Sony XAV-9000ES Review | Finally installed in my Jeep | Sounds SO Good it might just make you CRY

Back in July I decided for my birthday to upgrade the stereo in my 2014 Jeep Wrangler with the Sony XAV-9000ES. My old Kenwood DMX7704s had served me well over the past 7 years, but it was time for a refresh. I had more than a few options to choose from, but decided to try the XAV-9000ES for improved sound quality and display resolution.
Having thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Sony XAV-9500ES on display, I was most excited about the potential sound quality upgrade with the XAV-9000ES. How would the Sony XAV-9000ES change the performance of my existing set up? Would there be a major or minor enhancement? My old Morel Elate components (circa 2008/2009), Hybrid 602 Integra, Mosconi Pro 5|30 and JL Audio 12W6V2 were sounding a bit stagnant and in desperate need of a change up.
Would the Sony XAV-9000ES disappoint? Or rise to the occasion? Sound quality wasn't my only concern. What about the wireless ONLY aspect of Apple CarPlay? Would connectivity be an issue like it had been in the showroom? Would it be laggy?
The reality is the Sony XAV-9000ES didn't just rise to the occasion. It is shockingly good. This is hands down the best sounding stereo I have ever owned in any vehicle in my 24 years in the industry. The upgrade has been truly transformative. In fact, the transformation has been so jarring and so MOVING that it stirred up and pulled out all sorts of musical memories I had packed away long ago.
Listening to the Sony XAV-9000ES has been a deeply enjoyable experience in a way that's hard to describe. But at the same time, it's made me an emotional wreck and if you watch this video, you'll understand why.
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[@MeLikeTennis]

Your story is so touching and it stemmed from you listening to the XAV-9000ES. I have a XAV-5000. Just upgrading to that has made my 2 sons just completely stay quiet in the car cause all of us were so much in awe with the audio bliss. Youhit the nail on the head when you described the music going drom 2D to 3D. But i would even describe the music as being tactile. It almost seems like you can touch it. Its overwhelming. You realize the genius of the people working in the muaoc industry. I recall even listening to one of the aongs and starting to tear up while driving. It really makes you connect you to your soul, so to speak. I cant wait to try the 9000ES!

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much. It was not easy to share, but I'm so glad you can relate! Yes, I agree that it's almost like you can reach out and point to where the instrument is sort of dancing in the air. It is a very nice step up to the 9000ES. Even if you're coming from the 5000, I think you will be very happy.

[@MeLikeTennis]

@carstereochick kudos to you for realizing where the 9000ES shines. I read and watch too many reviews just talking about its connectivity, UI, ease of installation, etc. These are important, but the spirit of the machine is its sound. I hear a comment or two saying it sounds good, bit it's never at the level I experienced with the mere AX5000.

[@BARRIEM5]

Wonderful , wonderful.....your words moved me...especially about your brother and what he meant to you ! Thank you !

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much for watching and sharing such kindness ❤️

[@Bhoben79]

First time watcher. Found this video researching Sony headunits. I had a Sony Xav-5600 in a vehicle I recently sold and was looking for a replacement for a new vehicle. I think the 9000Es is the one I will try thanks to you. This might be one of the single best, realist, heartfelt pieces of KZbin content I have seen. From one Gen x'er to another, I agree the music and life experiences of the late 90's was the best. Every album I relisten to brings back so many memories. Thank you!

[@scottstephens8602]

Thanks for sharing your story! Don't be ashamed to share, everybody has a story. I have a 9500 and love it. I was very happy with the wireless CarPlay initial connectivity and then I updated the firmware to 2.0 and it's even faster.

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much for the encouragement and support!

[@pixel_entity5352]

Mine is an odd one, no ES logo on the bottom right side. It is paired with the XM-1ES for a XS-W104ES sub in a sealed box and a XM-8ES for all other speakers. I whole heartedly agree with you on the audio performance. The Advanced audio controls are so good one does not need a DSP for an simple to moderate system. I run active on my door speakers and use the parametric EQ. People should not sleep on this one ! Be sure to do the update ! It adds the ability to remove the analog clock, set the center custom button for muting or sub level and some connectivity fixes.

[@carstereochick]

Huh, I wonder if the logo was something added at a certain point in production? I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one impressed with the audio quality of this receiver! And good point on the update. I'm actually a fan of the analog clock, but I do really like being able to customize the center button.

