The Sony XS-L1200B : A Sub for the Thrifty
Written: Oct 27 '04 (Updated Dec 06 '04)
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Pros: Price, sound
Cons: Looks
The Bottom Line: A decent little sub for those those that may not need concussive force from their stereos. If you want super basic, this is it.
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| AVaddict's Full Review: Sony XS-L1200B Car Subwoofer |
A Little Background
This sub was part of a package that include two subs (Sony XS-L1200B) and an amp (Sony XM-2200GTX). It went into a smallish SUV (Freelander) a friend just got to help out the factory system. Thought he factory system was the “premium” offering as part of an incentive package and isn’t too bad at low volumes, it remains a factory system and is unable to touch what true separates and aftermarket speakers can produce. He didn’t want to gut the factory system nor did he want a new head unit or amps mounted everywhere, fair enough. So the solution was to simply add the sub and amp.
The box used was some generic (I really have no clue who made it) dual 12” sealed unit, I purchased from a friend for $15. Not a bad deal, but it is very thin fiber board, so it wouldn’t be ideal for anything larger than these subs really. I could see a pair of JBL GTi subs blowing out this box in a matter of minutes, fortunately these Sonys are far too wimpy for that and the client didn’t want a super thumper, just a little more bass and punch with his music. This wouldn’t have been my first choice for a cheapie system, but I didn’t buy it, I just installed it.
First Impressions
The subs aren’t too impressive in hand. They have a very basic and rather thin foam surround mated to a thinnish poly cone with the typically weird looking Sony dust cap made of plastic. The basket is simple stamped steel suspending a tiny little spider. The connections are super basic too with the terminals mounted on a small piece of phenolic cardboard. The pole piece is vented through a small port on the equally small motor structure. Sony claims these subs will take 800wpc peak, but I wouldn’t want to actually try that, ever. I think were one to do so, said person would be picking up the coil former a block away.
It may sound like I am bashing these subs before I even install them, but I am really not. They very well may say Pyramid on them, but the fact is they are bottom of the line subs, not really intended for the enthusiast and for about $50, it pretty much what a person should expect. Also, not everyone needs bleeding ears to get something deep and meaningful from their bass section, some just want a little added oomph, which is what these are designed to provide.
Install
The install on these subs wasn’t any more or less complex than most basic installs, it was just a matter of running a remote turn on cable and a power cable, both simply run under the edges of carpets and body panels. The amp itself was mounted to the back of the box on isolators to keep it out of sight and lend to a cleaner look. The hardest part of the install is the wiring in this case as all there really is to getting them into the car is simply making sure the box isn’t too big. In this case we still had about an inch on either side of the box. Freelanders are not the biggest trucks in the world, though for the cost there are fairly nice to ride in. There is quite a bit of talk about, in SUV installs, which way the subs should face being that they are not fully enclosed in a trunk. Quite frankly, the vast majority of people, certainly in an install of this level, are not going to notice the difference, so I put the box in facing rear, not only to show off the subs, but to hide the amp. It seems crooks are more drawn to cheap amps than cheap subs, I guess we shall see, or rather, I hope we won’t. having been broken into multiple times now, I have become a little cynical.
The loading of the subs into the box itself is also fairly basic with the only wiring being a run from the terminal cup on the box to the sub connection. If you have a crimper and quick connects, this will take about 10 minutes, and don’t forget to solder everything. These subs are both single coil 4ohm units so wiring options are limited by the amp. In this case they were simply run individually as the sub makes 200wpc x 2, which more than enough for this application. The box was a little bigger, in terms of volume, than I had really wanted, being roughly 1.2 cubic feet, but the effects at the expected volume levels should be minimal, ie, reducing boominess, so let’s talk about that.
Performance
I have to admit I was mildly surprised by what these subs are capable of, even as the sound pressure levels increased. It’s hardly the in-your-face punch of something like an Infinity VQ, or, god forbid, a TREO, but in this application it works well. As the main speakers in the vehicle are not being fed gobs of power as well, there comes a point where the subs will start to aggressive take over the sound stage, leaving high pitched whine from the OEM tweeters and growling boominess from the subs. Now, it is a safe assumption that were the enclosures smaller, say less than a cubic foot, some of the boominess could be reduced, but that was never an option as cheap was the name of the game and I already had a super thrifty box. By means of example, my pay this time was in hops and barley, which is fine, but for most jobs I prefer bread.
The amp had its low pass set as high as possible due to the fat that these subs have a high end just short of kHz. There’s no reason not to allow it to help out the mains if possible. From there we just moved it down bit by bit listening to the same piece of music over and over again. Trying to crank the bass boost on the amp did little for the speakers, though it did make the sub hot. 40Hz is just a little low for these subs to really do anything with, as such, it was just left off. Even with that off, and the final resting place of the low pass somewhere in the neighborhood of 180Hz (kind of a guess due to the dial) these speakers performed with as much authority as their build would allow. It was a great addition to the factory system allowing him to cut back on the bass through the head unit allowing the mains to play louder and the subs to pick up the slack.
Final Thoughts
The reality is that these subs and amp could have been purchased for less from other retailers, but as I mentioned I did not buy them. Price is always a bottom line thing for me so it’s a sticking point, but one that only amounts to about $35. I won’t be able to put a specific price on them as a result of the package deal, but they can be had for $50 or less if you do the footwork. I am not a fan of Sony car amps anymore, well for quite some time actually, but for the task, it does the job fairly well. If you are looking for a cheap set of subs and you are not a freak about volume level, power handling, and well longevity (the foam surrounds will wear out faster than rubber with equivalent use), these could be your answer. If you are hell bent on Sony subs, look into the models a few up from these for a few dollars more, it may be worth you time. Overall, I was happy with the install and the sound we ended up with, for the cost, it worked out well.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $220/pkg
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