Sony stereo sound quality?

[VinceL]

Hello all,

In my times playing with Ex's on the lot, I have found the Sony stereo, while very willing to go deep, has a muddy sound as you turn up the bass. The highs and mids seem to do okay.

For you guys and gals that have some time on your Sony stereos, does the sound quality change? I was just wondering if the speakers sound better after being broken in?

Of course, sound quality is a super-subjective type of thing, but I was trying to get a feel for the opinions out there.

Happy driving.

 

[chimoman]

Depends. This only happens on mine when I'm playing mp3's. It has more to do with the quality of file you are playing then the actual speakers. I had it happpen on some types of files, I got rid of those. I now have a song bank of over 2500 songs. All of which play crisp and clear.

 

[kblee]

I've had mine for a couple of months now and continue to be underwhelmed. My collection is comprised of lossless FLAC files ripped from CDs. Even putting the physical CD in the player doesn't help.

I just spent the last week driving my old car (Toyota Avalon) and the JBL Synthesis system just blows it away. I wish I could transplant one into the other, as I know my wife doesn't hear the difference.

 

[BethesdaEC]

I have been thinking about replacement speakers. I my experience, assuming the amp is decent, new high quality speakers can make all the difference.

 

[kblee]

I have been thinking about replacement speakers. I my experience, assuming the amp is decent, new high quality speakers can make all the difference.

Yeah - I need to do some research. It may be the speakers / sub, but it may be the amp as well. I have noticed that there doesn't seem to be much headroom available.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Yeah - I need to do some research. It may be the speakers / sub, but it may be the amp as well. I have noticed that there doesn't seem to be much headroom available.

It sort of bothers me, but I have so many other things to worry about; this is at the bottom of the list.

 

[blwnsmoke]

AMP is everything IMO. I'd rather have "ok" speakers with a great amp then great speakers with a ****ty amp. I've noticed that the "stereo" option sounds like crap.. I always keep it on "surround" mode. I keep the base 2 notches from the top, middle 4 notches from the top and trebble 3 notches from the top. I think this is the best combonation with the system.

I have noticed that at high volumes, the radio/amp kills some of the output of the sub as I hear the volume fluctuating. I'm sure this is to save the life of the speaker.

 

[BethesdaEC]

AMP is everything IMO. I'd rather have "ok" speakers with a great amp then great speakers with a ****ty amp. I've noticed that the "stereo" option sounds like crap.. I always keep it on "surround" mode. I keep the base 2 notches from the top, middle 4 notches from the top and trebble 3 notches from the top. I think this is the best combonation with the system.

I have noticed that at high volumes, the radio/amp kills some of the output of the sub as I hear the volume fluctuating. I'm sure this is to save the life of the speaker.

I subscribe to the Paul Klipsch school of thought. "What America needs is a good 50 watt amplifier". Klipsch back in the day was know for making very efficient speakers that did not require a lot of power to drive them. My circa 1980 KG2's had a 1" tweeter that had a 4 or 5" magnet behind them. The woofer was 8" and the magnet was probably about 6" in diameter.

 

[peanut0426]

for a 45 thousand dollar vehicle, I am not impressed with the stereo system at all. My mazda6 had a lot better sounding system.

 

[blwnsmoke]

I subscribe to the Paul Klipsch school of thought. "What America needs is a good 50 watt amplifier". Klipsch back in the day was know for making very efficient speakers that did not require a lot of power to drive them. My circa 1980 KG2's had a 1" tweeter that had a 4 or 5" magnet behind them. The woofer was 8" and the magnet was probably about 6" in diameter.

I agree, I am firmiliar with Klipsch, I actually have a surround sound system by them. I've been really big into car audio back in my younger years. When I say great amp over ok speakers is better, I don't mean power, I mean a quality, clean amp..

Back in my teenage years, I worked for Circuit City and we had on display the amp built into a stock radio exposed next to an amp that we sold. That speaks for itself.

But now that I'm older and have little ones, I don't need the boom boom sound nor do I blare the radio to attract attention. I'm happy with what it is, I think it's one of the better stock systems I've listened to.

 

[jrmexplorer]

I'm no audiophile ("music lover's listen to music, audiophiles listen to stereos") but I love the Sony system. Nice sound overall.

For those that have the compressed, muddy sound, do you have speed sensitive volume set to "on"? If you do, it's possible its clipping the sound in anticipation of possibly having to turn it up to save the speakers. Try turning that off....

 

[VinceL]

I was listening to HD radio when doing my sound tests. I keep forgetting to bring my USB with some high quality files on it to test with.

Since I was sitting in the dealer lot, I am not sure that the volume compensation would make a difference, but I will remember to switch it off next round of tests to be sure.

As a side note, I find the system in the new Edge to sound the same. Great mids and highs, boomy, muddy base.

The MKX's with the THX system I sat in didn't have this problem. Then again, they didn't have much bass to speak of. That has been a topic of conversation on a number of forums. I think Ford realized the problem. When looking on the media.lincoln.com website, I found the product sheet for the 2012 model, and one of the things that it touted was a new THX 14 channel amplifier for the THX system.

 

[Spengracin]

Yes; I'm not the only one that still believes in old school sound systems, I still have my Klipsch Forte speakers in use at home, and Adcom Bridged pre/amps.

Now how do I get them in the back of the LTD and still have luggage room? After 50 years of flying and listening to loud music, it will sound just fine!

 

[swshawaii]

Paul Klipsch said, "What this country needs is a good 5 watt amplifier", not 50.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Paul Klipsch said, "What this country needs is a good 5 watt amplifier", not 50.

I thought it was 5, I modernized it I guess.