Why do Sony Xplodes get such a bad rap?

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swede

Copper - Posts: 125

Joined: July 31, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 04, 2004 at 11:45 PM / IP Logged

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.

Subtlety is EVERYTHING.

/r7

Silver - Posts: 340

Joined: July 30, 2004

Location: Canada

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 8:15 AM / IP Logged

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 ;/)

Paradigm

Silver - Posts: 284

Joined: November 25, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 8:52 AM / IP Logged

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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russ lund

Copper - Posts: 188

Joined: April 07, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 10:01 AM / IP Logged

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.

BigDog

xtreamcc

Silver - Posts: 467

Joined: March 24, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 10:16 AM / IP Logged

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.

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

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Monster System on its way.

Rushman

Silver - Posts: 380

Joined: September 28, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 10:56 AM / IP Logged

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.

Francious70

Silver - Posts: 629

Joined: July 26, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 11:00 AM / IP Logged

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

JMaxx93

Copper - Posts: 73

Joined: December 02, 2003

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 11:02 AM / IP Logged

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.

boxmaker85

Silver - Posts: 433

Joined: September 19, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 11:38 AM / IP Logged

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.

pimpincavy

Silver - Posts: 880

Joined: May 20, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: October 05, 2004 at 11:45 AM / IP Logged

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

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