# The Sony ES XM and G Series comparison



## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

2100G


260g
260g guts


XM5046
XM5046 guts

Xm3546
XM3546 guts

460G
460G guts

These are the best pics I could find of these models

This is to compare the Sony Xm models versus the G models which use a very similar heatsink and color. But they are not the same amp on the inside. 
Both are ES models. Even the G models are XM but a higher level of the XM. Both are very nice and offer great SQ but.... the prices may vary due to the components used int the amps.
The only amp I havent had or heard is the 460G. Which is a 4 channel version of the 260G.
The XM3546 and XM5046 is apparently a smaller version of the more beefy 460G which is a 4 channel G series ES Amp. The G is a Gibraltar heatsink and also signifies a more robust components usage in the amps such as the number of caps and also bigger fets in the power supply. I think the caps used in these amps are the same type ( brand name)

The XM series, although an ES model, is one step lower than the G models.
BUT
The XM5046 is a dual power supply amp and has 4 channels. The XM3546 as you can see doesnt have dual power supplies. 
The XES is a step above these models and was a whole different SQ amp. 
The XES uses even larger Fets. Larger caps and totally separate power supply and amp board in one heat sink. The XES is the Best Sony offered and was outstanding.

The rarest of all these Sony ES amps is the 460G 

The XM5046 is indistinguishable form the 2100G in sound. Even though the Model (XM vs G) should be a substantial different in components. The Xm3046 , although nice and clean for mids and highs, doesnt offer the same sonics as the XM5046. 

These amps all use balanced inputs. A very important consideration when going SQ in an install , to eliminate ground loops.


Here is a great website with more info on the different Sony models.
its a FREE guts website


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## JAX

nice job. thanks for that link to that web. I have been there before.


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## tyroneshoes

I stand semi corrected and confirmed on some accounts. Thanks for those internal g260 gut pics.


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## tyroneshoes

Old school, what are your thoughts on this model and sorry for underestimating your knowledge

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...9-sony-mobile-es-7547-big-red-once-again.html


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

tyroneshoes said:


> Old school, what are your thoughts on this model and sorry for underestimating your knowledge
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...9-sony-mobile-es-7547-big-red-once-again.html


That particular amp is a high end XM but not a G level.
But also remember that the XM models are almost identical to the G models in Sound ( IMO )
Id put this between the 460G and the XM5046.

It has dual powersupplies but lacks the robust component usagae that the G models have.

Check out the guts

Even though its a four channel amp, compare this 4 channel to the 460G and you can clearly see this amp has way fewer outputs and caps. 

BUT

What it does have is nice,
check out the name on the caps.

Powerful, Sounds great. Overall nice amp.


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## JAX

tyroneshoes said:


> Old school, what are your thoughts on this model and sorry for underestimating your knowledge
> 
> http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...9-sony-mobile-es-7547-big-red-once-again.html



the teacher has now become the student...lol...I couldnt resist...


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## JAX

OldSchoolAudioandVideo said:


> That particular amp is a high end XM but not a G level.
> But also remember that the XM models are almost identical to the G models in Sound ( IMO )
> Id put this between the 460G and the XM5046.
> 
> It has dual powersupplies but lacks the robust component usagae that the G models have.
> 
> Check out the guts
> 
> Even though its a four channel amp, compare this 4 channel to the 460G and you can clearly see this amp has way fewer outputs and caps.
> 
> BUT
> 
> What it does have is nice,
> check out the name on the caps.
> 
> Powerful, Sounds great. Overall nice amp.




so the G is basically overbuilt more than the regular xm ? sound is no different unless your a superhuman? 

more parts in the G. 

so what was the difference in the G and the XES ?


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

JAX said:


> so the G is basically overbuilt more than the regular xm ? sound is no different unless your a superhuman?
> 
> more parts in the G.
> 
> so what was the difference in the G and the XES ?



It depends on the Xm model. But for the most part the Sony ES G series sounded identical to the Sony ES XM series. The only 4 channel ES XM amp that didnt sound like the G was the 3546. It doesnt have the twin power supply. There were other smaller ES XM 2 channel amps that didnt fit within the ES G series SQ. Basically the ones that dont have the twin power supplies didnt sound like the G series. But for the most part the usual listener wouldnt be able to tell much of a difference, especially when using mediocre speakers.