[@digitaljigga]

Ordered mine today from Crutchfield!

[@FJLC93]

I actually like that the music doesn't pause when you are using Siri or getting directions. seems like it would be less disruptive to the listening experience

[@SarbrinderDhillon]

I agree with you so much. couple of days ago, I bricked my Kenwood excelon DMX906s while trying to update the firmware (Been able to update it once over the past 4 years without issue). Was so heartbroken. Took my car back to the audio shop that installed it. My guy over there convinced me to spend $950 (Installation and everything) on this Sony XAV-9000ES. Let me tell you, I haven't slept for the past 2 days. I've been so happy with what this head unit did for my overall sound, that I've been chilling in my car for the past 48 hours just listening to all my favorites. I'm literally feeling what it felt like falling in love with those tracks all over again. Being able to play my Hi-res lossless tracks directly from my 1 TB Samsung SSD (T9 pro) has been a game changer. I could only play true lossless from a flash thumb drive with my DMX 906s. It's truly night and day what this unit has done for me so far! Great video by the way :) [The rest of my system is a JL audio build through-and-through]. So sorry for your loss. My condolences. May your brother rest in peace.

[@carstereochick]

I'm so happy to hear others are having the same experience with this head unit! Part of me wasn't sure if I was just getting overly nostalgic due to the sentimental nature of the car. Thank you for affirming my experience! And that's so helpful to know you had no trouble with the 9000ES reading your 1 TB SSD T9. That's awesome. It sounds like you have a great set up. Lastly thank you very much for your kind words and sympathy, I truly appreciate it!

[@Black2KGSR]

I'm surprised the sound changed that much from just changing out the HU. especially since you changed from a Kenwood and not a stock HU. Very sorry to hear about your loss. May he RIP

[@carstereochick]

Thank you. Me too, I was shocked at the difference. It was just a basic Kenwood unit, but I had a Sony in their prior to that and I remember the Kenwood being a decent upgrade over the older Sony.

[@melissathompson7229]

That older generation of Kenwood were not even sold at our shop because they were so painfully slow and they had a weird glitch where on the o scope going from like volume 24 to 25 it would cause almost a square wave, so we avoided selling them up until the last few years. I still personally feel the Alpines 4 volt head units have the "warmest sound" even though Alpine has its own issues, unfortunately none of the companies seem to put it all together that its frustrating as a salesperson and installer, and its tough to have a "go to" head unit for customers. I will say the 9 and 10 series Excelon units sound good and RR integration is by far the best. Just my opinion of course

[@carstereochick]

That's really interesting because when we did A/B testing on our board between Kenwood DMX958XR and the Alpine iLX-507 we all felt the Alpine sounded a bit thin, thought Kenwood was warmer, but this was easily overcome using Alpine's EQ. From a reliability standpoint, Kenwood has been absolutely rock solid. Fewest defects/failures of all the brands we sell/install. Additionally, I haven't seen anything weird during any testing on the oscilloscope. Some of the single DIN's will start clipping one notch before max volume, but that's about it. I was between this and the DMX958XR, but based on how the Sony XAV-9500ES sounded on display, I gave the XAV-9000ES a chance and I am SO glad I did. If you haven't checked out the ES line yet, I highly recommend it. The other great thing about Sony is their dealer support.

[@melissathompson7229]

The new Excelons have no issues but if you ever get free time (yea right) take your old Kenwood and put a scope on it and watch the volume between clicks it's very strange. We do Sony ES and they've been super solid, they're just kind of plain, which I love about them but some customers like the pretty colors etc of Excelon. Definitely love Sonys dealer support, Tozzi has always taken good care of us even after hours.

[@carstereochick]

Yes, Tozzi is awesome! And yes (lol - you totally get it) if I get a chance I will definitely hook up the old Kenwood and check it out. Interestingly enough I never regularly turned it up past 22 because I didn't need to with how it was tuned.

[@jovenlara5868]

Very moving, thanks for sharing!

[@carstereochick]

I’m so glad to hear that, thank you 🙏

[@jovenlara5868]

@@carstereochick and also that playlist took me back to the good old days of the 90's, some tunes I've not listened for years and some new discoverys. Thanks again, it's the 1st video I watch form you, I'm already a fan 👍

[@digitaljigga]

Great review! I got emotional listening to you get emotional!

