Bought me a Sony last summer (archive)

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This would have cost about $700 but I gave them $300 and a used basic model Sony that came with the car.

The basic model sound wasn't worth mentioning and I was really looking forward to upgrading it.

I have always been utterly happy with Alpine products since they are the Rolls-Royce of decks; everlasting, timeless, producing state-of-the art sound.

As I went to see the Alpine decks I was shocked; they cost double what other manufacturers products, all models I would have wanted were SO expensive that common sense told me I should not invest that much and the "normally" priced models were seriously lacking features. All of them looked like they were designed in 1990.

So, I decided to take a long look into other makes.
The sony I have (some letters-700 I think) had everything I could have wanted from a deck.
"Black panel" with motorized flip panel and normal display inside, Equalizer, Digital Sound Processor, 4x50W MOSFET built-in amp, remote control, a very good one CD player with possibility to add a changer, good RDS radio tuner, separate RCA outputs to front, rear and subwoofer amps, inbuilt adjustable crossovers, AUX in connector and very, VERY good sound.

So I bought it. I installed the Pioneer TS-C1320 metal cone separates (that I had in my Touring) to the front, used a soldering iron to remove the original tweeters from their assembly and attached the Pioneer metal dome tweeters to the original assembly with a glue gun.

Everything looks completely stock yet the sound is so pure, clean and outright PERFECT that I could cry.

I still haven't made custom assembly for the bigger similar Pioneer TS-C1720 speakers I have lying around the garage (also Touring inheritance) so I put the crappy el cheapo separates that came with the car to the rear to replace the feeble originals.

Future upgrades are a square kicker subwoofer to replace the ski hole and a slim custom stealth installation reflex box that looks like the raer wall of the trunk and houses an Alpine "V12" amp.

I use only thick hifi wiring and golden connectors with the stereo installations and such was the case with the current system as well, all original wiring (not to mention the crappy original amp and speakers) was removed and replaced by decent material. Not that it affects the sound much but I don't trust old wiring and connectors and I don't like to have to do things over again.

So, buy a Sony if you like them; just don't get one of the cheapest models since they aren't nice to use and don't sound too good.

Upgrading the front speakers should be the first thing to do in any stereo upgrade.

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