Iv had my Sony xplode in my car for some time now, I'd say around 4-5 years and I'm ready for a different look and hopefully some better sound. My current unit works fine and sounds okay but I was something better so what's everyones choice? I don't want a touch screen. My current setup is , 2 kicker 6.5s in the dash, a pair of 6x9 jbl GTO speakers in the sail panels and a pair of 12" Kenwood subs in the back in a well box. I'm wanting to add some door panel speakers and some tweets in the a pillers at some point.

 

Kenwood, soundstream, pioneer , no Sony stuff for me

 

I've had a few sony x-plod decks, but I ended up picking this up http://www.crutchfield.com/S-WFHQliK...H-P8300UB.html on craigslist for $60. Sounds better than the sony xplod I bought, and a few other <$100 brand new cd players that I had.

If you haven't already, I'd buy a quality 4 channel amp for all of the mids and avoid deck amplifiers. The sound will be so much better. $100 amp, $50 in wiring. Could do it for much cheaper if you don't mind bottom of the barrel crap... sometimes we have to :O

 

Im running an Alpine CDE-149BT and I love it. I usually use Pioneer, but read some good reviews on this Alpine and it had all the features I wanted like 3 sets of preamp outputs and adjustable crossover points. Overall it sounds miles better than any of the Piomeers I have had in the past.

 

Uh oh, I really like that Alpine CDE-149BT... Now I might have to buy one! thanks for lighting the fire

 

Currently have Sony, wont buy another

Also have soundstream and pioneer. Either of those are better by a mile (IMO)


Have had Alpine too, lovely gear.

 

The pioneer and kenwood will probably get you more bang for the buck. Alpine makes good stuff but it is usually more expensive for equal features.

 

Some of the features on my Alpine are only found on higher end units from brands like Clarion, namely the time alignment and fully adjustable high and low pass filters. I have had countless Pioneer's and I agree that if you are on a tight budget, they are great, however, spending just a little extra and getting an Alpine can be like night and day. I had a Pioneer in my current car. I dont remember the exact model number but it was $120 from Walmart. Had it matched up with some Panasonic 4x6s up front (they came with the car) some MB Quart 6.5" components in the sail panels, and 2 12" JL Audio subs running off a JL Audio 250w monoblock amp. The only thing I changed out was the headunit from the Pioneer to the Alpine and adjusted all the settings and it was a HUGE improvement in sound quality. I had the Pioneer tweaked and tuned and thought it sounded great until I had that side by side comparison and there is no doubt it is just plain better overall.

short version- Pioneer is great if you have a budget, otherwise check out Alpine.

 

Read my post under "Anyone heard of this brand"

 

i have had cheap units, sony, pioneer, stuff like that in the 120-140 dollar range, they all sound and do about the same. really sound best with stock or low power speakers, which is why i wanted it, i have had them in my old pickup and my yukon with stock speakers.i have a HD sony in my yukon now and it sounds pretty good, especially radio stations. I wont buy anything from walmart because the same brand stuff is different.

on my cars with the whole deal though, if you want really good sound quality you should step up to 150-200 dollar alpine,clarion, etc. i have one of the clarion ones and an older about 400 dollar clarion proaudio, they sound way better and have infinite adjustments for every thing and the adjustments are individual for the different channels and things.

 

If you're going to add an amp to power your speakers you really want to get one that has the most voltage, preferably 5 volts, on their preamp outs to go to your amps, for the best signal transfer and the Sony model I listed has that and so does the tope of the line Alpine.

 

Sony, Clarion, Pioneer, JVC, Jensen, Boss... Pffft.

I wouldn't pay less than $200 for any given headunit, or give anyone $100 for any of the above (including their "high end" garbage). Higher end Alpine and Kenwood, maybe. MAYBE. Never heard a Soundstream, to be honest, but I don't expect much of an improvement over Kenwood and Alpine. Panasonic is pretty low end nowadays as well.

