User Name
Password
AppleNova Forums » AppleOutsider »

Where Did All the Classy Bookshelf Stereo Systems Go?


Register Members List Calendar Search FAQ Posting Guidelines
Where Did All the Classy Bookshelf Stereo Systems Go?
Page 1 of 2 [1] 2  Next Thread Tools
drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2009-03-29, 14:39

Back in the mid-90s I invested nearly $500 on a sweet new Sony which filled the new niche of "bookshelf stereo system"; a genre that is all too familiar in 2008. When that Sony gave up the ghost in the early 2000s I went looking for a replacement, only to met with the shock of discovering that the design aesthetic of the mid-90s (matte black and reserved) had been replaced by a new style which appears to be cobbled together from the gayest (meant with love, Robo et al), most flamboyent Transformer robots in existence and the loudest Basketball shoes.... I mean, these things are cartoons of Monster Funny Cars.... they have HUGE RED KNOBS, plastic piping that looks like it's supposed to represent a racecar manifold, throbbing graphics meant to induce retinal bleeding, and more buttons than bare chassis.

WHAT happened to the clean, high-end look for these mid-priced systems, and is there any hope out there for people who can't afford the giant component pieces?

At this point in time I'm unlikely to buy anything at all, but if systems like my old Sony did still exist it could've led me to make a impulse purchase.... but it sure won't be the "Super Haraoke Glowbot System of Electric Happiness Loud Loud"... I barfed when I tried to look at it straight-on... I think it MADE me epileptic, which just isn't right.



...

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
Captain Drew on Twitter
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-29, 16:07

You wouldn't happen to be checking out the offerings at Best Buy, would you? Because I've had the same experience. Some of it just defies description.

Unfortunately, anything that the marketing people think hits a certain demographic (young, not looking to spend a lot of money, "hip" in the particularly horrible way marketing people mean) seems to share that esthetic. There are a couple of really practical, versatile cars on the market that I might consider if their interiors didn't seem designed to make Red Bull crazed 13 year old boys go "Aaaaawwwweeeessssssommmmme." Honda? Enormous purple digital speedometer shoved half way up into my field of view? WTF?

Anyway, Yamaha, Onkyo, and Panasonic all make some reasonably low key models. This Yamaha, for instance, isn't super cheap but doesn't seem to think you're planning to use it for the sound track for your You Tube dance performances. I have a friend with this Onkyo (actually, a prior model that had a really nice looking "wood" finish, that, apparently, is truly gone) and it sounds pretty good.

For some reason Sony, once the king of purposeful looking industrial design, seems to have glommed onto the speed racer thing with a vengeance.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
Yontsey
*AD SPACE FOR SALE*
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2009-03-29, 16:22

I like that Onkyo. I would actually get that set up and the iPod dock instead of getting something like the Bose setup for the iPod.
  quote
Swox
OK Mr. Sunshine!
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Toronto
 
2009-03-29, 16:31

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
loudest Basketball shoes....
What, no "(meant with love, Swox, et al)"?



  quote
Dorian Gray
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2009-03-29, 17:52

I was going to bring up Yamaha too, which is the only company I can think of still doing nice mini hi-fi systems. Their models may not be outright beautiful, but they're not abominations like the systems you likely saw.

I think the market for classy-looking "hi-fi systems in a box" has simply disappeared. In the early nineties people who weren't all that interested in music or sound bought these things for their homes simply to do something with their disposable income. CDs were the new thing, the technology was sexy, and the music industry hadn't been killed/changed by the internet. Those people are now instead buying big televisions and dreadful surround-sound home theatre systems (with nice design).

The people who now buy mini hi-fi systems are teenagers who want something loud for their bedroom. Ergo, it has to be cheap and tacky. Audiophiles go straight to component systems and niche brands.

Quote:
Originally Posted by addabox View Post
For some reason Sony, once the king of purposeful looking industrial design, seems to have glommed onto the speed racer thing with a vengeance.
Sony have undoubtedly lost something of the brilliance they had under Akio Morita, but they still make many best-in-class products and many products which have lust-worthy industrial design. The Bravia TVs are technically and aesthetically excellent, for example, though Sony is nevertheless having trouble differentiating their TVs from the competition.

