I never hear of anyone copping sony or kenwood subs or amps.....I know they are well known for home audio and video, are they not so good in the car audio feild or something?????

 

your thoughts are correct sir.

 

Actually, they aren't very good for home audio either, especially Kenwood. Their car audio decks aren't bad at all.

 

04 Sony HU's are pretty nice....everything else is below par

I personally will never buy a Kenwood Car Audio product

 

in my opinion

home audio: sony > kenwood
car audio: sony < kenwood

 

kenwood actually has good stuff if you get the excelon series top of the line in amps ,subs and tvs great stuff all i buy is kenwood very satisfied.

 

well i have the sony xplode hexagons (forget the model number) and the class d mono amp sony xplode. I am positive they are combos better. But i bet if you sat in my car you'd have no idea they were sony. they sound great to everyone who gets in my car. but their hu suck major as s to me.

 

if it sounds good to ya, it doesn't matter what other people say.

 

I have a Kenwood HU and speakers and they sound fine to me. You may be dissapointed by the low RMS rating that are on Kenwood speakers but I have a pair and they are loud enough. Sony HUs look kinda crappy until you get to this yrs and there speakers are ok.

 

imho, i would never buy any sony car audio product. PERIOD. but i'm a ***HUGE*** fan of ALL kenwood..I prefer kenwood for SQ over all other brands..I like alpine just as much, but its WAY overpriced. I'm also a major fan of pioneer, but mostly because their stuff is bomb proof..There are always exceptions..for example, for subs, i use pioneer 10s for SQ, but for SPL i use audiobahn..amps to drive subs, whatever is cheap for 4 ohm, but for 2 ohm and below, kicker or audiobahn..I would never use a sony product for anything (car audio anyway) under any circumstances..but, what you use is up to you..I'm a kenwood fan for amps, headunits, speakers, and subs..I would not suggest going with all 1 brand for everything though..for example, my pioneer ts-w225c subs are svc 4 ohm subs, and i prefer them over kenwoods subs for SQ because they play lower..although i still like kenwood subs, I wouldn't use them simply because everything else i have happened to be kenwood..its a matter of what sounds good to YOU..i wouldn't advise buying anything without hearing it first unless you're familiar with brands and specific products..

I know i was just REALLY long winded, but I hope you can find my points in there somwhere..

 

Truthfully, an audio system needs to be designed piece-by-piece, not manufacturer-by-manufacturer. In some rare cases, you can obtain the best sounding system using only one manufacturer in one specific vehicle, but those are few and far between.

To move it one step further, each person has their own unique listening tastes and music styles. Putting a Kenwood system in a Maxima for a person who likes rap may require different pieces of the system than the same Kenwood line in the same Maxima for a person who likes Classical or Jazz.

So as far as brand is concerned, a good portion of it is personal choice. Most of it is based upon look and feel of the HU, the sound of the speakers, and the power rating of the amp(s).

And to give you an idea, I've seen $800-1200 systems blow the doors off of a $5000-7000 system, while both were using the same Manufacturer's pieces.

As for what HU to get, both Sony and Kenwood make quality units. As far as car audio is concerned, you get what you pay for (in most cases). If you buy a Rockford amp, you pay an extra $100-300 more than a Sony amp, but the amp will probably out-last the Sony amp as well.

Take your time and research each component individually. You may end up with a weird combination (like I have), but it'll sound very close to a much more expensive system. My system currently consists of a Kenwood MP3 HU, CD Changer, and Sirius Satellite radio. I have 2 amps, both of which are made by Rockford. My door speakers are made by Infinity, while my subs are Pioneer's IMPP DVC subs. Never in a million years would I "think" about putting them all together. I just researched each part individually for the characteristics that I was looking for. Then I put them all together (one-by-one over time) into the system that I have now. My recommendation to you is that you do the same for your system.

 

IMO, sony car audio went downhill when they got away from the Mobile ES lines and started making Xplod. It's not bad, but the quality is not there. Kenwood Excelon is good stuff though.

 

it also comes down to what kind of budget you're willing to spend on aftermarket speakers. sony isn't the best, but it's better than most stock setups.