Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I'm still getting used to this one, so I'll update in a month or so and perhaps adjust my rating. But in the meantime...
Pros:
Excellent pre-amp audio quality.
Really good equalizer.
Excellent high-resolution touch screen.
Excellent, instantaneous Bluetooth connectivity.
Cons:
Runs INCREDIBLY hot, even when not using the onboard amps.
iPod/USB connector only on front.
It at first failed to see USB keys and iPods.
It (bizarrely) doesn't have separate front and rear pre-amp outs, so you lose the ability to fade. Surprisingly, I don't miss this.
Poor steering wheel control integration (probably not the Sony's fault).
Too much upfront lawyer-noise: it won't play anything until you promise you'll be good and never touch it (yes, Mom: I promise...)
I avoided Sony audio equipment for many years due to poor audio quality. But I recently put myself in the hands of Charles at Systems Unlimited in Redmond, WA. (The name is not a misnomer: when I arrived he had a brand-new Bentley in the shop, getting a truly unlimited system installed.) I was very surprised when he recommended this new deck, but I trusted him, and now trust him implicity: the Sony sits at the centre of a very high-end audio system, and doesn't embarrass itself. It takes line-level Apple Lossless output from my 160GB iPod, feeds it to a Genesis Profile 4 amp which in turn feeds ultra-clean watts into two sets of Focal speakers.
I was upgrading from a decent Pioneer head unit that had driven the Focals directly (because I busted my budget buying them). I expected an improvement; I did NOT expect such an utter transformation. I put my sneers-at-technology bagpipe-playing friend and girlfriend in the car and played a pibroch at a realistic volume level: I think I might have shut them up forever, but I won't be able to tell until they get their jaws back in place. My system now sounds better than easily 99.9% of cars on the road, and is so incredibly clean that listening fatigue doesn't exist.
The jury is still out on how well the Sony navigates the iPod. I ditched the Pioneer because I could spend five minutes drilling down from Music to (say) Postal Service, but if I then wanted to switch to the Pretenders, I had to drill down from Music again. 160 GB of music means an awful lot of drilling...
[Update: I'm starting to get an awful sinking feeling: this Sony seems to be just as stupid at navigating as my old Pioneer and in exactly the same way. What's saving its stars right now is that it also allows me to control the iPod directly, but I may yet knock another star off or even return it: the start-up screen of lawyer-noise is also getting annoying...]
My other big concern about the unit is how hot it runs. I'm going to see if it is possible to disconnect the internal amps altogether: without them, it'd probably only pull 10-20 watts.
(But my real BIG concern is that I so obviously now need an extreme subwoofer upgrade to match the rest of the system.)
Click Here to see more reviews about: Sony XAV-62BT 6.1" In-Dash Double DIN DVD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver with Built-in Bluetooth and iPod Control
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