If I had about $250 to burn right now, I'd replace my current HU with an Eclipse CD-7000 off of eBay or the like. Top of the line Eclipse non-flip screen, hard to find, very $$$. Was like a $700-900 HU new (been a while since I've seen the price... may even have been over $1000). You can't find Eclipse new anymore. They went belly up about 2-3 years ago now.

I currently run a 2005 Eclipse CD-5435 ($275 with a discount in 2006). 50Wx4, HD/SIRIUS/iPod ready, CD-changer compatible, Front/Rear/Non-fader (sub) 5V preouts, color changing display (most HUs are only one color, generally blue, red, or green). I'm looking into getting a matching 21010 graphic equalizer to go with it (won't match in color but oh well). Used to have a CD-3402 ($170 in 2003) which was stolen in 2004, bought another a year or so ago but haven't even tested to see if it works as I bought it on eBay). Also have used Alpine, Sony (bought in a car I had possession of for a while... never quite could get around to fully using it OR liking it), Clarion (also in a car I bought... lasted about a week before I yanked it), and Panasonic (bought to replace the CD-3402 after it was stolen).

I'm not saying Eclipse is the best. I'm saying stay away from Sony, JVC, Pioneer, Jensen, and Boss Audio. Avoid Clarion and Alpine unless you have a decent size wad of money in your pocket burning your leg. And nothing less than about $200 or 250. And look into picking up a graphic equalizer if you're a little more serious about what you listen to. Oh, and whichever one has SuperBASS, don't use it! Guaranteed to blow your speakers (this is according to a pro audio shop I used to hang out in and bought all of my equipment from).

 

I'll sell u my Kennwood deck and amp

 

you cant judge all clarion HU's(or any brand) by one random unit sounding bad. could be bad setup, bad or mismatched other components, on and on. and sony,pioneer, kenwood, stuff like that have such a wide range of units really makes a huge difference. the ones from walmart sound like crap and probably will die in a couple years. the ones from crutchfeild or sonic in the higher end is a different story

 

So what your saying is dont buy anything except for Eclipse. Only other brand you didnt list on there was Kenwood. I can honestly say after a ton of research on some bigger car audio forums (with guys running 30,000 watts and more) Alpine is one of the brands they all swear by for one main reason. The pre-amp outputs on Alpine decks are clean signals. No matter what volume, even maxed out, the head unit will not clip the signal at all. Proven with an SMD Distortion Detector. Most head units will clip the signal close to max volume, Alpine does not. It doesnt matter how high quality your stuff is, a clipped signal will kill it in mere seconds.

 

I have a sony xplod CD player that still works fine at 12 yrs old! I have 3 vehicles and they all have sony cd and mp3 players. They are cheap and maybe not the fanciest out there but they have been really reliable to me.

 

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...vers/DEH-80PRS

This bad boy is going in my 89 soon enough! Its a beast!

 

Kenwood owns jvc.

 

http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL029020&pathId=62&page=1

This is what I am using for a headunit when I install all my other audio stuff. I have it hooked up to my factory 88 gta speakers. It sounds shockingly good for 27 yr old delco speakers. The bluetooth intergration with my android/note 2 is awesome.

 

I run an old PRS800....best deck I ever had.

Eclipse is nice but they got out of car audio a while back....too bad.

 

My point of perspective is from the late 80's early 90's audio scene. I still like high quality over volume. JVC has never built a good deck, always had loading mechanism and laser issues. Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, etc all make some nice stuff after you get into the $300+ range. If you want cheaper, look for a nice used one on ebay, it will still be better than some new Wal-Mart piece of crap and only run you $75-125. Eclipse is nice stuff and so is Clarion Pro Audio, also the older Sony Mobile es stuff made in Japan. One of the best decks I ever had was a Toshiba, that thing just plain refused to skip even when off-roading and had dual 1 bit converters back in '94! I am currently collecting some older audio equipment for an old school project and I can tell you almost any amplifier built before 2000 is WAAyy better than 95% of today's garbage. Even a lot of the off brand stuff back then was better than the name brand stuff of today.

