The Sony XM-2200GTX : Cheap Power
Written: Nov 17 '04 (Updated Nov 17 '04)
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Pros: Cost, performance so far
Cons: Looks
The Bottom Line: If you can get past the styling, it is a decent amp for not a lot of cash.
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| AVaddict's Full Review: Sony XM-2200GTX Car Amp |
A Little Background
This sub was purchased as part of a package deal along with a pair of Sony XS-L1200B subs. The subs were loaded into a sealed enclosure for use in a Range Rover Freelander in the diminutive area behind the back seats. Although in bridged form, this amp can produce a fair amount of power, in this application it was used as intended in a two way configuration with each channel feeding a single 4ohm sub. The primary goal with this install was not ear drum perforating sound pressure levels (SPLs), but support for the already fairly decent sound system that was packaged in with this car as part of the incentive deal. The stock stereo is fairly decent, but has no real cojones when it comes to higher volume levels. There is insufficient bass reproducing ability forcing the amp into clipping rather soon as volumes increase. As this is more bass reinforcement than blow-your-hair-forward performance, the 200wpc RMS this amp produces is just right for the purpose.
First Impressions
I tend to have quite a bit of faith in most Sony products. My experience with Sony has been, for the most part, very rewarding whether home audio or video to car products to portables. The one area in which I no longer have much faith is their ability to produce quality built, attractively designed, reliable amps. Since the days of ES and its higher counterpart, Sony has seemed to kind of hit the skids, not only with their massively questionable and oddly inconsistent styling, but with their overall product quality, in reference to car audio amps specifically. It has actually come to the point where I no longer recommend them unless brand synergy is paramount, though it never really needs to be in respect to power production. With a few exceptions, the CD changer, for example, needs to be the same brand as the head unit, but with amps anything can be used, power is power, it isn’t as if proprietary cabling has to be used as with media changers.
Having heard and read from friends and acquaintances of some ongoing troubles with the Xplod amps, I have steered clear when possible. The problems encountered range from dead out of the box, to loose connections and poor board assembly (and the boards I have seen are anemic at best, lending even more doubt as to claimed output). In this situation, it wasn’t a matter of recommendation, the products had already been purchased and the client came to me directly for install. I was surprised by the weight right off the bat. The last few Xplod amps I have held seemed disturbingly light, though granted they were class D units, they still seemed flimsy. This one broke that trend for me. I will note, the cooling fins seem too thick to be functional, they do serve an aesthetic purpose, though what I am not yet sure. The connections seem strong and the assorted dials and plugs seem as sturdy as any other amp in the class.
If you have read other reviews of mine you know I am not a fan of the Xplod series. In my opinion they made a mistake moving away from classic black with an engineerish look to the head units and an almost museum of fine art look to the amps (the older ES champagne 1ohm units). I will admit that the heart of the matter is the guts of the product, not its most recent face lift, but hey, ugly is ugly even if it performs well, Kenwood eXcelon is a shining example of that. Now I am not going to go off on a rant here, the bottom line is performance, but I think this amp is ugly as sin.
Install
The install of this amp was no complicated than any other I have ever dropped in a car or truck. The bottom line is understanding crossovers and speaker level inputs as well as how to tap a remote lead, power, and ground. For the sake of a clean install, the amp was mounted on the back of the sub box, but there is a little bit of vibration damping as part of the mount process in the form of rubber bushings under each mount point. Running leads from the engine and radio was not difficult and I simply ran the power line through a grommet on the firewall. The remote turn on never leaves the cabin and is tiny, so hiding it is quite easy. There isn’t much to car audio installs, but if it isn’t something you have done before and/or you don’t feel you are the mechanically inclined type, it is often best just to leave it to a professional.
Since the original install, we have added a capacitor on the back of the sub box as well. In the vast majority of installs, this should be considered a mandatory part of the process. Name brand is rather useless as most are made by the same supplier anyway. Virtually any 1farad cap will do and there is no performance advantage to getting a monitor top, other than bling, so keep it simple and spend the $40. If you have ever been cranking the tunes and you notice that your lights dimming with the beat, you could most definitely use a capacitor. This is a sign of your vehicles alternator simply not being able to support your electrical demands and over time it will take a toll. As I have said for years about engine upgrades, spend the money now or spend more later; capacitors are your friend. A word of caution though, if you are unclear how a capacitor works, or are not very familiar with electrical concepts, allow a pro to install this as well. A 1f cap, if handled/used/installed improperly, could seriously injure or kill you.
All of the connections are gold plated (and that is VERY hit and miss with Sony) with the tuning knobs being the flimsy $.03 variety we see on everything from RF to Alpine. The same is true with the high level input and fuse section, nothing remarkable to see. The power and ground terminals were shallower than they needed to be forcing me to nibble the terminal ring a bit, but the same could be achieved by simply using spades. The buss for the high levels inputs uses rather cheapo grade wiring (as they all do, as speaker level inputs are really as a last resort), so I imagine there will be some fidelity loss as a result, but as we are talking about a subs, that isn’t going to be nearly as noticeable as it would be with a good set of components speakers.
Performance
I have to say, as much as I moan and lament the changes to Sony’s car audio line, this amp did get my attention. Any amp can make a set of woofers bump, but how well they do it is what separates Zapcos from Sanyos. I was not expecting much from this amp, even at 200wpc, but once we got everything balanced (tuned) I was surprised not only by how seamless the union of factory and aftermarket but how easy it was to get there. I am not gushing though, just talking. As this is part of an OEM system, there is no discrete sub level control and any volume tuning has to be manual through the gain knob, but the person I installed and tuned this for is far less picky than I when it comes to this sort of thing, again, these subs/amp are for support, not competition.
The limiting factor on volume tests was actually the whine from the factory tweets rather than clipping from the sub amp/subs. In almost every music genre we tested, they performed subtly, but with enough authority to let the passenger know, the system certainly wasn’t stock! Clearly this amp could make the subs hit, that is clear, but my greatest concern is really longevity. It hasn’t been but maybe 2 mos. Which isn’t much, it could fail anytime, or, on the other hand, 3 yrs from now, it may still be pumping strong. My take on high failure rates when there isn’t a defined and known build cause, is improper installation or improper use (i.e. asking to the amp to do far more than you should and being surprised when it goes pop). As long as you stay within the mfrs recommend usage, you should be fine.
Final Thoughts
I was pleasantly surprised by this amps ability. It does what it does quite well and doesn’t get so hot to the touch that branding comes to mind. I could see this amp being displayed in a show setting, or even SPL, but were someone to use an amp like this for competition, they should shot, promptly. I just think it is butt ugly, truly. The client didn’t seem so averse to the look, but also agreed that out of sight is out of mind, especially a thieves mind. This is in addition to the whole install looking a bit cleaner with amp out of sight. I am happy with the results from this unit, and the relative prices online are not bad at all, but I still have a lot of concerns about Sony’s car amplifiers. I recommend it, but only by a smidgen. If all you have to spend on an amplifier is $170, I could think of equivalently powered units from other manufacturers I personally would feel better recommending. BUT, and it’s a big but, so far, this amp has performed well and does it’s job with apparent ease. So, for the time being, I recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 220/pkg
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