Sony Mobile ES XR-C9100

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Custom Stereo & Cell

Year / Model Reviewed:
 XR-C9100

Strengths:
Excellent sound quality. Clean, handsome, no-nonsense design. Huge improvement on daytime visibility & works with cars dash lighting! (Very nice touch) Variety of upgrade options.

Weaknesses:
Upgrade options no longer available 2 weeks after purchase.

Summary:
Excellent Product. If a feature isn''t already built in, theres probably a Uni-Link add-on to provide it. Controls are very intuitive, rotary knob is huge improvement to my previous XR-U550''s "+" & "-" buttons. As an added bonus, this deck looked it had been designed to match the interior of my 2nd gen. Integra. It looked more factory than the factory did. =)

Similar Products Used:
Sony XR-U550 Clarion

Price Paid:  $350.00

Strengths:
Sound qulity is great~~~ It looks nice with many functions that I don''t even use~~ Type sounds good, although not often use....

Weaknesses:
People at the back seat can''t see a thing on the display.... But Driver & front passenger can see it well~~~

Summary:
This is a great Deck for it''s price at the time I bought it! I''ve got a complete system running by this unit, 1 Alpine v12 amp for 4 alpine speakers, 1 1000watts Kenwood amp for my subwoofer. It sounds great...

Similar Products Used:
Alpine, Clarions!

Price Paid:  $350.00

Strengths:
Sound qulity is great~~~ It looks nice with many functions that I don''t even use~~ Type sounds good, although not often use....

Weaknesses:
People at the back seat can''t see a thing on the display.... But Driver & front passenger can see it well~~~

Summary:
This is a great Deck for it''s price at the time I bought it! I''ve got a complete system running by this unit, 1 Alpine v12 amp for 4 alpine speakers, 1 1000watts Kenwood amp for my subwoofer. It sounds great...

Similar Products Used:
Alpine, Clarions!

Price Paid:  $165.00 from ebay - new in box

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Sony ES XR-C9100

Strengths:
Features, quality of product, wonderful sound, ease of upgrade, wireless remote. Can still be found new and the price was $350 for my 1st C9100 but only $165 this time. Such a deal, I got a 2nd one for my T-bird.

Weaknesses:
none

Summary:
This is my 2nd deck (someone wanted the 1st deck more than I)Great unit, lot''s of features. Dolby C makes the cassette sound wonderful. A strong amp is built in. The readout of the dial is adjustable & easy to read. It''s easy to update the C9100 with all kinds of sony produces. TV, CD-changers, Amps, Digital Signal Processors and the like.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer and Kenwood head units

Price Paid:  $250.00

Strengths:
Good sound quality, nice looks, tons of configurations, dolby c, 10 buttons of presets right at front.

Weaknesses:
Display gets completely washed out in sunlight. No motorized face. The voice nav is kinda annoying... but it can be turn off.

Summary:
I've own this unit for about a year and still loving it. I didn't install the wired remote coz I think it's useless for me. The unit sounds great even without an amp. Bass is tight and treble is crystal clear. Too bad that it's a bit out of date. If you like a hi-end deck with lots of features and quality then this c9100 is for you(if you can still find one).

Similar Products Used:
Sony XR-C900 - a bit better than C9100 but lacks of amp power.