The G series IS and XM amp but on a bit higher level that the standard XM of that era.
Sony made things complicated with the model naming. They kept the XM on all there amps but added ES or G to elevate there "standard"

Remember

You need to take into consideration which XM series we are talking about. There is the XM NON ES and XM ES. The NON ES is nothing like the G or the amps I am referring too.

The XES M! and M3 were the first XES amps.

M1
M1 guts

M3
M3 guts

The XES series was aimed at total SQ. They arent 1 ohm stable like the XM. 
XM was a medium between SQ and SPL. 
XES used totally separate boards for power supply and amp section. EVery single component was different. 
I used all these amps on the same speakers in the same car. I can tell you without any doubt that the XES is superior to the ES G series in every way.
The XES demands SQ speakers. They truly are a high end amp. Just look at the caps and the transistors. You dont see that in other brands or models.
Fixing these amps is very simple and they dont require expensive replacement parts. This is why the XES is going to always be my fave amp among the best Ive had.
I have the service manual BTW
The XES amps were meant to be used with the XES processors and head unit.
The ES amps were mint to be used with the C90 and similar decks of that time.
Later, Sony replaces the XES M1 and M3 with the last of the great Sony amps.

The XES Z50
Z50 guts

As you can see this amp is a work of art. Totally Exclusive and very rare. The Z50 is yet another level of even higher SQ then the previous.. 

The Last and greatest XM ES model was the 
Xm2000R
XM2000R guts
This beast was way too big for most people. It was made for SPL with SQ capabilities like the G series. But way more SPL than the G series could ever even imagine.
The Xm2000R , although powerful and clean still wasnt on par with the XES models. Again. the XES was total SQ. 

The amps made today by Sony arent anything like the ES or XES


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## tyroneshoes

JAX said:


> the teacher has now become the student...lol...I couldnt resist...


Gotta be able to admit when someone knows more about something than you expected, I never even knew there was a 4 channel g but I want it.


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

tyroneshoes said:


> Gotta be able to admit when someone knows more about something than you expected, I never even knew there was a 4 channel g but I want it.


Yea, but you wont find it.
Its the rarest amp Sony made. The Z5o is not as rare. And that says allot.
I saw just 1 ever for sale.
If you can find one get it. Its two 260 G's in one heatsink.

Bridged, it is more powerful than the 2100 G


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## tyroneshoes

OldSchoolAudioandVideo said:


> Yea, but you wont find it.
> Its the rarest amp Sony made. The Z5o is not as rare. And that says allot.
> I saw just 1 ever for sale.
> If you can find one get it. Its two 260 G's in one heatsink.
> 
> Bridged, it is more powerful than the 2100 G


How did you gain all this Sony ES knowledge? Were you an employee?


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

Goes ALLLLL the way back to when I was selling some this stuff in Mid 90's

That time was a Golden Age for Car Audio and Video.


.


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## JAX

Neat stuff. Just goes to show what Sony used to do in contrast to what young kids think today. 

For the life of me I can't figure out why they started and continue with the "xplode" label on their stuff even today. 

Has nobody at Sony ever heard the jokes about their name ? 


I almost wish you had not discussed this so much. Now I will have to fight more people over these when they pop up. 

I have the feeling I will be selling my twister f4-380 and picking up some more ES amps now.


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

Hey man. I feel you. Ive had all kinds of amps and always seem to come back to the Sony ES models.
Seriously man.
They are nice sounding and last for years. 
I had a M3 and it didnt die even when one of the huge transistors for output cracked.
Someone sold it to me like that. I think they wanted to check out the insides. When they put in all back together they screwed the transistors down to tight. Cracked it. Sucker still jammed. 
I replaced the transistor for like $4. LOL same exact replacement.
These amps never had any ground loop noises or hiss. Even my mom was like.. WOW you changed your amps again? They sound awesome. 
LOL


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## tyroneshoes

OldSchoolAudioandVideo said:


> Hey man. I feel you. Ive had all kinds of amps and always seem to come back to the Sony ES models.


