What A/V brands do you avoid?

[BluBrown]

Bose, Monster, LG, and all the cheap Wal-mart/Target brands....I also personally do not like Samsung's HDTVs

[progers13]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I bought two Sony tutntables in the 1970's. They still work without a problem.

I own a Sony cassette player that I bought in the 1980's. I also bought a Sony CRT TV in tn 1987 and worked beautifully for 10 years until I replaced it with a big screen TV.

I bought the first generation Sony DVD player in 1997 for $1,000. It is built like a tank and still performs beautifully. It is a work of art. I also own a Sony 200 disc CD changer and a Sony 200 disc DVD changer that I bought in late 1990's.

My Sony PS3 had a small problem and Sony fixed it in less than a week and paid for FedEx both ways.

I bought a Sony 1080 professional video camera for my son as a graduation gift. He bought a 50" Sony LCD TV and a PS3 himself out of his first two paychecks (he's got his priorities ). I recently bought a Sony receiver for him for his birthday and he is very happy with it. His Playstation 1 & 2 still work after all these years of abuse.

Over the years, I have owned many Sony products and they all performed extremely well. I have no idea where all this Sony bashing is coming from.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also own two Sony projectors.

I realize we may be in the minority here, Big Daddy, but I couldn't agree more. I've had 3 Sony AVR's, PS1, PS2, PS3, 2 DVD players, VHS player, 2 car stereos, CRT TV, rear-projection TV, LCD TV, and a digital camera. In 15 years the only problem I've had with any of them was my 2nd AVR - and that was because the dog chewed through one of the speaker lines and caused a short.

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Over the years, I have owned many Sony products and they all performed extremely well. I have no idea where all this Sony bashing is coming from.

For myself... I'm just stating my personal experience. After losing two sony avr's in two years, I just don't see myself giving them a third chance when there are so many other options available. My PS3 also died at 16 months... but I'm not even factoring that into the equation, it just seems to be the nature of game consoles this gen (wii excluded.) My first hdtv however, a Sony Grand Wega LCD RP, was nice for such an early HD product and AFAIK is still working.

[jdub178]

Samsung blu-ray players, LG flat panels, off brand tv's(vizio, rca, olevia, haier, magnavox, philips, and emerson), JVC LCD's, Bose(because I know that there is better for the same price, for example Mirage), Klipsch(good stuff, but its just a bit bright for me), non-ES sony receivers, and HTIB anything(I want speakers that are made by a speaker company and a receiver that is made by a receiver company-not made by a tv company)

[genkifd]

true to most but pioneer have very nice speakers however they rename them (cant remember their name)....

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by Animo

One product I have seen and feel is a decent product is their all in one Bosewave radio/CD.

I received the Wave CD/radio as a graduation gift when it first came out. It did sound nice, but the CD player broke very quickly. I sent it in to Bose for repair and they "never received it". I don't know the exact cost, but I think it was around $1,000. So, before I ever caught wind of the audiophile opinion of Bose, I was already of the opinion that they sound OK, but are cheap and overpriced.

I think the products people avoid are those that are a poor value. There's nothing wrong with cheap equipment if it works. There is something wrong with equipment that either doesn't work (regardless of price) or whose performance isn't justified by the price tag. So Monster and Bose are good candidates for brands to avoid, but I would add any company that sells the snake oil. Pear Anjou cables come to mind, but there are a lot of high-cost companies in the a/v industry that promise more than they deliver.

[gates70]

RCA, Phillips, Zenith, Emerson, Walmart stuff...anything cheap for that matter...oh and I avoid Samsung BD players like the plague now that I've owned one and got rid of it.

[MrRoy]

I avoid anything that isn't an upper brand name (JVC, Sanyo, etc.). Can't afford the high-end stuff (Pioneer plasma, Marrantz, etc.), but you get what you pay for. Oh, and anything with the name Samsung on it.

[MrRoy]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

For myself... I'm just stating my personal experience. After losing two sony avr's in two years, I just don't see myself giving them a third chance when there are so many other options available. My PS3 also died at 16 months... but I'm not even factoring that into the equation, it just seems to be the nature of game consoles this gen (wii excluded.) My first hdtv however, a Sony Grand Wega LCD RP, was nice for such an early HD product and AFAIK is still working.

Sony can be hit or miss, depending on the person, but I guess that is with anything. I swear by Sony, never had a problem with anything they made. I have a buddy who had anything Sony go bad on him.

[Moefiz]

Over the years I have been comfortable with buying from certain manufactures..
Sony,Pioneer,Panasonic...

I tend to stay away from Toshiba,RCA,Sylvania and any manufacture I have never heard of.

[Linksys2.4]

Originally Posted by gates70

...oh and I avoid Samsung BD players like the plague now that I've owned one and got rid of it.

Here, here.

I agree, but just curious -- what didn't you like about the Samsung? I've heard horror stories about their Blu-ray players, but not their TVs.

[Linksys2.4]

Originally Posted by MrRoy

Oh, and anything with the name Samsung on it.

Another vote for Samsung in the minus column -- why did you come to this conclusion, Roy? Just curious.

[sokrman14]

I avoid Samsung (all aspects), Sony audio (love their TV's), Yamaha, Klipsch, and obviously things like Dynex, Insignia, etc. JVC, Sanyo, Epson, Optoma, RCA

To the post above me, I avoid Samsung because of their marketing strategy. They overload their TV's with useless stuff and overjuice it with their brightness, contrast, etc. I know thats why people buy it, because it stands out to people in the store, but that just gives me more reason to stay away from it. My TV calibrators did comparisons and found that Samsungs needed the most calibration, while Sharp and Pioneer needed the least calibration. Also they call their new TV's: LED TV's, which is far from true, they need to correctly label them as LED LCD's. Also I have always hated their software/user interface in their equipment. It has always been slow and sluggish for me.

I know they sell a lot of TV's but I see more of them get sent out for repair than any name brand in the store I was at.

[Linksys2.4]

Originally Posted by sokrman14

I avoid Samsung (all aspects), Sony audio (love their TV's), Yamaha, Klipsch, and obviously things like Dynex, Insignia, etc. JVC, Sanyo, Epson, Optoma, RCA

To the post above me, I avoid Samsung because of their marketing strategy. They overload their TV's with useless stuff and overjuice it with their brightness, contrast, etc. I know thats why people buy it, because it stands out to people in the store, but that just gives me more reason to stay away from it. My TV calibrators did comparisons and found that Samsungs needed the most calibration, while Sharp and Pioneer needed the least calibration. Also they call their new TV's: LED TV's, which is far from true, they need to correctly label them as LED LCD's. Also I have always hated their software/user interface in their equipment. It has always been slow and sluggish for me.

I know they sell a lot of TV's but I see more of them get sent out for repair than any name brand in the store I was at.

Thanks for your thoughts. I agree on the Samsung and Sony audio thing, and JVC. While Samsung's TVs, to me, look awesome in the stores, I am constantly hearing bad things about their Blu-ray players for some reason.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Linksys2.4

Here, here.

I agree, but just curious -- what didn't you like about the Samsung? I've heard horror stories about their Blu-ray players, but not their TVs.

No I have no issues with my Samsung 850 TV and I think it's great. The BD player is full of sync issues. It seemed like every second movie or something that I'd watch had lip sync issues. Anytime there would be a new feature on a Blu you'd be sure it would screw up (see Watchmen Movie Max). Couldn't even get the Movie Max feature to play at all. Then at times it would just stop playing a movie out of the blue, but that didn't happen too often. Firmware took forever to be released. I've had my Pioneer 320 for a month and a half and not one single issue on ANY movies I've thrown at it.

[Linksys2.4]

Originally Posted by gates70

No I have no issues with my Samsung 850 TV and I think it's great. The BD player is full of sync issues. It seemed like every second movie or something that I'd watch had lip sync issues. Anytime there would be a new feature on a Blu you'd be sure it would screw up (see Watchmen Movie Max). Couldn't even get the Movie Max feature to play at all. Then at times it would just stop playing a movie out of the blue, but that didn't happen too often. Firmware took forever to be released. I've had my Pioneer 320 for a month and a half and not one single issue on ANY movies I've thrown at it.

Thanks for sharing; I keep hearing about this company's players' operational issues.

[gates70]

Originally Posted by Linksys2.4

Thanks for sharing; I keep hearing about this company's players' operational issues.

Hey no problem, that's what we join these forums for Love the avatar by the way

[Linksys2.4]

Originally Posted by gates70

Hey no problem, that's what we join these forums for Love the avatar by the way

Thanx...

Gotta love the Britney tongue action...

[MrRoy]

Originally Posted by Linksys2.4

Another vote for Samsung in the minus column -- why did you come to this conclusion, Roy? Just curious.

I had an HD tube tv, which had geometery issues. I had an LCD that I got home and immediately noticed a dead pixel (2 LCD's from Sony, never a dead pixel) and I had a dvd player that was for crap.
Combine my personal experiences with testimonials that I have read not only on this site but others, and this is why I feel the way that I do.

One thing that I never hear people talk about is the amount of refurbished Samung products are available. That alone makes me wonder.

[UFAlien]

Westinghouse. I'll always remember my first HDTV - 720p Westinghouse, 26", nothing special.

It had plenty of widescreen modes but nothing that would properly play any anamorphic SD content. The audio started out of sync and got progressively worse the longer it was left on.

And a week or so after I got it, it just crapped out.