Are these car cd players good? Couple questions

[duragezic]

I've been wanting to get a car cd player for so long, but never really got around to it (laziness... isgust. But now, I'm gonna get one. I got a Crutchfield catalog. Is this a good place to order from? Here's a couple of possibles choices I seen while looking through:
Pioneer DEH-3400 $179
Pionner DEH-2400F $159
Kenwood KDC-217 $149
Alpine CDE-7870 $159
Panasonic CQ-DF202U $169
JVC KD-S680 $149
JVC Arsenal KD-S6250 $139
Clarion DB125 $139
Clarion DB325 $179

My budget is $200 max, but if I can keep it under say $150 and still get a quality cd player but a little less features, then I'll definitely do that.
Do you guys think it's worth it to get a fold down face? Cause it says it gives it more screen room and less dust gets in...
Although maybe you guys cant recommend a specific model, what about brands? I didn't list any Sony cd players because my brother has a Sony Xplod 5000 or whatever and it's kinda junk.

Also, do they come with wiring? Or should all I have to do is goto Walmart and get the harness or whatever it's called for my make/model car?

FINALLY, does anyone have a clue on how the hell you get the stock cassette player out of a 93 Mazda 626?

 

[Thegonagle]

Definitely get the wiring harness for your car. I like to solder the wires together and cover them with heat-shrink tubing, but some people like to use solderless crimp connectors (because it's faster, not because it's better). Whatever you do, don't do the old twist'n'tape. It's not a very secure connection and the tape could fall off.

 

[hollowman]

i've got pioneer deh-3100. had it for little more than 2-years and still running fine.

i would go with either pioneer or kenwood.

 

[DrumminBoy]

I put an aiwa head unit in my sister's 92 626. If you can, order it from crutchfield. They'll give you the wiring harness, instructions on how to take out your old radio and put in the new, and the harness to make the cd player fit where your old radio was. The only problem i had was the "fit kit" thing didnt fit exactly, so i just got out the hack saw and made it fit. turned out really nice.

 

[MainFramed]

i prefer sony walkmans

 

[duragezic]

any other opinions?

 

[Angrymarshmello]

If you have no idea what you're doing (which it seems like you don't) then definetly order from Crutchfield - they will supply everything you need (except for a crimp/soldering kit) to install your new cd player, from a wiring harness, to a custom bracket, to instructions on how to get that old stock cassette player out of your 626.

By fold down face do you mean the one that comes down from the top and also the face detaches from the cd player? Or one that folds down so theres more screen to look at and more functions, etc? A fold down detachable face is useful if you live in a high theft rate area - it's also a pretty standard feature on all cd players nowadays. A fold down face is out of your price range anyway - if theres one in your price range it probably sucks imho. And Xplods do suck, not to be considered imho

I'd recommend Pioneer because I'm biased towards it and they make great stuff. If you don't go for it go with the Alpine. Good luck

 

[MajesticMoose]

I have the pioner deh 3400. you could buy it from crutchfield, but i got it much cheaper from broadwaycomputers.com. The only thing is that you;ll have to run down to walmart and pick up a harness for it. Even so i had it installed for at most 145(i think it was less than that prolly). oh and BTW, i like the unit too. almost forgot to mention that

 

[C'DaleRider]

I just went through the same thing for a bad-weather beater I'm putting on the road. While all the brands are reputable and make fine decks, I went with the Alpine because of some small but telling reasons.

First, and probably less significant, the FM sensitivity is among the best being beaten by only the Pioneer. (9.3 dBf for the Alpine vs. 9 dBf for the Pioneer........the rest equal or worse than the Alpine.)

But more telling is the signal-to-noise ratio and frequency response of the CD player in the deck. The Alpine was MUCH better than the rest in both areas. This may not seem important, but I think one can tell the quality of the electronics through these, especially the signal-to-noise. It takes more a bit more expense and work to get it quieter. In fact, the Alpines are much better than anyone elses's decks except for the upper end Blaus and some upper end Kenwoods.

Just mho................and with Cruthcfield's liberal return policy, if you don't like it, you can send it back no questions asked. Just keep the packaging.

 

[blahblah99]

I'd go with the JVC SH99 (or the newer model that's out) and it can be had for about $200 on ebay.

 

[Thegonagle]

Crutchfield = tEh ISht!!!!!!!1111`~~~~~~`````````



No really, they are good. Call 'em and talk to them, or order online, whichever way you want.

For the record, I would pick the Alpine out of all of those.

If you have been considering MP3s, the Blaupunkt MP3000 is an incredible value. The I was originally going to get the Alpine CDM-7874, but as I waited longer and accumulated slightly more cash, I realized MP3s in the dash made more and more sense for me. After I narrowed it down to a few choices, I chose the Blaupunkt MP3000 because of its tuner sensitivity, the large rotary dial, and clean looking design. I'm not at all disappointed with it.

 

[duragezic]

Well I think I'll get an Alpine then.

The only thing is the lowerend Alpine models seem to have lower power output or whatever, like as low as 17 rms/45 peak, compared to up to 22/50 of other ones I was looking at. I don't listen to my music very loud, stupid anyway considering you'd have to yell to talk to anyone in your car, and my speakers are stock, so is that anything to worry about or will it still be plenty loud enough even if I wanted it loud?

 

[duragezic]

Well I think I'll get the Alpine CDE-7870 unless some people have something else to recommend. But can someone answer my question about rms/peak power? Is that one sufficient?