Sony to spin off audio unit

[Ducatista47]

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31523511

Sony may get no audiophile respect, but its audio products are very good, and bulletproof. I hope the unit survives.

[Ed Zeppeli]

Well damn, I just bought a Walkman for the first time in 30 years. lol

[hsosdrum]

In 2003 I bought a Sony professional CD burner and it barely lasted 4 years before it simply would no longer burn CDs (I had burned maybe 60 CDs total on it by the time it gave out). Ditto for the Sony SXRD TV that I bought in 2006: it only lasted 4 years before I had to replace it. Neither of these were disposable commodity-level products; both should have provided far longer service than they rendered

I'm officially done with Sony.

[4343]

In 2003 I bought a Sony professional CD burner and it barely lasted 4 years before it simply would no longer burn CDs (I had burned maybe 60 CDs total on it by the time it gave out). Ditto for the Sony SXRD TV that I bought in 2006: it only lasted 4 years before I had to replace it. Neither of these were disposable commodity-level products; both should have provided far longer service than they rendered

I'm officially done with Sony.

Contrast that with my PVM 25" monitor that I got in 1987, B stock. I finally had to replace last September when the HV resistor pack went out. Put many thousands of hours on that one...

I know I have burned at least 400 DVD's on my Sony DVD recorder, 'cause that's how many VHS tapes I donated to the local library after transferring them. Still going strong. Down to one a week now days.

The Audio group has some of the best people in Sony. Hope they do well on their own.

[allen mueller]

I've had some mixed results with Sony. I had a small Trinitron tv that just would not die, but on the other hand i had a receiver that died after a few years and even when it was working it was quirky. I also had a Sony SACD player that died on me.

[hsosdrum]

Regardless of my personal feelings about the reliability/unreliability of Sony's products, I do agree that spinning off the audio unit is unlikely to be a good thing over all. I'm sure that one of the factors that allowed those talented engineers to thrive (as in invent the CD and SACD, among other things) was that they were backed by the resources of a giant corporation. And while that can be a double-edged sword, the engineers at the new company will likely have to struggle more for funding than they ever did while a part of Sony. I also wish them every success.

[1audiohack]

Hi Clark;

I wasn't at all saying that your statement was BS or that it is something you should back up or retract. I am very interested in the where, when and who in audio and science in general and just wanted to explore your lead, nothing else.

My best,
Barry.

[Ducatista47]

Hi Clark;

I wasn't at all saying that your statement was BS or that it is something you should back up or retract. I am very interested in the where, when and who in audio and science in general and just wanted to explore your lead, nothing else.

My best,
Barry.

Believe me, with my geriatric brain it could well be high in BS content! I have to rely on my memory. Only ill advised individuals would join me in that. Besides, I want to retract anything supposedly objective that I can't prove. I hope you found the patents interesting. Did you see the "Objects and Summary of the Invention" in the Sony patent PDF? Sounds like the earlier designs from other parties had a few fatal design flaws.

[dr_gallup]

I don't own a lot of Sony gear but it has all been very good. I've got 2 of the big 300 disc CD changers that just keep going and going and going. I've also got a nearly 20 year old 32" XBR TV that looks as good as the day it was new. Someday I'm going to replace it but I'll need several strong backs to help me get it out of the house.

The thing that stopped me from buying a lot of other gear is their love of proprietary formats. For instance, I purposely avoided Sony cameras for awhile because they required their memory sticks instead of standard flash memory cards. Sony fought these format battles way too long and often.