 and get it fixed". I told him to roast in hades, and that I didn't HAVE to do any such thing since they weren't/aren't the only show in town.
Went out and bought a Canon which it turns out is a much better camera, easier to use, and has a much better zoom. Costs $35 more than the sony but is a considerably better camera.
As for me, sony is not a product that I'd consider purchasing.
roN
I have used nothing but Sony for my TV and DVD/VCR equipment for many years and have had excellent results. My tv's have lasted for more then 10 yrs each ,some longer with no problems. Once I had a problem with my VCR player and they repaired it for a service charge of only $65, it involved the replacement of several major parts and worked flawlessly since.. I am not sure I would go to Sony though for audio equipment over other choices. Just my personal experience.
"10 yrs ago"...I agree! I have a Sony TV from the mid 80's still going strong.Wait till you buy a new one, life cycles now run about 5 yrs!!
And I never said anything negative about the Sonys I owned.
nt
Everything. When I was using mass-market stuff, my hierarchy was something like Onkyo > Philips > Denon > others > Sony. The top three have always made pretty good stuff IMO; I like them and I'd recommend them to anybody interested in mid-fi gear. I still have/use my JVC tape deck, so I guess you can put that company up there somewhere, although I've never heard anything else of theirs.In fact, dissatisfaction over a Sony receiver is what got me into the high end in the first place. I guess I should thank them, but... nah.
By law, aren't they required to carry spare, service parts for a certain number of years?
Companies may offer specific parts availability guarantees as a matter of policy, and any company may choose to enter into a contract that specifies parts availability, but there is no law mandating that a spare parts inventory must be maintained for any product. Not even for cars or computers.
But never for audio equipment
I think computer and software companies have to at least support things for seven years also.
.
"They are having much deserved troubles right now. "Not according to the following link.
I've never liked Sony. Their products are poorly designed as far as I am concerned.
.
Sony reaps what they sow.Sony gear is disposable and that philosophy makes the company disposable to me.
I don't mind paying a "premium" for old gear like ARC and CJ. At least that stuff can be repaired and the aforementioned comanies pride themselves on customer satisfaction.
--
Al G
Born To Tinker!
I've had so many problems with Sony components. I do not buy Sony anymore!
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: