Sony 775 problems?

My parents complained about the first color TV they bought, a Sony...but then again, they had it for so long before it went bad, it probably should have been enshrined in the Smithsonian.

One big problem I've had with the in-dash players and my home MiniDisc deck: the door mechanisms. My first in-dash was the famous CDX-R7, world's first CD in-dash player. The door mechanism was just flaky at first, but it got to the point where a CD couldn't even be put into the player. Took it in for repair, out of warranty by almost a year IIRC, and got a call three days later saying it was ready. The manager walked out of the back room with a brand new CDX-R88, which turned out to be the longest-lived of any of my Sony stuff. Two of the Discman players developed bad motors, but all the rest of the players suffered from a premature burnout of the laser...and these were not even under heavy usage.

Go figure, eh?

Good luck so far on the couple of Pioneer players. One is the 100-CD changer. Only time it's done something wrong was when one of the kids decided to reload the CDs...a few per slot, sticking out, in one spot...*OUCH*!

 

I feel pretty confident making a purchase when it is covered for five years under warranty.

Other companies probably offer similar warranties although none that
come to mind.

Sony is as guilty as any other company when it comes to consumer products that don't last.

But I feel the difference between Sony and some of the other companies is that they also make some high end products that are built rock solid to last
a long time.

I wouldn't be too concerned about buying Sony as long as its an ES (Extra Service) product. Their mid level products are usually pretty reliable
as well.

All in All, some folks just seem to have better luck than others.

As a general rule,If you can afford to, I would try and stay away from the lower end of any manufacturer's product line.

 

My C555ES behaves the same way. It is definitely a major design flaw. The C801ES that I had before this one was a dream. It worked so much more smoothly and it switched discs and read the TOC much more quickly. Also, the disc tray on the C801ES was much more sturdy. It had a nice heavy aluminum disc tray that inspired confidence. In contrast, the disc tray in the C555ES is plastic and feels flimsy.

All in all though, the C555ES is a very nice player and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. AS far as Sony service is concerned, I have always been very happy with it. When I first bought the C801ES back in '94, there was a production problem with it and the C701ES. They would make a loud, static-like 'popping' noise randomly during playback. After exchanging 2 C701ES's and finally exchanging up to the C801ES (it was about $100 more than the C701ES, the only difference being the aluminum disc tray instead of a plastic one) which still had the same problem, I managed to get in touch with the Sony ES product manager who explained to me that all those units were recalled and should not have been sold to me. He then proceeded to take the name and address of the establishment where I purchased it and arranged to have UPS pick up my unit from the house immediately and send me a new unit direct from the factory in New Jersey. No problems. That baby served me fine for 8 years until I finally killed it by accidentally sending it diving on to the cold hard floor. I then decided to get the C555ES and I'm very happy with it, minor quirks aside. I just hope it lasts as long as the C801ES did without any trouble.

 

Re: Re: Re: Sony 775 problems?

Same here. I have a lot of Sony products and have had nearly no problems with them. Heck, I've got a couple of 12" Sony TV's around that still work really well and are 15 and 20 years old respectively. Uh, let's see, 1 CD/SACD player, 2 minidisc players (one portable), 2 A/V receivers, 4 DirecTV receivers, 3 TV's (in addition to the 2 mentioned above) an AM/FM Tuner, and even a Sony DirecTV 4 line switcher. None of these products give much trouble at all.

 

I agree with all you've said totally.

 

Back in the early days of cassette recorder players, Sony came out with
a super heavy duty portable player that came with individual speakers a mic and patch cords. The whole package came in a zipper up vinyl briefcase
with a handle. I think I payed around $140 for it in 1969.

It made great recordings and had terrific sound. Later on that unit went cross country and back in a car for 6 weeks with a group of friends. I still have it up in the attic and it still works although cosmetically I admit it is pretty beat up at this point.

Never had a problem with it. My first portable cassette unit.
Man I loved that Sony.

 

The school where I work has used an old SONY single drawer CD player on REPEAT to play the HOLD music on their phones 8 hours a day for over 7 years now. We've only had to send it in for repair once. I'm amazed whenever I think about it.

 

Re: Re: Re: Sony 775 problems?

That must be the case ... I have bought a number of Sony products over the years and I continue to do so for many of my non-hi-fi needs. TVs, VCRs, minisystems, digital camera ... The only thing I can think of that ever stopped working on me was a 10-CD changer for my car, which I got years of use out of ... the corresponding Sony in-dash receiver is still going strong (almost 9 years and counting).

For the price I paid, I couldn't be more pleased with the 775.

 

Just an update. Sony in PA has had my player since last Wednesday morning. No updates yet on website as to repair status.

I am getting a few SACD's for Christmas. This will suck!

 

Hi Mattb,

Hope you get your player back soon. This is a sluggish time of year for repair turn around and shipping.
Let us know which SACD's you get. Hopefully SANTA had
a peek at your list.

Happy Holidays!

 

Hi Gary and all,

Well good news for me.. Acording to thier website they have shipped it today! They also provided me with a UPS tracking number for it. It should be here tomorrow as I am geographically "Close" to the service center.

One possible bad thing I did not anticipate though; This parcel may require a signature. And, of course, no one is home during the day here. I sure hope they leave it, or I am easily screwed until some time next week!


By the way I got the first two CCR SACD's for a gift and purchased Bill Evans "Moonbeams" as a gift for myself. I am sure glad they are hybrid discs.

 

I still have never had a bad Sony product.

I use Sony in my car and also their SACD player in the home.

I recently bought one of their Sport Discmans thats built like a tank for a portable cd player.

 

Hi John,

I currently have the following Sony products: Trinitron TV, Cordless Phone, Cassette Deck and a Car Stereo. No problems (The cordless had some phone interference from previous neighbor, I think, - no ones fault - and of course the 775). I have owned Sony equipment previously as well. I have had great luck with Sony and will continue to buy Sony equipment.

P.S. I even have a Sony 19" Trinitron Monitor I am using now! I almost forgot that!

 

Well I got it back. It seems to be working well! I noticed reading the TOC on red-books is a little slow, but I believe that is normal for these units.

As far as what they did:



Something with the optical system I assume.

 

That's great Matt. I hope it serves you well without any further problems. Enjoy those SACD's!

 

Thanks GoldenBoy! Those new SACD's sound great! And thanks to all for the advice and comments!