Why do Sony Xplodes get such a bad rap?

Was just wondering why Sony Xplodes get such a bad rap? Are they THAT bad?

I'm into MD's bigtime so I have had several Sony headunits - not because they failed but because I had one in every car......my newest is a Clarion only because Sony - in their usual proprietary fashion - didn't bring their double din CD/MD units into the US. But when looking at things like amps or MP3 changers, Sony's are very reasonable, yet seem to be looked down upon.

Any REAL reasons why?  

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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.

Im glad Im not the only one that feels this way. I have actually competed in usac compititions and won 2nd and 3rd place using x-plode products. I know they are not the best but for the money , they are under rated. I have always said that installation and tuning goes a long way. Thier woofers do suck tho and would never recomend them but if your on a tight budget and want decent sound , I do recomend x-plode head units and amps.

3 reasons I wouldn't buy Xplod:

1)   They overrate their products (120s/n ratio for $140 receiver ... riiiighht)
2)   Low Build Quality / High failure rate
3)   Low actual sound quality compared to similarly priced brands
4)   They sell it at walmart
5)   They always seem to use proprietary crap like their atrac codec instead of straight mp3 for the minidisc players

None of this is to say that you can't have a decent sounding car with just about any decent brand.  I believe a lot of people can get great sounding cars if they are smart and pay attention to the installation. 

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Im not knocking the better high end products that were all familiar with. Again I know x-plode products are pretty much at the bottom of the barrel but then again like I said , installation is half the game. I feel I represent most people here who are either getting started in the car audio game and need a good base line to get them started or represent thousands of people who dont have a $10,000 budget to just thro down for the hell of it. Not all of us have a damn silver spoon in our mouths. We all have to start somewhere. I really enjoy helping someone who is on a very low budget get the most bang for what little money they have. Best of all I truly have major satifaction after installing say for example a $1,500 system for some one when in the end it comes out looking and sounding better than the Punk who went to Tweeter and easily dropped $5,000 or more for a system he installed himself but had no clue how to properly install or tune the system. Ya maybe he bought the best HU alpine has and and 2 or 3 v12 amps ect. ect. but none of it mattered as the install was half ass thrown together as I and many others have seen before. Im just here for the little guy so I stand my ground when I say Sony X-plode is still good product for decent systems. My 3 cents Now I have none at all.

The name implies. :)

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I need quality equipment, feel free to donate.

My girlfriend has a Sony cassette (yes, she wanted one) with a 10 disc MP3 changer.....I put Boston Rally components in the front and back, but as anyone who knows Bostons, they crave power. She doesn't have alot of $$$ to throw at a $800 JL amp, etc., and she (and I) have both had great luck with Sony products - I don't buy the ones at Wal Mart - I usually buy ES units - but those BA's need power so she's looking at a 4 ch Xplode amp. More than likely - unless something sweet and cheap on ebay comes along that 700 other people don't see - she'll get the Xplode.

But I wholeheartlily agree that its not just what you've got but knowing what to do with it and how to install it.

I like the Clarion I have but what gets in my craw is trying to come up with anything remotely similiar in features to the Sonys - for less than 5x the $$$. At least Sony makes an affordable MP3/CDR 10 disc changer.

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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.

All I will say is I had at least a 40% return rate for failure with sony explode products 3 years ago.   I have deamed not to use then since them and untill I see something I really like and can tourture test and it lives I probably wont carry them again

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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

I remember a few years back when Crotchfield carried Soundstream - even their own salesmen would tell you to go with another brand.  Now I hear they're supposed to be so wonderful.

15 years ago I had 3 Yamaha amps - along with an entire system - when they were the "shts" - then watched every one of them fail within 2 years......and Sanyo begin making them.

But yes, I'd prefer a 4ch JL - if we could find one for less than $400. 

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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.

The "760w" square George Foreman grille lookng POS from a few years ago really did me in on Xploding Sonys. We had almost a 100% failure rate on those things.... I gave it the nickname of "the frying pan"

Ugh

Gus


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Wherever I go, that is where I end up......

I have talked to Sony repair people who won't own any Sony product made within the last 10 years (all the car audio is made by another company, even most of their tv's are farmed out) they are resting on the name (they are the 5th largest consumer electronics manufacturer in the world, but hold a double digit lead in the US simply by advertising more)

Well thats typical Corporate Americana - build a name then drop the quality. I always liked Sony - only thing that p.o,'d me was their proprietary BS. Seems their stuff is cheap though. I won't give up on their products totally, but sounds like the amps are something to avoid like a plague. 

Its been so long since I had a serious system that to look today - compared to even 5-10 years ago - all the good brands are Chi-com junk and what was cheap junk or unheard of is the premie of the bunch now.

Whats the decent brands today?(and don't say McIntosh......when I win the lotto I'll look at them - but for now its self-defeating to have to sell the car to buy the amp).  How do you know an older RF or Hi-fonics compared to the new ones? 

Now that we've finally got cars worth waxing, its time to look more seriously.

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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.

aside from everything everyones said.

asthetically the Xplode amps, subs, decks, just dont have the 'high quality' appeal that other brands have. any product i've seen displayed in a store i've either smirked or chuckled at. the concept for their amp design must have been through a random pick from the hat philosophy, but im not going to dis them on that, i would laugh though if i stuck an amp or sub for that matter in my car.

My headunit has been playing cd's since i bought it. but these days MP3 cd's cause more problems than anything, the same disc will play fine on a clarion that my brother purchased a while ago, but will give errors on my sony.

my brother had the same sony deck, and he had the same problem. this is my only technical complaint and issue so far, actually the noise from the deck, and the discs getting stuck in the HU have caused much hassle and a possible accident a month ago,
(disc wasnt comin out, took my eyes off the road to get it out ;/)

Somebody else already said it, but I'll say it again - you gotta start somewhere!

