Most Underrated/Overrated Component or Brand

[Tordial1966]

Yep Bose is truly over rated, I took a pair of 901's back
Under rated is Hitachi SR-2004, many Concept receivers, and Kenwood.
Still love the Pioneer SX-1250 though!

 

[rushfan]

Late to the party

Most overrated: Sony

Every single Sony anything that I owned broke. I don't mean some or even most of it - I mean every single device! Tape Decks, Headphones, CD Players - even Clock Radios! Even now, when I cruise classified ads for used items, many of the Sony products are listed as having a defect of some sort. Boom Boxes with malfunctioning CD Players, LEDs that don't light up, the list goes on and on.

Most underrated: Yamaha

My Yamaha HT Receiver dates from '94 and sounds fantastic, even in 2D. In fact, I don't even use its HT functions - I use it as a dedicated music system. It's rated at 80 w/channel and is as heavy as a bag of cement. I'd likely part with my vintage Pioneer receiver before I'd let go of the Yamaha.

 

[BajaGringo]

Overrated
Bose - Sony

Underrated
Technics - Yamaha - MCS

But what do I know...

 

[DSChamber]

Underrated: Akai and Yamaha... hence why I own two Akai Am2600's and a CA-610 Yammie...I would love to add the TOTL AKAI AM-2950 integrated and the TOTL CA-2010 Yamaha integrated to my collection. Akai made some decent power amps as well. And well the Akai RTR and tape decks are known to be really good as well...

Overrated: Pioneer and Marantz... great gear but the prices for these pieces far out pace the actual performance in my opinion...

 

[Soran]

its difficult to tell becouse i have not the experience with all the products of brances but only some products of them. i only give the products i have owned.

underrated: sanyo jcx2600kr, rotel rx-1603, pioneer hpm-100, jbl-L15, b&w dm6,7,14,16, 801,802, pioneer sx-1250 & 1980, technics sl-q2, akai gx-630

Neutral: infinity quantum2, kenwood kr7600, quadral titan, pioneer pl-l1000, pioneer rt-1011

Overrated: jbl l-150, marantz 2500 & 2600, yamaha cr-3020, technics sa-600, technics sb-6000, pioneer sa-9800

 

[DSChamber]

underrated: pioneer sx-1250 & 1980

Someohow I don't think the Pioneer 1250 or 1980 would be considered underrated....these go for sometimes insane prices on eBay. There is a lot of hype around the 1980.. I think most of it is due to the fact that you see webpages on the net that say things like "Last of the mohicans in receivers.... Monster of all Monster receivers....Pioneer never built bigger/better before or after the 1980....it would cost $3600 to build today"

Sure it's a great receiver, and yes it puts out 270 wpc (which is most likely a conservative number).... but underrated wouldn't be a word I would describe it ....

But what do I know... I am a vintage noob

 

[whoaru99]

If you need proof that Mc sounds better than a Yamaha or even a Soundesign then save your money and go with the Yamaha or Soundesign. Mc owners and lovers have no need to prove or justify anything or maybe you should prove to us Mc owners a Yamaha is as good sounding. My experince has been that Mc owners are more interested in the music than the equipment and hence don't play the equipment rolling game as much as other margue owners.

Prove something sounds better? That's a good one!! :lmao:

Prove it sounds different, maybe...

 

[trhee]

Overrated
Bose (Junk sold by marketing genius, the original white van speaker)
Carver (If this were a movie, it would be called "Bose II")
Nakamichi (Post CR-series cassette decks unworthy of Nak name)
Cables that cost more than your music collection (Enough said)

Underrated
Luxman
Rotel (Always played 2nd fiddle to NAD)
Hitachi
Realistic
Technics
Naim (On par with the best but gets very little coverage by US media)
Onkyo (The Rodney Dangerfield of the big Japanese brand names)

 

[AnalogueMatt]

Over-rated: Modern Marantz stuff, particularly the amplifiers. Also Cambridge Audio's Azur range. Bose also belong in this category.

Under-rated: Michell turntables, NAIM amplification, Harman-Kardon, Luxman.

 

[arrow 68]

I don't consider Bose overrated. When the 901 first appeared I can not recall anyone in the informal audionerd society I was a part of liking it in any way, shape, or form.

With all the positive things I've read on AK regarding vintage Yamaha, Kenwood and Sony, no way these can be considered underrated.

For those into the cache owning the best - Mercedes, McIntosh, and Rolex pop immediately to mind - one cannot overrate them because they are simply the best. That said, I wouldn't trade my IWC for a Rolex except to sell the Rolex, buy another IWC. Then I could buy another tuner with the leftover $$. Not that Rolex doesn't make a nice watch, because they do, it's just that there are better watches out there to be had.

Underrated - Berning, Music Reference, original VTL lineup.