This Sony PCM-D50 digital recorder costs about 500 bucks, has quieter preamps than anything below a Sound Devices 702 (thanks to four independently powered circuit boards), and in my opinion is beautifully designed and made:



Sony's S-series MP3 players have great design and great sound. Their one remaining MiniDisc model is beautiful too:



As are the MDR-EX500 in-ear headphones:

  quote
JohnnyTheA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-03-29, 19:44

Sony does still make some great things. But they also have a lot of really bad designs like:



Stereo? Or are are they washing machines?

Or this thing that probably came out of the Star Wars droid factory:



Hehe? "Xplod!!"

A lot of the Sony products that integrate with iPods seem to be designed with sleeker lines. I think these new designs are just a reflection of the newer generation of equipment buyers. Outside of iPods, I haven't bought ANY Audio products for several years. These newer folks seem to like all this robo-look an everything. They are the ones buying the new gear so Sony is just answering them not me, because of my age (42)... Its capitalism...

JTA
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-29, 19:48

Dorian Gray: Yep, that's the kind of Sony stuff I was thinking of. Not always the easiest to figure out how to use, but a very pleasing, no-nonsense kind of vibe. Funny, I was thinking that I've seen some really hideous Sony items lately, but when I went looking I couldn't really find any. Maybe I was hallucinating.

However, in my experience Sony's quality control has gone completely to hell, and you'll be lucky to get 6 months of service out their average consumer item. The decline of Sony is a whole other thread, but they really need to cut back on the number of different things they make, clarify the choices they offer in each category (how many ear buds and headphones do they make? 1,000?) and make sure stuff is reasonably robust. For starters.

EDIT: Oh, hey, there are the nasty ones, snuck in right above while I was posting. Yeah, those. I thought you were better than that, Sony-- those look like no name Walmart specials.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-29, 19:54

Quote:
Or this thing that probably came out of the Star Wars droid factory:
Same folks that brought us "gaming rig" PCs, apparently. Yeah, I'm sure it's a generational thing, no doubt this stuff does well with the target demo. Who crave the Xploding Awesome.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2009-03-29, 20:41

Addabox, those are EXACTLY what I'm looking for and the prices aren't at all past what I'm willing to spend! The saddest thing is that my Sony still sits exactly where it was because I couldn't bear to get rid of the proof that I'd once owned a really nice gizmo

Kind of like living with the mummified remains of a relative or something....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Swox View Post
What, no "(meant with love, Swox, et al)"?
If I'm going to make broad, sweeping, controversial word decisions like that I need to go all the way!!!


[edit] Thanks Johnny!! those are exactly the juvenile designs I saw today!! ::barf::

...

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
Captain Drew on Twitter
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-30, 00:44

You know, I'm moved to post a picture of the single greatest piece of now completely obsolete tech ever made: The Sony TCD5-M:



Super high quality, super rugged portable cassette deck. I think it cost about $500, which was a piece of change for its day. I used one for wild (non-sync) location sound, in another life. A joy to use. That was the Sony that was. (stares ruminatively off into space)

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
alcimedes
I shot the sherrif.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Send a message via ICQ to alcimedes  
2009-03-30, 00:49

I know this is a crazy suggestion in this day and age, but have you thought about looking to have the Sony you currently own repaired? If just a single component/resistor failed it might not be that expensive, and would be a higher quality item than you're going to find without spending a fortune.

Google is your frenemy.
Caveat Emptor - Latin for tough titty
I tend to interpret things in the way that's most hilarious to me
  quote
joveblue
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne
 
2009-03-30, 00:58

This is what they've got listed on their US website under Micro Systems...


CMT-BX20i $130



CMT-BX1 $100


The website also has free ground shipping on orders over $100 .
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-03-30, 01:01

Now, now. Not all of Sony's stereos are fugly. Some of their more compact (dare I say..."bookshelf"?) systems actually look quite nice. Observe:



Of course, it does appear to have a purple display. I'm not sure if you could handle it, drew.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
JohnnyTheA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-03-30, 01:12

Ooh that is a nice looking system... They sure have a huge array of products.

