Sony is taking steps to elevate its Elevated Standard (ES) group of authorized dealers with new protected product lines. The company took the first step in that reinvigoration strategy when it held its Sony ES Dealer Conference in Hilton Head, S.C. in late June, attended exclusively by CE Pro.
The event marked the introduction of Hiroyuki Ito as the new head of the ES group under his official title of general manager, Audio Business Group. Ito told the gathered group of about 100 specialty retailers that the ES product lines “must grow and change,” adding that “ES is not just or enthusiasts anymore” and that “audio for video is important.”
To that end, the company debuted several new products, including receivers, DVD players and multiroom switchers that will be exclusive to ES dealers. (The specific products are under non-disclosure.)
The event marked the introduction of Hiroyuki Ito as the new head of the ES group under his official title of general manager, Audio Business Group. Ito told the gathered group of about 100 specialty retailers that the ES product lines “must grow and change,” adding that “ES is not just or enthusiasts anymore” and that “audio for video is important.”
To that end, the company debuted several new products, including receivers, DVD players and multiroom switchers that will be exclusive to ES dealers. (The specific products are under non-disclosure.)
There was a time when Sony ES was synonomous with fabulous HiFi gear. In terms of build-quality and performance, it was at par with other high-grade audio names like Denon, Marantz, NAD, etc. Back when I was a happy little Sony drone, the inside joke was that ES stood for "Employee Standard" because that's all that we, discerning audiophiles that we were, would spend our money on in-house. Vintage ES gear from the 70's and 80's still fetches a fair second-hand price on the used market.
Sadly, those days are long gone. The ES marque has been dumbed down and diluted over the last decade and a half; in part, through chasing features, and adding bells 'n whistles, as well as hopscotching the traditional exclusive upscale dealers, to be sold through the mass-market. In recent years, I've comparison tested ES AV receivers against comparably priced units from Denon, Marantz and Yamaha, and they just haven't had the guts when it came to sound quality.
In fact, the ES label has become so maligned that it makes sense for Sony to try to bring it back from it's convalescence, but this may be an uphill battle. For starters, Sony itself seems to be confused about it's overall direction, and that bodes ill right there. Second, Sony's cosiness with the mass-market channel has alienated many upscale dealers. The vitriolic comment from the pseudonymous "controlcode" at the bottom of the CE Pro piece is actually quite common, and comes up in private conversation with AV dealers when Sony is discussed.
I want Sony to win, I really do. I think the reason I'm so hard on them is because I was part of the Sony machine when they really stood for something, and as a result, I still hold them to a higher standard.
Maybe this time, they'll do it.
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3 comments:
Lee, as you well know, when everyone is getting their real estate license - its time for the pros to dump on the chumps.
I am willing to venture that the same will happen in the world of hedge funds which is largely unregulated. Every twit with an MBA who has logged 100 hour weeks slogging out scut work at Goldman or Citi dreams of having his or her own fund. Collecting 2% off the top and 20% of the gain...I am getting all squishy myself thinking about it.
Soon, the pros will dump on the chumps in this industry and the chumps along with their 2nd and 3rd tier client base will get creamed.
Not only will the chumps get creamed, they will get insurmountably hammered due to their level of leverage. And thus begins the fall of the house of cards.
When I was a simple student at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB '00 - gratuitious ego pump - sorry) we studied the preliminaries of the Long Term Capital Mgmt (LTCM) fiasco. Let's face it, when Myron Scholes (Noble Laurete 1997 - Economics) gets taken for a ride because his models made assumptions that didn't hold - imagine what will happen to the dice throwing me too crowd (today's 2nd and 3rd tier hedge fund managers).
It will get ugly, it is a matter of when.
Besides all that debt heaped on those buyout targets will make things interesting in its own right.
There are few things more unforgiving than leveraged margin calls.
Me too, Lee. I'm still running my STR-GX900ES receiver (yup, I still don't have Dolby Pro Logic 5.1), My CDP-608ESD CD player that I will put up against ANY unit with a so-called 1 bit DA converter (and 90% of the multi-bit units, too) and my beloved TCK-870ESD that can copy a CD so well most folks couldn't hear the difference.
I've let some non-Sony into my AV system over the years but very little really. However, if I was to purchase new stuff now I'd have to say that Arcam would get the nod from me for a receiver and maybe even their multi-format disc player, too.
Sony ES again? Well firstly there would have to be a dealer here in flatland that I'd trust - and most of them, I'm sad to say, I'd trust about as far as I could spit a Volvo. Next, I'd have to be convinced the folks who designed and built the product did so out of the conviction that the stuff should perform and please the client - not because they were part of a marketing ploy to help their ailing company regain lost market share. Finally, I'd have to be convinced that the product was/is well supported - not just by dealers, but by corporate service, too.
I, like you, remember the days when the ES line had that elusive triumvirate locked in. I'd love to see Sony do it again. And the time may be right.
Recently I've had my interest in music rekindled by several artists - some newer, some not so new - and I am cautiously optimistic that the seemingly overwhelming trend of listening to crap on crappy equipment may be losing momentum. (Having said that there always will be the unfortunates - yes, I count myself as a peer with John Cusak's character from "High Fidelity", albeit without the insufferable snobbery or lovelorn angst.)
If there is to be a new mid-fi/hi-fi renaissance, Sony would be an excellent brand to help lead that parade.
Maybe I'll go shopping soon.
'Till then - "I'm just looking."
Shalom
(It's both balance and control - sort of a spiritual balance control - always best if you don't have to adjust it. Thank God - literally - for "factory presets"!)
Charles, I love you like my brother from another mother, and that was great stuff, but it has nothing to do with Sony's attempt to reverse their fortunes, and I think you meant to write this into the post heading about hedge funds...
HUGZ, regardless.
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