I'd like some opinions - My Kenwood cassette deck is dying a slow death and I want to go with an in dash CD unit. I like Pioneer and Kenwood, but am not totally committed to either if something better comes along within my price range.
I have also looked at Alpine, Sony (X-plod), and a few others, and wonder which way to go. I'm looking for something with a good tuner, decent anti-skip capability, MP3 compatable with 50W x 4. Nothing too fancy, just a good deck in the $150 - $200 range. Anyone want to suggest something? Oh, and is there a good place to shop online for car audio? Thanks guys...:hail:

 

Ive been an alpine deck user since i got my first car and will probably not go to anything else. i would highly recommend there decks to you. there prices are goin to be higher than pioneer and kenwood, but you are gettin what you pay for here, as with all of you stereo components.

 

Blaupunkt San Jose MP41 - $135 at Ikesound.com

MP3, 25x4 (rms) 57x4 peak (I think)

 

i've heard that sony is crap. I ended up getting a KOSS cd deck. I love the features ( flip down detachable face, cd-r/cd-rw, cd changer controlls, Sub woofer Controlls, 3 Dimm settings for background, Pre-outs for front, rear, and amp, 40x4 internal amp, Random, intro, Repeat song/CD ) and maybe a few others that I forgott about, cause I never did use all of them. The only problems that I have with this deck is that the little pins that connect the face plate to the deck, bend really easy, causeing it to malfunction. The other problem I have is that it skips easy too. Like I said I like the features, but now i'm looking for a new deck that doesn't have the two flaws that mine has, plus the same features.

So stay away from sony and Koss.

 

i have had nothing but good luck with all the alpine equipment i have ever owned. you can't go wrong with an Alpine HU.

 

If you looking for good reception, skip prevention, and MP3 compatible, think Alpine, then Kenwood, then Pioneer, in the order. The Alpine units tend to be more expensive but worth the extra money. I would be looking at Kenwood or Pioneer but up the price range a bit. The DEH-P4500mp is on the low end of the price range at around $200.00. I don’t like the display on them at all though. It uses a 7+ segment alphanumeric display so the letter quality sucks. Then the Kenwood KDC-MP522 at around $250.00. It’s a great deck, good bang for the buck. And then the Pioneer DEH-P7500mp at around $350.00, GREAT deck. Great features. Good price for what you get. STAY AWAY FROM SONY AND AIWA! They’re just plain junk, nothing good about them. I know that these are all over your limit, but you DO get what you pay for. Your just not going to get much in the way of a quality MP3 deck for under $200.00, there out there but the quality is sub-standard on all of the ones I’ve seen.

 

Thanks everyone - you've been a big help. Anyone else?

 

I have a couple year old panasonic deck, forget the model, it's like 52x4 and it ran about $350 new, the only problem it's ever given me is if you have it up almost all the way for 2-3hrs(most people never will but I do sometimes), it would get very very hot and the display would just turn completely blue (it is a blue LCD type display) and you couldn't hardly see anything. I've had friends who have had nothing but good luck with pioneer decks, I have two friends with the DEH-8400MP, they retail for about $599 but I know of a site that sells them for $379. cardiscountstereos.com has very good deals, but stay away from the cheap **** they have though. I agree with the other guys, you get what you pay for. And I will agree that sony decks are overpriced poorly made dog****.

 

Thanks for all replies, if nothing else I've learned some things.
I actually ended up going with a Pioneer DEH-P3500, haven't had time to install it yet though. I wanted something a bit better, with MP3 capability, but after being given the opinion that a "good" MP3 player was out of my price range, I decided to go with this one. Just so happens I put the same model in my wife's car a few weeks ago, and thought it wasn't a bad unit.
I really didn't want any trash, but needed to stay in my budget. Too many other things gobbling up the money around here...
Thanks :hail:

 

Darn, didn't get to you in time! ALPINE is by far your best bet! I used to work for Ultimate Electronics and got to compare head units on a day-to-day basis. Alpine has the best for sound quality, construction quality, and ease of use (in my opinion) Very reasonably priced too! I got to hear all the different makers in MANY different vehicles and Alpine always sounded the best. Of course, thats whats powering my system! So, for future reference....there ya go!

Bruce (90RS305)

 

I've got Alpine now and that is by far the best I've seen. I had a Blaupunkt before and it sucked, my friends have jenson (sh*t) and pioneer and they don't work as well.