JTA
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-30, 01:28

What are people's experience with the longevity of Sony's consumer stuff, these days? I swore off them a while back after having yet another nice looking piece of kit stop working after less then a year. Well, that and one of the most horrific repair experiences I've ever grimly endured.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-03-30, 01:33

Quote:
Originally Posted by addabox View Post
What are people's experience with the longevity of Sony's consumer stuff, these days? I swore off them a while back after having yet another nice looking piece of kit stop working after less then a year. Well, that and one of the most horrific repair experiences I've ever grimly endured.
I buy lots of Sony products and the only one I've ever had stop working on me was my first-gen PS2. I guess I really have no way of knowing if my experience is typical, but I have no complaints about their quality (or else I wouldn't keep buying their products).

I've actually had more problems with Apple gear than with Sony gear. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
JohnnyTheA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-03-30, 01:34

My wife's Sony Vaio 10" laptop lasted for about four year before dying. It may be fine now. I still haven't had time to check it with another power supply... During that four years it worked perfectly aside from the fact that it had Windows running on it...

JTA
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-30, 01:39

It's been a while since I've hazarded any Sony stuff, so they may have well gotten that particular act together.
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-03-30, 01:54

What was it that broke, by the way? The way you described it (with a horrible repair and all) makes me think it might have been a camera? In that case, I should probably mention that my experience with Sony's cameras is sort of limited (I've been fiercely loyal to my Digital Elphs for years). It could be that every Sony camera that's not a cameraphone (or the Webbie HD <3 <3) is a steaming pile of shit, for all I know. But their video stuff seems to get pretty good reviews, and like I've said - I've never really regretted buying any of the other Sony products I've used.

In fact, the opposite is probably true. Whenever I decide to save money and not buy a Sony product (see: my first HDTV ), I will regret it. And not just eventually, but almost immediately. So maybe it's not that Sony is all that great, but that everybody else just sucks.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-30, 02:28

The tipping point for me was a camcorder, but at the time I was buying a lot of audio and video gear (cameras, various sound recorders, video monitors, etc.) for a school, and the stuff just didn't hold up. This was a good 15 years ago, so they may have been going through a bad patch.

The camcorder repair involved a Sony service center taking the camera apart, deciding it had sand in it, putting it back together the wrong way, then refusing to do anything about it because once they had determined it had sand in it they wouldn't "guarantee the repair." I had the most surreal series of conversations at the far end of tear your face off phone trees about how sand really didn't have any bearing on misassembling the back plane so the camera couldn't be focused anymore, with the Sony rep just endlessly repeating "sir, we found sand in the unit and cannot guarantee the repair, that's Sony's policy." I finally just blurted out "Holy fucking shit, are you retarded?", and got hung up on.

Thus ended my relationship with Sony and her doings.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-03-30, 02:56

Quote:
Originally Posted by addabox View Post
The camcorder repair involved a Sony service center taking the camera apart, deciding it had sand in it, putting it back together the wrong way, then refusing to do anything about it because once they had determined it had sand in it they wouldn't "guarantee the repair."
WTF? That is pretty bad. I'm not familiar with Sony's service centers (since I've never had to use them ), but I'm sure that type couldn't have happened that often...could it?

But the early nineties were a pretty shitty time for electronics (NeXT eXcepted.) It's funny to see which companies were taken totally off-guard by the rise of the internet, though

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Mac+
9" monochrome
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
 
2009-03-30, 07:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by addabox View Post
You know, I'm moved to post a picture of the single greatest piece of now completely obsolete tech ever made: The Sony TCD5-M:



Super high quality, super rugged portable cassette deck. I think it cost about $500, which was a piece of change for its day. I used one for wild (non-sync) location sound, in another life. A joy to use. That was the Sony that was. (stares ruminatively off into space)
Ooooh - I remember using that (or something very similar) at Uni. I used the pitch wheel to slow the tape speed so I could cop some solo licks from keyboard players I liked. Those were the days.

All I want is a simple life
twitter
  quote
drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2009-03-30, 08:31

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboman View Post
Of course, it does appear to have a purple display. I'm not sure if you could handle it, drew.
The purple doesn't bother me, though I must confess that I *do* actually want it to have a big volume knob!!
  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-03-30, 14:19

I don't need this kind of system, but I think it could be quite nice for a dorm room environment:

Squeezebox Boom
  quote
Fooboy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
 
2009-03-31, 15:30

Just buy a set of Klipsh 2.1's.