When I first started out, I was a high school/college kid who didn't have mommy and daddy's checkbook to buy whatever I wanted. I bought a Sherwood cassette h/u outta Crutchfield, a Pyle free-air sub from the local shop (they were small-time, let me tell ya), and a 150W x2 Profile amp for the sub (again through Crutchfield). Me and my friend installed it ourselves. And you know what? Even though we didn't use dmm's or have it tuned just right, and I put the sub in a 6 cu. ft. box (ported), it sounded better than 90% of the other systems around just based on the fact that it didn't distort like the rest of them did. The h/u improved the sound through the stock speakers somewhat, and the sub definately added to the sound. I was happy with it, and wouldn't have done anything differently to this day based on the budget, knowledge, and experience I had at that time.

Although I wouldn't personally buy an Explode (not because of reputation or functionality, but because of looks), that doesn't mean others shouldn't. Sometimes you just gotta buy what's available to you for the price you can afford. Let's face it, just about ANYTHING is better than stock, right? Even Audiobahn (this is speaking as a consumer, not a dealer)...

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VEHICLE: 2002 GMC Sonoma ZR2
Alpine CDA-7940
AudioControl EQT x2
JL Audio 1000/1
JL Audio 10W6 (originals) x3
Kicker ZR120
Kicker ZR460
Polk GXR-6 x4
Polk GXR-4 x2

I can't say good or bad about the head units(I repair them all),but as for the amps I  have a set of them I use for wheel chocks to replace the Rockford Fosgate one I made a few years ago.Overated power #'s and high failure rate.If you like em' keep buying them,just send them to me with your checkbook when they fail.

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BigDog

Sonys ok in my book. I love the P5 subs, I hate the P5 Amps except the 1600watt one, the little red amp is crap. That 1100w amp is fine unless u want performance. All and all Sony is still a sound brand. People on here dont like them so much because their quality and reliablity isn't what it use to be. I had a pair of the old LS1236's (not those crappy walmart 1235's) that I was pushing with like 1200 watts and those thing would bang like there was no tomarrow and they did it for almost 2 years in 4 different cars before the subwoofer's connectors (not the actual woofer or the voice coils) just fell apart from stress. If I was to have to rank Sony on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Legacy and Pyramid and 10 being JL and MB Quart, I'd have to rank them a 6. Their not crap, but their not top quality, actually they're nowhere near top quality, their kinda a budget bang with some *umph* to it.

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"Shiny chrome when used in conjunction with bikini models is particularly effective in inducing brain deficit disorder"

02 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Monster System on its way.

I see everyone has thier opinion on Sony and thier well intitled to them. The point I was trying to make wasnt just about sony but ALL entry level stereo products. I just used Sony as an example since that was the original topic of discusion. Back to the point was only that you have to start somewhere. Im sure most of us like me started back in high school flippin hamburgers somewhere and had to make due with what you had. The goal is to learn as much as you can as you go along and eventually graduate up to the better high quality products. Would you trust some snot nose green horn straight outs high school to install your McKintosh amp in your Mercedes? I hope not. But you would probly let him help your teenage son install a wal-mart system in his 76 Gremlin. Like I said , Gotta start somewhere and Sony was just a sample of a good place to start.

So many people are out here talking about buying on a budget. When I first started in the car audio world I was 16, and worked as a waiter in a small-time restaurant. I knew that I didn't want to "build-up" my system as you say, but I wanted to buy stuff that I knew I'd have for years. So I did a little thing that most people don't know how to do these days, SAVE MY MONEY. And when I had enough, I bout an Infinity sub with a Phoenix Gold amp, along with a top of the line Pioneer HU and Infinity 2ways.

So don't give me no crap about building on a budget, save your money until you can buy what you really want.

Paul

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honestly i haven't had that many Bbacks with sony.  i've seen waaaaaayyyyy more kenwoods comeback.  not saying that i would buy sony.  its obviously geared toward the 16 year old with McDonald money. and they are wayy overrated on the power end.

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JMaxx93 I'm w/ you on the kenmore.  I've got an amp, and though it plays good for the $150 i saved for it, it does suck for the performance I want now.  But I like the hu I had in my old truck.  Just proves that each company has it's own strengths and weaknesses.  Sony has decent stuff for the price (ie. newbies), but not a competition level of performance.  Just like Infinity w/ the speakers and subs then to amps and now possibly hu and more?  I hope they remember what they started with and keep those good atleast.

A PS2 would be the only sony product id put in my car.

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Look man, all the audio business deals with is reputations.  If an amp blows a few times from one company(maybe not even the companies fault) then they are going to get a bad rep.  No matter how good other people think the company is.   I have never owned anything but Sony and i have never had a problem with any Sony product.  I've always installed my own sh*t and everybody who says installation is the key is absolutely right.  No one i have ever come across has been louder than anything i have had.  So its all up to you n what you are capable of.....not your speakers

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"It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile...winning's winning

Personally I think it is all a matter of simple opinion. if you like them, then buy them. If not, don't beat the sh*t out of the company when you don't. It's like when the Gamecube and Xbox first came out, when the PS2 was already running strong. You had those who favored too much and bashed the other company's reputable products. Amazing things can be done with even the most unsuspecting products (I.E. my friend w 2 paper coned 15's and a Pyramid crossover won 3rd in a local sound contest...you can bet people were surprised). So the moral for today is don't bash what you don't have, rather keep an open mind and respect the fellow down the line who owns the product you don't have or may not like, because one day what you call sh*t may kill your "Top of the Line"