Same here. Never had any issues, ever with an es amp except the xm5026 which was a weaker design.

I must have sold over 20 sony es amps here.


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## JAX

at one time I had a small stash of ES stuff and I told my buddy Ollschool I was going to snatch up all the ES on ebay and have a closet full...

I should have done that. I may still do that now. I got the old Sony bug again...


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## nismos14

Nice thread!


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## Svendingo

> ....
> I used all these amps on the same speakers in the same car. I can tell you without any doubt that the XES is superior to the ES G series in every way.


Awesome post and great information. 

Where would you place the dual PS 7547 and 7527 ES models in the XM/ES hierarchy? 




Sent from my DROID using Tapatalk


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

Between the XM ES series and the XM ES G series.
The G series is the series just before the XES
The XM ES has 3 levels. The highest is the 2000R then the 2 you mentioned after that.
Then there is the dual power supply ES XM5046 then it gets narrowed down to the single power supply ES amps which are just a tad bit better than the usual NON ES XM models.
Such as the XM3546 and XM5026 etc etc.


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## atxtrd

As of last night I am the proud papa of 3-3546's and a pair of 5046's, all flawless condition and some new with boxes. I plan on running a pair of the 5046's briged in an active set up on my Polk SR 6500's. I owned a 3546 years ago and to this day it still stands out in my mind as an amazing little amp, cant wait to fire up it's bigger brothers!


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## JAX

you got yourself a nice little collection all in one chunk. I was debating buying the 2 5046's myself.


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## Navy Chief

Xm3546

XM3546 guts

These are actually pics of an XM-3046, in fact they are pics of my pair of 3046s. I do not know what the difference between the 3046 and 3546 is, but I do know that I love the pair that I have. These sound great and have far more power than rated. I will be changing these out soon though, if anyone is interested they will be available soon.


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## atxtrd

JAX said:


> you got yourself a nice little collection all in one chunk. I was debating buying the 2 5046's myself.


Yeah, I mainly did it for the 5046's but PJ drives a hard bargin! 
He is now the proud owner of my old NIB Eclipse CD8443 and some cash, and I think he will have some fun with it. I am trying to get my stuff back in my truck but I am also pondering downsizing to a Tacoma, sad thing is neither the Tundra DC or the Tacoma have much room for gear. I will likely sell the 3546's to help fund a new HU and processor when I figure out what in the world I want, though it will be actice capable. Always cool to meet a local guy like PJ who is a gear head like me.


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## soundboy

Nice thread 

I love it... Always love ES and XES line... So I am happy to own :

3x XES-M1
3x XES-M3

4x XES-M50

The best of best from Sony is XES-M50, is very special amp. Some as OldSchoolAudioandVideo say : work of art & Totally Exclusive and super SQ...

M1 / M3 was build for whole first XES line some came in 1990/1991 , but them can also works great with other brand than ES line.

M50 is more special after this amp are build after to work 100% with rest of XES-Z50 line and love to run in low load..

IS 100% TRUE 2x monoblock`s in same chassis...Came in 1997-2001

power XES-M50 :

2x 50watt in 4ohm (XES-H50 band.tweeter 4ohm)
2x 100watt in 2ohm (XES-F50 6" full-range is in 2ohm)
2x 200watt in 1ohm (XES-L50 12" 2x2ohm is on 1ohm each)
2x 400watt in 0.5ohm

Can be bridge in 4 ohm mono load, but require special coupling to run 100% after RIGHT and LEFT channel is dont are connection together..


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

Navy Chief said:


> Xm3546
> 
> XM3546 guts
> 
> These are actually pics of an XM-3046, in fact they are pics of my pair of 3046s. I do not know what the difference between the 3046 and 3546 is, but I do know that I love the pair that I have. These sound great and have far more power than rated. I will be changing these out soon though, if anyone is interested they will be available soon.



Its cause the 2 models are identical
Inside and out.
The difference is a few watts.
I couldnt find pics for 3546. But when looking at the 2 models they look so much alike, I used your pics.
There are 2 channel Xm models that are almost identical as well.


