Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Sony Car Audio

I recently mae a post on www.clubrsx.com about making an all Sony system. I was essentially called an idiot. The only reason I wanted to do it is the overwhelming "Sony sucks" attitude that is so prevelant. I wanted to prove than all Sony system could be competitive.

Well, it turns out that Jason Syner took second place overall in the expert class at the IASCA world finals with an all Sony system. I'm going to need to tell him that he must have cheated and he is an idiot for trying it.

Personally I stay away from Sony car audio, but for no other reason really than that I already gave them enough money when I bought a Wega, PS2, portable radio, home stereo, etc. I don't know about their subs, but their other equipment seems to sound pretty good.

Is this going to be another "underpowered subs melting" debate?

I've got my doubts about the reliability of any Sony equipment with moving parts.

Not, as far as head units go, that it would matter, since their current offerings look so fuggly that I'd need a riced-out Civic to go with one!

All my sony equipment, past and present, has exceeded expectations(HUs and amps).

I've used my share of Sony products in my couple years in the hobby. I have never had a problem with any of it. As a matter of fact, I'm still using a pair of 3-way 6x9"s I bought at least two years ago. I've used two head units, including the motorized black panel CDX-M610, a 10 disc changer, and two pairs of 3-way 6x9"s. I sold different pieces to buy upgrades. I've never blown a speaker or head unit or anything else. AFAIK, all these products are still functional in thier respective vehicles. Well, the first Sony deck got killed in a turbo bad wreck, but it worked fine up until then!


Anyone who makes such negative claims against any company is clearly narrow minded. I actually had a guy tell me the only good thing in my system was my amp. I couldn't help but laugh. He's never heard of Elemental Designs, and therefore it sucks. Not too long ago, Blue Print Drivers were the 'official' sub of the CEG, then Lambda Acoustics. No one in my area has heard of these speakers. When I was planning my Adire system ( ) a guy at a local shop actually tried to talk me into a Pioneer sub. I told him I was planning for a Brahma and he said this Pioneer (not the 45lb Premier beast that just came out) 12" would hit just as hard and sound just as good. If ignorance is bliss, then a good number of the my local scene couldn't be happier.

I'm really tired of hearing how much different products suck. The only time I read on here where someone truly had the right to talk down a product was Luke and his problem with his PB15, which has been resolved. His surround tore up, which may or may not have been the fault of very cold weather and/or silicone insulation in the box. He had a valid case that the product simply quit working. If I said my Rockford Fosgate 6x9"s are better than my Sony 6x9"s, and gave no reason as to why, I'd be wasting time. Yes, my Rockford's were better; they had a better SQ, and since I ran them off a seperate 4-channel amp, they gave a better SPL, too. It is possible/likely that the SQ was also affected by the external amp. Do my Sony speakers suck? No, not hardly. I've heard a lot worse and I've heard a lot better. I don't like reading/hearing that something sucks. That's a relative term. It sucks compared to what? Does the word Sony translate into suck in Japanese? What sucks about Sony? The head units? IIRC, a couple years ago they had some trouble with their tuners in some model head units. Today, I never hear anything about that because they fixed the problems. Do the amps overheat? Do the speakers blow when powered and played normally?



A product is only as good as its install. A great install of poor products will yeild a great system, likewise a poor install of great products will yeild a poor system. Consider the install before saying something sucks.


Thanks for reading my novel. I'm tired now. If you just skipped to the end, be sure to read the bold face lines.

Gawd, just reading the first two pages of that Sony Haters Post over there makes my head hurt. That board is full of the dumbest (when it comes to car audio) people I've ever seen on a message board. Dave, I just don't see how you have the patience to deal with such ignorant people.

BTW, Sony suxxxxx my salty ballz! j/k

I'm reading that thread now and I can attest to what a piece of garbage the keyboard that came with a Sony Viao from '98 is. I saw the innards of it because it broke one day. About what you'd expect to get on a keyboard that costs $15, except this was a special Sony "mini" keyboard designed to look cute, like the rest of the system.

Not that I think there's anything at all wrong with Sony including a garbage keyboard, except this system was at a price premium over most everything else available at the time, and it would be reasonable to expect the keyboard to not be garbage for that reason.

Beyond that, the poor Sony-mfg'd mechanicals of the stock Ford CD player as well as a PS/2 that stopped ejecting CDs, my experience with Sony "quality" is thankfully brief.

At least they don't make hard drives.

I definatly think that this car audio board is one of the best. It's not the most super super popular boards but its got some GREAT people watching over and giving out information.

ALl the posts don't respond back with "...Get some JLs and you'll be set" or something to that effect. Hell before this board I assumed all car audio came from best buy and kicker.

Anyways, cheers to a great audio forum

Of all the forums on the internet I would come here first for information and definetly for product opinion. This is the only forum I know of where the Lambda PB is given the same respect as the W7 is on other boards.

I don't dispute that you've owned 7 Sony head units in 13 years without a problem. It doesn't mean anything if that means you buy a new Sony head unit about every two years. Pretty much ANY head unit will last two years.

I don't dispute that you can make a Sony head unit sound good. In fact, I believe that you can make pretty much any head unit sound good. I have a Mazda CD player (pulled from a 2000 Protege) in my Mustang and it sounds good. That's because the Mustang has dash speakers which I replaced with aftermarket 3.5" two-way speakers and now it has very good high frequency response and good stereo imaging. That just goes to show that the speakers and speaker location are more important than the head unit.

One thing I have seen that differs between head units is the FM sensitivity/selectivity performance, but if you mostly listen to CDs, do you care? Or in the case of tape head units, Dolby B or not. By the way, it's amazing just how much you have to pay for an aftermarket tape head unit to get one with Dolby B on it when I've never seen a single factory tape head unit that didn't come with Dolby B.

I don't dispute the fact that Sony head units aren't returned to Circuit City any more than other brands. I don't think this means anything because nobody is going to return their Sony to Circuit City if it's 3 years old when it breaks.

Well, one post said "So what if it breaks when it's 4 years old, by then you want something new anyway". I guess if that's what you want, why wouldn't you be happy with a Jensen? It'll last at least 4 years, probably. If not, it was only half the price of the Sony.

I want to get rid of my head unit because I'm sick of it, not because it broke. It might take longer than 4 years for me to get sick of it. I'd still be using the factory CD player in my Contour if it hadn't crapped out.

As it is, I have a 6 year old Kenwood CD player in there now which works fine.

Can one expect that sort of reliability out of a Sony, if one doesn't want to replace their head unit every 4 years?