Great Value for Good Sound
Written: Nov 30 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sound good; great features.
Cons: Lacking midrange detail sometimes.
The Bottom Line: Solidly made and good buy
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| MichaelHatton's Full Review: Sony XS-F1721 Coaxial Car Speaker |
If you are to be installing speakers in your car, the best advice is to stick to one brand. I had already picked some 6x9 Sony speakers for the parcel shelf so it’s best to stick to Sony for the door speakers. It also matters that you pick the same ‘range’ of speaker, in this case X-plod as these usually have the same outright specification give or take. Ideally component speakers offer the best sound for door speakers, as you get an open sound with using tweeters high up and mid-range to bass lower down. However, coaxial speakers offer better integration and can sound better provided they are high enough, but in many cases are positioned in the very corner and will inevitably be blocked by legs or something so they won’t really be heard. However, if you are going for a four-way system, you need good door speakers other wise the music will be coming from behind you.
The Sony XS-F1721 is a 16.5cm diameter speaker with polypropylene – plastic – cone woofer, rubber surround and plastic chassis. They have a fixed 3.6cm (1.5in) domed tweeter with neodymium magnet. Neodymium magnets are much more powerful at the same size as conventional ferrite types, but are much more expensive. If all speakers were made using Neo magnets, they would be less than half the weight. If all speakers were made with Neo magnets, at the same size, they would be much more louder. This is why some huge – i.e. 13” woofers use something like 12 miniature neo magnets in a circle which gives the woofer much more power without using electrical power. Anyway, the Sony tweeter is by far one of the largest on this type of speaker that I have seen.
The plastic basket or chassis that the whole transducer moves in is plastic and probably one of the best types of material for the job. This not only gives great strength and light weightiness, it also resonates at a different frequency to the car metal work. There is also one obvious reason why they are made from plastic and that is corrosion. The rubber and plastic won’t rust so will last you till the end of the cars life easily. It also won’t absorb water or moisture because it isn’t porous so is good for the cold and hot climates. The tweeter is made from aluminium and sits in the centre off the larger woofer cone. The box doesn’t give a crossover frequency, but the network is hidden within a sealed section in the back of the larger magnet, all the wires travel through the voice coil and pole piece of the larger cone.
These speakers come with optional grills, and I didn’t bother with them, I also chose a white colour instead of the red shown on the product page. Without the grills, they will fit into many cars, with the correct adapter. The outer rim, which you use to screw it to the car, has many cut outs so you can screw it into however many screw holes there are in the adapter. As long as the Sony label is the right way around, you should be fine. The depth of the speaker is very respectable, on comparison to the smaller XS-F1321 13cm speaker, they are about the same depth which is about 7cm (3in).
These speakers are rated for 40W RMS, but if you still care for PMPO its quoted for 160W. The box is unclear about its impedance, and sensitivity so I can only guess its above 90dB/W/m and around 4ohm impedance.
When it comes time to install the speaker, you must get some sound deadening. If you have some thin carpet or thick vinyl lying around, you could bond these to the metal. Anything dense and heavy will cut down on the resonance or vibrations that are caused by the speaker. If you want to cut down on noise, which also includes road noise, get some thick light material like wadding for cushions and fill the door cards with it. You can by certain rolls of heavy rubber that has a stick on self-adhesive, which are also good and quick to apply. If you are doing it yourself of course. The most important area is the seal between the speaker and the adapter, if you fill the gaps with soft rubber then you’ll cut down vibrations at high volumes.
Sound Quality
When installed and properly sound deadened these speakers are quite good at producing a lively sound, with full bass respectable treble and mid range detail. While driving you don’t get nasty vibrations from the plastic cones at high volume, and you don’t get any distortion. The speakers provide the car with a more open sound, which is much better than just the rear speakers, it also opens up the imaging a little, so that you can hear more detail. Integration from front to rear is very good, and if I had gone for another make or model, then it wouldn’t be so good. Its not without flaws, some of the vocals can sound a little faint as the midrange tends to wallow behind the rest of the music, but isn’t bad. Acoustic music seems to do quite well, as does the heaviest rock music, which never sounds compressed or rough. These speakers cost £30 ($42), and considering the quality, its not such a bad buy.
Conclusion
Overall a well made speaker with good sound for its price. Considering that there are few other Sony speakers in this form at higher prices, these may be the best that you’ll find.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 42
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MichaelHatton
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