You will never go back.

  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-03-31, 18:02

I like the Klipsch as well, but I think drewprops was looking for an all in one, CD+tuner type shelf system, or maybe something with an iPod dock.
  quote
drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2009-03-31, 22:57

Yep. The all-in-one-but-nice setup is what I was thinking of... and even the units we've seen from Yamaha and Onkyo haven't seemed to have the same degree of control as this old Sony (which, to answer an earlier questions, no, I haven't had looked at by a repair shop because I just don't hold much hope from repair shops).

My old Sony is sitting across from me right now. It has two mini-components: the lower half is a dual cassette deck and the top half is the radio tuner and CD player. Between the top and the bottom mini-components there are tons of buttons... far more than I've seen on any of these other units!!

Here are some of the buttons and controls visible on the front of this thing:
  • system power button
  • Mic Level (small physical dial)
  • Mix Mic input jack (mini)
  • Headphones jack (mini)
  • preset tuning button
  • radio band button
  • up button for tuning radio
  • down button for tuning radio
  • Function invoke button
  • Wake Up button (small)
  • Clock set (inset button)
  • Timer Select
  • Timer Set
  • Memory/Next
  • Graphic Equalizer preset lamps
  • Graphic Equalizer Preset switcher button
  • Equalizer on/off button
  • Large volume dial with red light to mark the "arrow" (note: large doesn't mean comically humongous)
  • S-Surround button
  • DBFB button (not sure what this is now)
  • (single) CD tray with eject button next to it
  • Play mode "Continue" button
  • Play mode "shuffle" button
  • Play mod "program" button
  • Check button
  • Edit/Time Fade button
  • Reverse button
  • FF button
  • Play/Pause button
  • Stop Button
  • High Speed button (cassette deck)
  • Normal Speed button (cassette deck)
  • CD synchro (cassette deck)
  • Reset counter button (cassette deck)
  • Dolby NR button (cassette deck)
  • Diretion Mode (cassette deck)
  • Pause button (cassette deck)
  • Record button (cassette deck)
  • FF button (cassette deck)
  • REV button (cassette deck)
  • Stop button (cassette deck)
  • Play REV button (cassette deck)
  • Play FWD button (cassette deck)
  • Deck A (cassette deck)
  • Deck B (cassette deck)
  • Twin eject buttons

And I'm sure there are a few more on the remote!




...

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
Captain Drew on Twitter
  quote
ShadowOfGed
Travels via TARDIS
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Earthsea
 
2009-04-01, 00:21

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
  • …
tl;dr.

Seriously, what the hell. That's way too much crap in one system.

I don't have a bookshelf system, but I'm quite happy with my Harman/Kardon receiver that I use to drive my other speakers. Unfortunately, it's a lot larger than the "bookshelf" form factor I'm sure you seek, but at leaset the interface is manageable/pleasant.

The display even dims when you're not working with it, so all you see is the glow of its power indicator.

Apparently I call the cops when I see people litter.
  quote
CitizenTony
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Dallas
 
2009-04-01, 00:30

How about Tivoli? I have a Model One and I love it.
  quote
addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2009-04-01, 00:55

Slightly different form factor, but there's this guy from Cambridge Sound Works:



DVD/CD, AM/FM radio with alarm, iPod dock, lots of buttons! It even has a video out. Not bad looking, either.

EDIT: The Tivoli is great but kinda spendy by the time you get to stereo models with CD.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
  quote
Posting Rules Navigation
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Page 1 of 2 [1] 2  Next

Post Reply

Forum Jump
Thread Tools
Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
GPS Navigation systems kieran Purchasing Advice 33 2008-09-17 07:00
Stereo equipment torifile Purchasing Advice 7 2007-02-04 03:10
Old Stereo Receiver Windowsrookie AppleOutsider 21 2006-09-20 16:03
The books on your bookshelf. xionja AppleOutsider 72 2006-04-05 04:55


« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:43.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2024, AppleNova