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## Navy Chief

OldSchoolAudioandVideo said:


> Its cause the 2 models are identical
> Inside and out.
> The difference is a few watts.
> I couldnt find pics for 3546. But when looking at the 2 models they look so much alike, I used your pics.
> There are 2 channel Xm models that are almost identical as well.


Maybe they just realized they were admitting to way less watts than they were putting out and changed the model number based on 35x4 instead of 30x4. And the pics were actually takin by the member here that I bought them from.


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

Navy Chief said:


> Maybe they just realized they were admitting to way less watts than they were putting out and changed the model number based on 35x4 instead of 30x4. And the pics were actually takin by the member here that I bought them from.


Nah. Its cause Sony always offered a wide variety of wattage. They think the wide variety will make them more money. It does.
For instance
SONY and many other big name brands sell the same or similar item in many different retail stores but label it just a tad bit different. WHY? You cant price match an item with a different model number no matter how similar they are.

Comparison shopping leads to making one retail store offer the buyer the same price as another retail store or even sometimes a lower price to get there biz. This called Price Matching. 

Sony and other companies dont like income from just one store. So they make the same item but label it a bit different and send those different models out to different stores so they can profit from all stores. The retail stores dont have to price match OR loose biz from other retail store lower pricing. Everybody wins. Mass MArketing at its finest.


Slick... And it works
These XM amps were actually sold in a few retail stores. Sears sold these and even sold some of the high end decks. 


Its kinda like selling the same exact Sony TV in 2 different stores but one store has a different model number and offers only one feature ( very minor I may add ) to fullfill the requirement to make a different model number.


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## dobslob

JAX said:


> Neat stuff. Just goes to show what Sony used to do in contrast to what young kids think today.
> 
> For the life of me I can't figure out why they started and continue with the "xplode" label on their stuff even today.
> 
> Has nobody at Sony ever heard the jokes about their name ?


It was "Xplod" and it is only used on the product available at Walmart. Sony has done away with it in all other markets and on all current packaging. They have been listening and are responding to what they hear.

Sony used to do incredible things and are really starting to get back on their game in car audio. Check out the new DSX-S310BTX when you get the chance. I am working on modifying some of the new product to give it digital out that I can use with my Audison Bit products. Very good now, could be great very soon.


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## JAX

I am selling that 2100G that was for sale this past week. in case anyone wants to buy it.lol


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## OldSchoolAudioandVideo

dobslob said:


> It was "Xplod" and it is only used on the product available at Walmart. Sony has done away with it in all other markets and on all current packaging. They have been listening and are responding to what they hear.
> 
> Sony used to do incredible things and are really starting to get back on their game in car audio. Check out the new DSX-S310BTX when you get the chance. I am working on modifying some of the new product to give it digital out that I can use with my Audison Bit products. Very good now, could be great very soon.



LOL .
IDK man. I dont keep up with the Price matching stuff these days. Yea Maybe WalMart is still doing this with the Xplod models. But back in the day it was all kinds of stuff. I used to work At Sears. We had people call in and ask us to price match all kinds of stuff and we couldnt cause the item was just a bit different.
Xplod was out back in pre year 2000. Actual Xplod is another level of the XM models like the G and ES. You should consider that the Xplod are to be the lowest of the Sony models. I had the purple Xplod amps with the blue plexi windows when I first started out with Sony. SOme were Red. Some had Eq's and Some were pretty nice. But not ES status. Sears sold these and even some ES items. This is where I got the high end XRC900 Casette deck with A CD changer. That deck was equivalent to the C90 but was a tape player. 
I even got a nice Sony EQ to go with it. 


































This was my Nissan back in 99. I installed the Sony gear myself. It was a 4 channel XM504X on 2 Kicker 10's in a bandpass enclosure.


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## JayinMI

My first (real) amp was a Sony XM-4040. I love these things. They sound good, they're tanks, never have noise. I've had like 6 in the past 20 years. I have one now, as a matter of fact and just sold my XM-10020 to our window Tinter. 

I just picked up 2 2100g's and have a line on a 5046. 

I like the fact that kids nowadays only remember Xplod...keeps the prices on good sony amps down. LOL

Jay


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