Yep, especially for the price. (Rolex)

 

[nosmatt]

good thread!



overrated...
imho, marantz! anything i have come into contact with, and of course, anything with the brand name "BOSE" on it.... all the way to their headphones.


under rated... well my hk 450, and hk 670 come to mind first and foremost, the three kenwood receivers i have, namely the quad, underpowered 30 wpc (or, is 35??) @ 8 ohm kr-6140.
in 2 channel will rock the house @ 8 ohm! and driving 4 sets of 8 ohm speakers........dayum! it''ll (and does) rock the neighborhood.

the 2265b sounds better than my bpc ht receiver, but cannot compare to anything in my arsenol above 30wpc (hk 450 ownz it).

anyone want a 2265b gone through by echowars?? (j/k, my wife LOVES the look, i cannot sell it).

still lookin for that luxman or rotel deal tho

 

[guiller]

It's interesting to read the several pages of different opinions in this thread. There are some tendencies that cannot be considered random. Who started the process of misrating audio equipment? Many people, for sure, including sellers and ourselves, mostly consumers. However, I suspect that this erroneous evaluation of products has been primarily driven by at least some of the specialized press. Perhaps in some cases, I could even suspect of some money going behind this, or a fundamentalist and stubborn view of reality. To name a few exceptions to this rule, I reread with pleasure the audio reports of the High Fidelity magazine. In some cases, I bought some of the equipment under review many years later and I could recognize a fair description of affairs in most cases. Just to conclude this little reflection, I know much better the classical music magazine scenario, and there I could point to magazines like Gramophone that helped many mediocre musicians to have a totally unworthy recording career . I would put on the opposite side of the road magazines like High Fidelity or Fanfarre.

All the best

 

[70salesguy]

Reputations are built in various ways.

Some were hand-built in small garages and shops and then grew honestly with a legacy of excellent products. Others were placed in the theatre of public opinion via Madison Avenue and mass marketing.

Toyota spends more money advertising than any other carmaker. CocaCola spends more than their competition. Agressive advertising works.

Many "legacy" products built their reputations one product at a time. Many of these companies continued to built a good product even as they moved into more of a mass marketing area. Often, once the company is bought up and corporate types that don't have the passion for the product are in charge, the product suffers.

Other companies "buy" a reputation with a big splashy ad campaign right off the bat. They spend enough money to convince people how great their product via "image" advertising.

IMHO, those companies that stay focused on the product and not market penetration will continue to build excellent products.

We all know several companies that have "gone corporate" and lost their focus.

I have seen one of my favorite companies stray into wider consumer marketing and branding. Very disappointing to see this. I believe their pro equipment is still good quality, but I prefer their older products when their focus was still sharp. :yes:

How many other companies have diluted their reputation by "marketing down"?

Far too many, IMHO! :sigh:

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi gentlemen,

The new H-K gear isn't underrated. a friend who is a Harman repair center reports a 65% failure rate in the first year of use. Scandalous. McIntosh may not be to everyone's liking, but they are the only high end line who kept their quality from the late 1940's to now. They also do a superior job of parts and service support for your older equipment to boot. I have a lot of McIntosh amplifiers at my broadcast stations from the 1950's to the 1980's. All still meet or exceed their performance limits when they were new. And this is with 24 hour usage. Never turned off except for power failures.

 

[kretinus]

Underated: Kenwood

Overated: Macintosh

 

[PeterFCassidy]

Nikko

I have owned two Nikko pieces and they've been phenomenal performers. The NR 1015 had an incredible tuner, fine amp and really, for the price, a fine phono stage. Tech who updated it was surprised at the quality of parts used in its assembly. My Gamma V FM tuner is just as pleasing a source as I've ever heard. A day at my office doesn't go by without the music this tuner puts out making me pause and listen. Quality for Nikko equipment was all over the place through the years but they produced many fine pieces of listening gear.

 

[mywifespissed]

I had a Naim setup back in the mid 90's with a High-Cap power supply and I had no complaint with sound or build/component quality.

I just bought second hand a Naim Flatcap2 power supply and opened it up to fix a rattling DIN plug. I had to laugh when I saw what Naim gives for what it gets, with this model anyway. Retail of $1100!! In order to open the case, there was a "secret screw" that was a bitch to get out. I'm going to guess the company doesn't want people to know what they didn't pay for.

Looks to me like $800 for the brand name and case, and $300 for the parts. R&D costs too, but it's a shame to provide this for $1100 IMO.

 

[reggaenaut]

Underrated

Naim (On par with the best but gets very little coverage by US media)

It is drab: no concession to looks.

 

[reggaenaut]

Hi gentlemen,

The new H-K gear isn't underrated. a friend who is a Harman repair center reports a 65% failure rate in the first year of use. Scandalous. McIntosh may not be to everyone's liking, but they are the only high end line who kept their quality from the late 1940's to now. They also do a superior job of parts and service support for your older equipment to boot. I have a lot of McIntosh amplifiers at my broadcast stations from the 1950's to the 1980's. All still meet or exceed their performance limits when they were new. And this is with 24 hour usage. Never turned off except for power failures.

FANTASTIQUE!!!!

 

[technicsbest]

Overrated brands- Sony, Bose, Carver (poor price to performance ratio, overly hyped)
Underrated brands- no opinion
Opinions are highly dependent upon year and model.