 

Sony Xplode is the worst deck I've ever had. Went through two of them in my wife's car before we said screw the warranty and bought a new deck. Sadly, their deck is better than their amps or speakers which are complete crap.

On the other hand, I have always had good luck with Kenwood. I'm currently running a Kenwood KIV 901BT in my GTA right now. Love that deck.

 

90s was when i was real into car audio and i never heard or saw a toshiba HU. kind of interesting, i worked for a toshiba dealer as a office product tech for like 4 years.

 

I worked for a Toshiba dealer at that time also and got the deck at cost +10%. Once in a great while I see a deck or faceplate pop up on ebay.

 

I have had kenwood decks and amps and infinity kappa speakers since the early 80s and have never been dissapointed.

 

Lots of biased, bad advice given out here.

What's best for you may not be best for others. I've just recently switched out my eclipse navi out for a clarion unit, and in my install, audio quality went up. Does that mean that clarion is better than eclipse? Nope. To install specific.

 

I currently have a pioneer 1.5 din that I like.when it dies I will juryrig a double din radio in there unless someone comes out with a quality install kit.

 

I think to ever say that Clarion or Clipse is better, in any install, than Pioneer or Alpine is equally bad advice.

 

I bought an upper model, older (2011 maybe) Kenwood new last year for my Blazer from Amazon for about $220. The faceplate feels cheaply made and in the sunlight the display can be hard to see. It has tons of features I never use and plays loud enough to be a little physically uncomfortable without any noticeable distortion on 4x6s, 4s, and tweeters and keeps up with 3 Alpine Type-R 12 subs running at about 1,300 watts on an old MTX 81000d. If it broke tomorrow I'd probably by another one just like it. A friend turned me back to Kenwood from Alpine and bang for the buck, I think they are my pick now.

 

I'm gonna put one of these in my '92 Bird. I think it'll look VERY period correct in my car.

 

I plan to do that along with the steering wheel controls sometime soon. Just need time and need to find them in good condition.

 

Mine of course!

http://i.testfreaks.com/images/produ...s.33388252.jpg

Pioneer DEH-80PRS

Monochromatic screen, which is fine, but many audio options...
CD player fold down face, if needed, 2 USB, 1 1amp power, Aux in, 4v out
It can be setup normal, Front, Rear, Subs or as a 3 way crossover, highs, mids, bass.
Remote, Mic, etc... I saw 2 places where it had 5 out of 5 average rated reviews.

Mine's still in the box, should be in the car in a few months...
Again, I like all the features, but somewhat simple look...


Some reviews....
https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...&ved=0CIcBELwk

 

Old detachable face Kenwood deck.
6.5 in Pioneer speakers in the door and 6x9 Pioneers in the sail panels.
Perfect for old school rock.

 

Speaking of old school... It was great when Circuit City, Sound Advice, Best Buy (and stores of that nature) had tons of head units, speakers, amps all hooked up and all you had to do was hit a switch to hear the difference... The difference was astounding... you could easily hear what you liked and not... The store now a days cater to budget and middle of the line, with a lot less selection... Doesn't seem like many younger people know / appreciate a good sounding system the the day of ipod/mp3 ear buds, PC speakers and "free" music...

 

was looking though the crutchfield "wish pages". they have this sony hi res tuner coming out. says mp3 is 256k, cds are 1411k, the hi res is 4608k. dont imagine alot of people are going to buy it or the personal mp3 they have either just for that reason, everyone is so use to mp3 quality for cheap. the home unit is either 1 or 2k and the walkman thing is 300


not many have stuff set up anymore, if you happen to roll through VA someday they have a store there its pretty neat.

 

I had one from a '99 T/A in my '86 till I found an RPO correct cassette.