Sony Announces Three Super Audio CD Car Stereo Players

Sony is bringing out three Car Stereo players with Super Audio CD. That’s the big news this week from Sony Electronics headquarters in Japan.

According to a news story from the company’s HD World newsletter which focuses on Sony’s High Definition or “HD” products and technologies (such as Super Audio CD, Direct Stream Digital, High Definition TV Sets and the Blu-Ray Disc), Sony’s “Xplod” Car Stereo line will introduce the industry’s first “in-car AV entertainment system” with Super Audio CD playback this Spring.

Three SACD Car Stereo Models from Sony Explod
The SACD products will consist of three Sony Explod models aimed at the after-sale car stereo market. The first two models, due out in late Spring, are the MEX-DV1000 and the MEX-DV2000.

According to Sony, the MEX-DV1000 is a 1-DIN sized multi-disc player that features Stereo SACD playback along with DVD Video, Windows Media Audio (WMA), MP3 Audio and Dolby Digital playback. It has 52 watts per channel of power for all 4 channels in the unit and offers sound output in excess of 100db. The MEX-DV2000 is essentially identical to the MEX-DV1000 except that it provides both Stereo and Surround Sound SACD playback.

In the summer, these two SACD Car Stereo products will be joined by the XAV-W1. This unit will be a 2-DIN size model that will include a WVGA TFT Touch Screen Monitor along with both Stereo Super Audio CD and Surround Sound Super Audio CD playback as well.

A Long Awaited Development
The arrival of SACD Car Stereo players has been a long awaited development by High Resolution Audio fans. Philips and Harman Audio had previously announced development work on in car SACD players, so their initial arrival from Sony is a bit of a surprise.

HD World says that “SACD’s In-Car application has been a long time coming – mainly due to the lack of suitable silicon for this demanding application. These new models are the product of a major development program within Sony and feature a new and radically different design of AV chassis called ‘DRIVE-S II’. Also, the models feature state-of-the-art silicon chipsets developed specifically to meet the challenge of HD In-Car audio.”

Comments from Sony SACD Project Officials
Included in the announcement of the three SACD Car Stereo units was a statement from Sony’s Super Audio CD Project group.

Yushi Igarashi, General Manager of the Sony Super Audio CD project based in Tokyo said that the three Super Audio CD Car Stereo products are “a tremendously exciting development. Last year Sony Computer Entertainment included SA-CD playback with PlayStation 3, giving far greater opportunities to people to listen to their favorite music on this stunning HD audio format. Now, SA-CD can be listened to in the car, which is a key application in winning over music lover’s hearts and minds.

At Sony we remain committed to driving ahead with SA-CD integration and to this end we are continually developing SA-CD capable hardware in order to broaden the HD music world.”

We’ll keep an eye on this development and give you more information on these three SACD Car Entertainment players as they near market availability later in 2007.

Sony Explod’s MEX-DV1000 In Car Entertainment system with SA-CD Stereo playback - Due Out In SpringSony Explod’s MEX-DV1000 In Car Entertainment system with SA-CD Stereo playback – Due Out In Spring