Sony equipment

About Sony

Sony Biotechnology is the flow cytometry and cell analysis arm of the Sony Group Corporation, based in San Jose, United States. The business was founded in 1995 by Gary Durack as Cytometry Services, a flow cytometry instrument company at the University of Illinois Research Park, and later operated as iCyt Mission Technology. Sony Corporation acquired that company in 2010 and rebranded it Sony Biotechnology in 2012. The company designs flow cytometers, spectral cell analyzers, cell sorters, cellular imaging instruments, and flow cytometry reagents. Its instruments read and separate cells by the fluorescent markers bound to them, the core measurement of flow cytometry. On Questpair, these systems are listed used by verified suppliers and distributors across several countries.

Flow cytometry is the field this hardware serves. A cytometer streams cells one at a time past a laser, records how each scatters and fluoresces, and in a sorter diverts chosen cells into separate collection vessels. Sony's spectral instruments record the complete emission spectrum of every fluorophore rather than fixed channels, which supports high-parameter immunophenotyping panels in immunology and oncology research. Cell sorting of this kind feeds downstream single-cell genomics and proteomics, where a purified population is the starting material, and it is also used for isolating rare cells in stem cell and cell therapy work. The imaging instruments sit alongside the sorters in cell biology and molecular diagnostics laboratories where a researcher needs to combine a cytometry readout with an image of the cell.

Sony Biotechnology instrument families

The notable product lines group into analyzers and sorters. The ID7000 Spectral Cell Analyzer and the SA3800 Spectral Analyzer are measurement instruments: they read spectra without separating cells, suited to labs that need high-parameter analysis but not physical isolation. The cell sorters add that separation. The MA900 Multi-Application Cell Sorter is a benchtop system aimed at shared core facilities, the SH800 is an earlier benchtop sorter, and the FP7000 Spectral Cell Sorter brings full spectral detection to sorting for the finely distinguished populations that conventional channels struggle to resolve. The CGX10 Cell Isolation System automates isolation for workflows that need a hands-off, closed process. Reading across the range, the choice is first between analysis and sorting, then between conventional and spectral detection, and the used catalogue carries examples from each branch.

What is listed on Questpair?

The Questpair catalogue holds 123 Sony listings from 11 verified suppliers and distributors, offered across 6 countries. 100 percent of the listings are used. Prices range from EUR 66 to EUR 129.129, with an average of EUR 31.610. That span reflects the difference between a single-application benchtop unit and a fully configured spectral sorter, since on a used instrument the installed configuration is what sets the price. Because the listings are used rather than new, a buyer compares them on model, configuration, and condition. Warranty is often possible and is arranged in consultation for the specific listing. Parts can be sourced via Questpair, and for manuals or documentation a buyer can contact Questpair, where specialists respond within one hour. The practical route is to narrow by instrument family first, analyzer or sorter and conventional or spectral, then compare the matching listings across the suppliers that hold them.

Questpair review of Sony

Our take based on listings data and supplier feedback

Sony Biotechnology occupies a specific position in flow cytometry: a cytometer company that kept its research-park engineering roots after a consumer-electronics parent absorbed it. That history shows in the product mix, and it shapes what a buyer finds in the used market. The Questpair catalogue reflects the full span, from compact sorters meant for a single shared core facility to spectral platforms built for high-parameter panels, which is the first thing worth drawing out.

The spectral and conventional split matters because the two answer different questions. Spectral instrumentation, the ID7000 analyzer and the SA3800, captures the whole emission spectrum of each fluorophore rather than reading fixed detector channels, which lets a panel carry more markers that overlap. Conventional sorters such as the SH800 and the MA900 read discrete channels and suit labs with established panels and a steady throughput. Seeing both classes listed side by side lets a facility match the instrument to the assays it actually runs, rather than taking whichever generation a single seller happens to hold. The FP7000 extends the spectral idea to sorting itself, so a lab that needs physical separation of a rare, finely distinguished population has that option in the same catalogue.

Price is the second thing the listings make legible. A new spectral analyzer leaves the factory as a configured system, and the configuration drives the cost more than the base instrument does. On the used market that configuration is already fixed, and the spread from EUR 66 to EUR 129.129 against an average of EUR 31.610 tracks exactly that: the low end is bare or single-application hardware, the high end a fully optioned spectral sorter. Every one of the 123 listings is used rather than new, so the comparison a buyer makes is between used units, and the deciding factors become condition, configuration, and what support the individual seller can arrange rather than a new-versus-refurbished distinction.

Breadth is the third benefit, and it is quieter than the other two but just as practical. With 11 suppliers listing across 6 countries, a buyer looking for a specific model, say an MA900 for a teaching lab or an SA3800 for a genomics core, is not dependent on one seller's stock. That matters most for the older generations: the SH800 and the MA900 have been in service long enough that a used example is often the only route to that exact platform, and a catalogue drawing from several suppliers raises the odds that a matching configuration is available. Warranty on any given unit is arranged in consultation for that listing, so the sensible read is to shortlist by model and configuration first, then weigh the terms each supplier offers on the units that fit.

**Spectral and conventional sorting in one catalogue**

The Questpair listings span both spectral analyzers such as the ID7000 and SA3800 and multi-application sorters such as the MA900 and SH800, so a lab can source either technology from 11 verified suppliers and distributors.

**Used instruments at a fraction of configured new pricing**

Every unit in the catalogue is listed used, with prices running from EUR 66 to EUR 129.129 against an average of EUR 31.610, below the cost of a factory configuration.

**Breadth across sorter classes and generations**

The 123 listings cover entry benchtop sorters through the FP7000 spectral sorter, drawing from 11 suppliers across 6 countries.