Any car head unit suggestions?

[gregulator]

I am looking to spend around 200-300 for a head unit and have no clue about car audio. All I want is a CD player of sorts, although one that plays CD-RW with mp3 would be nice but I hear mixed reviews about the AIWA unit. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Deicide]

Check out crutchfield.com and pick out a cool looking unit, then go to carReview.com and read a review on it, they're usually pretty good.

 

[Modeps]

For a somewhat inexpensive, yet really nice solution, Kenwood all the way. EDIT: (except I dont think any CD player will play CDRWs.)

 

[KameLeon]

Pioneer DEH series 5200 or above..

 

[BDawg]

On the upper end of the range is Nakamichi and Eclipse. They're far and away the best!

 

[IamDavid]

I've only heard good things about the AIWA MP3 CD player...

 

[bigbootydaddy]

kenwood excelons are arguably the best bang for the buck. the dmask is so badass...even impresses the chicks (i know cuz i have one)

and the optional heads up display...sweeeeeeeet.

 

[bigbootydaddy]

cheap audio!! good brands

they slow on shipping, but nice savings.

edit: also, check egay for dutch wholesales...really good prices. no real bidding, what you see is what you pay.

 

[Cable God]

I bought the Aiwa unit. Simply awesome in my book.

 

[Zucchini]

Get a cheap brandname headunit, and buy an amp. Believe me it makes a big difference. I tried running my speakers off my 40watts x4 panasonic headunit for a year, that wasn't good. Underpowered thing blew my front tweeter and didn't sound very good. Just got a 40watt x4rms 90watts x4 max amp and it sounds much better. Remember that headunit wattage is rated at maximum output(which is bs), amp output is basically minimum continuous power. so the headunit was about 20watts rms

The thing that annoys me is that they don't make headunits without amps at all.. kind of redundant.

 

[gregulator]

Okay I have found some good dutch auctions on e-gulf... the Aiwa MP3 unit for about $250 and a Pioneer unit (DEH P7200) for about $280. What would you choose? Thanks again for all the input.

 

[geno]

Pioneer, their quality is great, even on their lower end models the quality is great. Oh, and heed Zuchinni's advice - amps make all the difference. Above every other component, speakers, deck, anything - amps make the most difference

 

[Imported]

I like this one..

Probably gonna get it for my car also..

 

[Doodoo]

Zuchinni...they do make headunits without amps...usually the top models have no amp. For around 2-300 dollars...check out clarion and pioneer. I love my clarion 9675z.

 

[Zucchini]

yup, i wasted some time just running off the headunit. I had decent speakers too, infinity reference. Unless you have really lousy speakers, theres no reason to go with only a headunit. As i've said before, spend a little on a headunit, don't waste money on internal headunit amps that are useless, and won't be used when an amp is connected. By the way, the sony eqx line of amps includes a equalizer, so if your headunit doesn't have one, it doesn't matter.

doodoo,

I meant no head unit amp as a costcutting measure. Since cheap panasonic/sony 35x4's run around $140, an ampless version should be much less.. if they made it.

 

[Ornery]

The ability to play MP3s is hard to beat. How could you consider anything else if that's even slightly important to you?

 

[geno]

Ornery, from my experience, Aiwa is a questionable name (not to mention a newcomer to the car audio market). And the next one up (Kenwood) is pretty expensive...unfortunately

 

[Zucchini]

yup, the mp3 units aren't there yet. They definetly aren't worth the extreme prices being charged for them. Once the bugs are worked out and every manufacturer has units out for some competition.. anyhow, best to just get a cheapie cd unit for now. cd-r's are like 20cents a peice, so burning a few extra cd's isn't gonna hurt that much for now.

 

[dashdoc]

I have been a professional car audio installer for 18 years, and I have to say that there are NO unimportant parts, I hate to use a cliche', but a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.
The Mp3 decoding decks are still pretty new, first revisions, I have been a fan of Alpine's car audio units for a very long time. They will have one available in June, CDA7878, but it will be in the $500-$600 range, if you can wait a few weeks the newest 2001 modles will be out, Most car audio companies show their new units at CES and then release them in the spring, and from I can tell, most of the companies will be lowering prices. This means that you can get the newest units with more features for the same or less money. panasonic builds a very good CD player, they last forever and are very reasonable, and don't forget, your local specialty dealer will usually match or beat Crutchfield's price, I know we do usually.

 

[geno]

dash, you're right, but you gotta admit that when it comes to upgrading a crappy system with decent speakers, an amp will make a bigger difference than a deck. But you're 100% right when you use that cliche! Even if it's a crappy pair of speakers with the best set of subs on this planet, you're still gonna regret getting those cruddy speakers!

 

[dashdoc]

Genocide, I will have to admit that a good amp will make more of a difference than just about any other single upgrade you can make. On a related note I just finished the system in my new 2001 Blazer,
Alpine 7965, MB Quart 3 way Comp. up front, Coax in the rear, 3 JL Audio 10W6s in custom enclosure, PPI 2600.2(chrome) PPI 4400 (chrome). It was designed for Sound Quality not Sound Preasure, but it will do 147dB, I never play it that loud, but I could.........

 

[gregulator]

perhaps I will wait then for the newer models and pick up last years scraps for cheap. okay so I need an amp the huh? can I get by skimping on this item then such as an item like this? I am trying not to blow all my $$ at once, I am not a real audiophile so as long as I don't listen to someones $20,000 system, I will think mine is just fine.

 

[geno]

Whew, damn if only I had some more money.... Nice system man. I love JLs, great subs. All that in a Blazer, it must really pound!

 

[Zucchini]

yes, don't buy cheap speakers I personally have had good experiences with speakers with silk dome tweeters. Its just that others i've tried have been harsh. I have polk 6.5" dx6 in the front, and infinty 6x9" 3way reference in the back.

and don't touch that amp Basically cheapies inflate their power ratings big time You might remember cheap taiwanese computer speakers claiming to have 160watts for 30 bux hah Just go to frys, they ussually sell a sony or panasonic on sale every week for $130-140. Free installation. All you need it for is the cd/am/fm, not exactly high tech stuff. Remember decent brand with basic features =clean output to the amp.

Just remember power ratings without a RMS rating mean nothing. Root Mean Squared, if you know anything about math/science.

 

[Zucchini]

by the way, we're not talking audiophile quality here. Its just that car audio doesn't really get you that much bang for your buck My system is close to matching my computer speakers(klipsch promedia's THX)which only cost $250. The car setup cost several times more which kind of ticks me off.