Earlier this month Sony announced a new 8.95-inch in-car media receiver and at the time we were impressed with the size of the display, but it lacked a few features you’d expect it to have. Now Sony have announced an even bigger in-car receiver, this one complete with so many features.
The new Sony XAV-9500ES In-car Media Receiver sports a massive 10.1-inch HD display attached to a four-way adjustable mount. The high-definition (1280 x 720) LCD panel has an optically gapless design to provide a best-in-class picture quality. The gapless design also allows for an extremely precise touch experience with improved contrast and visual performance.
Just like the large display before it the XAV-9500ES fits into a single DIN in your car’s dashboard giving it the flexibility to be installed in so many different vehicles. The XAV-AX8000 though lacked wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay but thanks to the in-built Wi-Fi and supplied GPS antenna the XAV-9500ES supports both forms of wireless connectivity.
Add in USB-C rear connection terminals for “high speed” charging (3A), a quick wake up feature, being rear view camera ready with parking guidelines it offers just about everything you could need in an in-car media receiver.
Of course, coming from a Sony product you’d expect high quality sound and the XAV-9500ES provides this with support for 192 kHz / 24-bit WAV, FLAC, ALAC audio files, and DSD (22.4MHz) files via 192 kHz / 24-bit PCM conversion and LDAC to Bluetooth stream all of these codecs with exceptional sound quality. Sony has also included an ESS DAC, a built-in 4-channel Class A/B amplifier, high quality audio components and on-device 14-band EQ to produce the sound style that you prefer.
Lacking though are digital radio (DAB+) capabilities and HDMI connections — although I’m still not convinced you need HDMI connections on an in-car media receiver.
The massive Sony XAV-9500ES with its huge 10.1-inch display will be available in Australia later this year for a premium price of SRP $1,999. Hopefully we can get our hands on one to check it out for you prior to any purchasing decisions.