[@carstereochick]

Thank you ❤️

[@digitaljigga]

@@carstereochick can you help me finish the component selection for my system please?

[@raulbosquez3915]

You sold me I’m getting this deck soon .. I have a Kenwood as well … need to upgrade!!

[@NewVisionLCS]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Amazing Story!

[@carstereochick]

Thanks for listening!

[@NewVisionLCS]

@@carstereochick you're welcome!

[@Kroviakjm]

Dude love this video. I just bought this Sony deck and I agree. It sounds so good!

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much for your encouragement, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And very happy to hear you agree on the sound quality! Enjoy :)

[@Davesworld7]

I know Sony would not put the ES designation on just anything. Thank you so much for this. I still have an Alpine X208U but I am beginning to realize how old it is. This was a very nice video and as a kid, Audio was my first love as far as Electronics. At the same time, I always loved music so it was always about bringing the music closer to the listener.

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much for your support. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's amazing how much music can steer and connect us all.

[@davhan23]

I think your videos are great! I ❤ the no BS reviews with no held punches when you don’t like something about a product. 👉🏻Don’t be too self conscious about what you do. Because you are good at what you do!!👈🏻 I am curious what you think of the differences between this and the XAV-AX6000 model. Do you think the sound quality and or separation would be much different? Thank you for your time and effort put into the videos that you make!!!

[@carstereochick]

Thank you so much for the encouragement!!! And yes, there is a huge difference between the XAV-6000 and the XAV-9000ES. Even on our display board, you can hear the difference between the XAV-9500ES (same electronics as the 9000ES, but bigger screen) and everything else on there - DMX958XR, DMX908S, iLX-507, iLX-509, DMX1057XR, XAV-6000 - which are all solid options, but the ES head units are just on a completely different level.

[@dougpeters5849]

Sure wish the Sony had HD radio. Side question, if one uses an external DSP, is there still a benefit to the Sony's internal DSP ?

[@jesusian7]

Good job Annie. Great, do I need to upgrade already??!!

[@carstereochick]

Thank you my friend! Ha, no, I think the DMX709s was a perfect big work truck. We'd really have to sound proof that entire cabin to have a chance at hearing any sort of detail over the engine. But your other truck? Yeah, maybe put the old Kenwood you have in that to good use in the Lincoln and upgrade to 9000ES in the F-250. That's definitely an option.

[@kiwiasian]

I wish this headunit was available in NZ!

[@alistermccallum]

I think the 9500 is available but you have to buy it from an authorised Sony shop.

[@kiwiasian]

@@alistermccallum yes! I just saw that too, but I’d prefer a non floating screen. I wonder if Alpine has something in the same league?

[@alistermccallum]

@@kiwiasian I’m going to get the Kenwood DDX-920WDABS as I still want to play discs and DVDs.

[@kiwiasian]

@@alistermccallum nice one! That unit is on my shortlist too, and would be perfect fit size-wise in my Toyota.

[@carstereochick]

I don’t know. The Kenwood DMX958XR and iLX-507 were very similar in sound quality on A/B comparisons on display, with the Kenwood sounding a bit warmer to us, yet we were able to fill out the initial thin sound on Alpine using the EQ. The Sony XAV-9500ES seems to outperform both on display. I also didn’t want a floating screen so I was very excited to try the 9000 hoping it would sound just as good. The in car experience has been amazing. Hands down this is the best sounding stereo system I’ve had in 24 in the industry. I think if the 9500 is available there, it’s probably only a a matter of time before the 9000 is as well, but I also don’t know exactly how these companies decide what to sell in what country.

[@applejacks971]

❤❤❤

[@arunprasadramanathan]

Great, Definite and large Sound Quality improvement should be there considering recent HU vs more than 7 year old HU. But Kenwood Radio was 7 years old (an (Archived HU) and like others, they have also updated their Stereos as per advancement in tech. Hence if you have this comparison would be ( considering similar price points ) - it would give a better perspective to current buyers of the Unit. 1. Sony XAV - 9000 ES vs Kenwood DMX958XR 2. Sony XAV - 9500 ES vs Kenwood DMX1057XR or similar ones across SONY/Kenwood/Alpine/Pioneer

[@benm2033]

What back up camera did you use?

