Sony's 'Plinth', a bad move in the current climate?

I know you weren't knocking the PQ of the 853 and I do agree with you that the stand can be an issue, for the record I'm not a fan of the tilt either but in my situation it wasn't a concern as it just fitted straight onto my wall mount that I bought for the old GT30. Fortunately I had the foresight to buy a very good mount that was able to mount a vast array of tv sizes and mounting points that was built to last, probably the best £100 I've spent in all honesty.

I think the idea of the plinth was mainly to provide better sound than can normally be eaked out of the tinny useless speakers in most flatscreens but I don't think Sony thought too much about accomodating it or indeed the tilt, you would have thought you could adjust it to be upright but sadly this isn't the case...perhaps they will nail it next year?

I really do think that this year there are two superb quality tvs available to meet any size or demand it's just a shame that both Sony and Panasonics tv divisions are leaking money at an alarming rate as these might be the last of their kind as LG and Samsung continue to swallow up market share.

I'm so glad to see the back of my old GT30 as despite the excellent PQ I never got one free from faults which is a real shame as in the end it put me off another plasma simply due to me being a gamer as I'm sure that's where most of my issues came from...i was devasted when the GT30 developed it's final issue though as I loved the PQ with movies

Are you sure gel...?? I reckon Panasonic should give you a generous percentage of all the GT50s you have managed to sell due to your posts on here, that would add up to fair few quid i reckon LOL

I've been wanting to get a new TV for years and was looking at the 55HX853 well before the awards. The only thing stopping me was the plinth which I hated. But when I was picking up my Nexus 7 yesterday in John Lewis I went to have a look at it and the TV looks great - first time I'd seen one in person.  I wasn't able to tell from pics I'd seen of it but the plinth is made of brushed chrome. I agree the tilt isn't to everyone's liking and it should have been adjustable.

Here's a photo I took with my phone:

Lol.    I do reckon it is one of my best purchases.  I certainly could do with the extra cash from commission!  

I think that does look good too.

Lots of good replies (if not all about the OP) so it seems opinion is mixed and also that Sony may well sell more 853's if they had a more standard design.....

......will they drop it next year?

Picked this up on another thread.

it seems if you don't want the silly plinth, you can get SU-HX85M instead from Sony......

Has anyone done this yet?

could be the solution I've been looking for.....

I recently purchased the 46HX853.  As already noted the picture is superb!  I reckon the stand looks pretty classy.  Much better than most other stands.  The tilt is only slight and doesn't affect viewing, at all.  After a while you don't even notice it.  The only issue, with the plinth, is that you need to make sure your TV stand/rack/table is wide enough to place it upon.

This contribution below is by slooper from the thread "Re: Sony 55HX853 Stand Nightmare"

"Hi,

You don't need to bother with finding a compatible stand for the HX853.  Sony themselves do a vertical stand for the HX853 series.  Just contact Sony and explain that you want the vertical stand for your 55" HX853, and they will order you one for £40 incl delivery.  The model number you want is SU-HX85L.  The 40" and 46" stand is SU-HX85M, so make sure you get your numbers correct!

You can't buy these stands instore, you have to get them directly from Sony.  I know because I had a 40HX853 and ordered this stand for mine, and it was on my doorstep in 3 days.

They are very high quality stands and ideal to get rid of that horrendous tilting one it comes with.  Whoever thought that stand was a good idea should be shot.  Nice idea in theory, but in practice a bloody nightmare!

Cheers, Jason"

As he says, make sure you get the correct one for your size of TV!

It's good to know a solution is out there for those that don't want or like the plinth stand that comes with the tv but is it not a case of Sony admitting it's not to everyones taste and charging you a premium to swap over the stand? Surely a better idea would be if you were able to buy the tv with a choice of stand at retail with no extra cost to the consumer as this and many forums have pointed to the fact that the plinth has put off a fair few potential customers from purchasing this tv.

Although it's a great idea to try and improve on the normally weak and weedy sound of most flatscreens there must be a better way of doing it without alienating so many potential customers, just making it adjustable would be a good start so that you could remove the tilt that really divides opinion.

My Wife took one look at the plinth and said "no way".

Might be worth me looking at the alternative stand though.

A common story that and one that I'm sure is costing Sony many sales...after all we all know that unless the other half agrees there is no way you will get the tv you want

Simple! Be like me and not have an other half! Hence I can have as many home cinema systems as main rooms!

But back on the main topic, that leaning back stand by Sony is just plain daft and would certainly have put me off but for slooper's information about the £40 Sony solution, if I were looking for a new TV. If Sony had made the stand such that you had the choice of 6 degrees leaning backward, upright, or 6 degrees leaning forward, now then that would have been good. I might have been tempted by a six-degree forward lean. I really wonder how many sales Sony have lost because of the leaning-back stand??

I wear the trousers in our house.

SWMBO has told me I can.

I don't know if that is original, but it is good!