[@carstereochick]

That is just a basic Rydeen CMMINY3 with JB01 bracket.

[@MrJpags]

This 9000 or alpine ilx-507?

[@alistermccallum]

That wifi network 😂

[@carstereochick]

I was waiting for someone to pick up on that ;)

[@SooksVI]

There are a couple features on my Kenwood DMX907s that I like and I'm curious if the Sony has. One is the ability to read OBD II data. I like being able to see information from the car on the screen. Another feature is wireless display sharing, where I can send what's on my phone's (Android) screen to the unit. Does the Sony have anything similar? I didn't see it listed in the features online.

[@carstereochick]

Great question. The Sony does have the Maestro integration which is where those dynamic park guidance lines came from on the reverse camera display. It does have the vehicle info screen and gauges which is definitely helpful when trying to diagnose a check engine light error or check your PSI. However, it does not do screen mirroring. That is one thing Kenwood does really well with Android wirelessly. Also no HDMI input so you can't even do it with a wired connection. Which is weird because they do offer HDMI on the XAV-AX6000. I was too distracted by the sound quality to even go over the Maestro pages. You could load video onto a USB C thumb drive. It will read ASF, WMV, AVI, MKV and MPEG-4.

[@SooksVI]

@@carstereochick thanks for the info. The Wireless display feature is a nice to have but not a deal breaker. I do prefer Sony's menu design and overall aesthetic to the Kenwood. The ability to play LDAC wirelessly is a big selling point since I currently have to keep my phone plugged in to get higher res audio from Tidal.

[@jesusian7]

Not a bad idea

[@agentorange8530]

Man, I should have bought this instead of those Android head units.

[@Kroviakjm]

Hi I just bought this unit and I’m having trouble finding a reverse camera that has a good image can you point me in the right direction? What reverse camera are you using?

[@carstereochick]

This is just a basic Rydeen CM-MINy3 which is a great value camera, but there is definitely better available even within the Rydeen line you could try the CM-HD5. More companies are starting to come out with analog high definition (AHD) and eventually I want to upgrade mine to one of those. I might try the Echomaster PHDCAM10U which is 720P and has IR for better night visibility. The one I have has 480 TV lines and the CM-HD5 has 960, but neither have IR. Part of the reason it looks pretty decent is the Sony display is so much better than my older Kenwood. Also keep in mind the dynamic guidance lines are actually a function of the iDatalink Maestro with the Sony XAV-9000ES. That's not a part of the camera.

[@Kroviakjm]

@@carstereochick do you know what would be the best camera from rydeen that would work with the 9000es? And do I need to buy the one with ir lights to see in the dark? I see that it’s only 480 tv lines?

[@Kroviakjm]

@@carstereochick or what about the cm-ahd2

[@kroozzy9863]

Can youtube & tidal & Amazon all premium subscriptions be added onto the actual headunit without a wired connection ?

[@carstereochick]

It's wireless for both CarPlay & Android Auto. The wire is for optional charging. Keep in mind Android Auto & Apple CarPlay top out at 16 bit/44.1 kHz so even if you're using the higher res options in these apps, you're maxing out with CD quality using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

[@kroozzy9863]

@carstereochick hi 👋, thank you for your reply 😀

[@joshwhite8417]

This or the kenwood excelon reference?

[@carstereochick]

I was originally going for the DMX958XR in, but after spending a lot of time listening to the XAV-9500ES on display I opted for the Sony. They're both very good, but I do think the Sony has the edge in sound quality.

[@LynxStarAuto]

Is that a physical volume button? Or like a touchy nonsense thing?

[@carstereochick]

Physical buttons 😊

[@oslozoya1]

I had one then wrecked my car.

[@Cstevecoleman]

No Anti-Glare touchscreen? If it does say it has it in spec, it’s not very good.

[@carstereochick]

Believe it or not that is actually pretty decent for a touchscreen being hit with direct sunlight. This is the only time I've really had the opportunity to do that with a head unit in a video other than the Alpine X409-WRA-JL John had in his Wrangler. I think the DMX958XR display might have been slightly better, but not substantially when hit with direct sun like that. And I'm basing that opinion solely on the saturation of color on my display model XAV-9500ES and DMX958XR. Sony considers this an anti-glare HD screen. The LCD is bonded directly to the glass touch screen.