Does Clarion still make good car stereos?

[FP]

Need to buy a simple CD player with Aux input.

I loved Clarion back in the late 90s.

Are they still good? Who are the top 5 these days?

 

[jtvang125]

I think their quality is still there but all their decks lately are just hideous.

Alpine
Eclipse
Pioneer
Kenwood Excelon line
JVC/Clarion

 

[RagingBITCH]

Wait, to use the word "still" means they would have had to have made good stereos in the past, which is false.

 

[zoiks]

The stereo in my previous G35 was made by Clarion even though it was labeled 'Bose'. No complaints as it worked fine always.

 

[nakedfrog]

I like both of mine.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Did they ever? Clarion=cheese systems.

They made a lot of factory stuff, but nobody who was/is serious about their sound system would put a Clarion in their ride.

 

[LS21]

a very very large majority of the "car audio people" are a comical, unscientific, un-technical lot. i dont AT-garage, but the kids in the Applebees parking lot on a friday night with his trunk open comparing systems against the neighborhood homies.

what, to them, is good is something that 1) they have 2) their friends have 3) friends have said are good 4) (and nowadays) internet message board says are good. what's good is any subwoofer they can blindly crank up but doesnt break. whats shitty is an equipment they hooked up incorrectly and happen to blow up. they'll compare RMS wattage, SNR, Impedance, and Voltages all day, but wouldnt pass a 10th grade physics test -- they dont know what those terms actually are.



With that said, the car environment is very audio unfriendly. Between the cabin shape, volume, materials, sources of interference, tremendous road and engine noise, it doesnt reason to seek out something that produces objectively the most accurate fidelity output.

When I had a Clarion, it looked good, it was intuitive to use, it had lots of features for the price, and it DOESNT sound bad. So I liked it lots...until it got stolen. After that I brought a CD-R to multiple stores to test multiple cd players. Consistently, Alpines had the fewest problems reading the disks. Since 98% of my stuff is burnt, it was an easy choice to go Alpine. Then with my last purchase, at the time, Alpine had the best "full" iPod integration, and it blended extremely well with my interior. However, this new generation of Alpine have terrible user controls, so I likely will go with Pioneer next

 

[FP]

Clarion sounded good back when I was into this stuff (mid-90s) so I thought I would ask. Maybe I wasn't serious enough about "my ride" but I spent a few months listening to every stereo I could get my hands on back then and the Clarion was the best value for my hard earned $$$. Alpines were nice but expensive.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

 

[funboy6942]

Roadmaster FTW

 

[sjwaste]

I still use a Clarion DRX6475, 1998 model. At the time, it was one of the few $200 units with a nice VFD display, 4V preouts, and could also play burned cd's (!). I've had to repair it once myself, the plastic post on the power button broke off (epoxied a metal post behind the button, good as new), but it's otherwise been solid. Of course, things could change in a 10 year span.

That said, it's survived 2 sets of components and two amps. Right now I'm not getting signal on certain frequencies to one side, and I'm hoping its not the head unit's preamp. If it is, the Nakamichi in-dash changers are something I've always wanted, or an Eclipse with 9V outs if they still make them. I really think car audio in general has shifted towards mass market crap, and you pay more for comparable stuff from 5 years or so ago. For instance, a lot of sellers dont even list the preout voltage anymore (assume 1 or 2V then), until you get into the $300 range for 4V+ outputs.

Sorry for the mini-rant.

 

[DarkThinker]

I have a MP3/CD JVC unit with an AUX input, I got it because it was the only one with an AUX input I could find back then and for the price (new for $129.99 couldn't pass it up).
Now I have a Sansa clip on top hooked to it, and it's great, I have had the JVC unit or 3 years no issues.

However I wish I could trade that unit for one like it but with a USB port so I could stick flash drive in their and control things from the unit.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I still use a Clarion DRX6475, 1998 model. At the time, it was one of the few $200 units with a nice VFD display, 4V preouts, and could also play burned cd's (!). I've had to repair it once myself, the plastic post on the power button broke off (epoxied a metal post behind the button, good as new), but it's otherwise been solid. Of course, things could change in a 10 year span.

That said, it's survived 2 sets of components and two amps. Right now I'm not getting signal on certain frequencies to one side, and I'm hoping its not the head unit's preamp. If it is, the Nakamichi in-dash changers are something I've always wanted, or an Eclipse with 9V outs if they still make them. I really think car audio in general has shifted towards mass market crap, and you pay more for comparable stuff from 5 years or so ago. For instance, a lot of sellers dont even list the preout voltage anymore (assume 1 or 2V then), until you get into the $300 range for 4V+ outputs.

Sorry for the mini-rant.

Nakamichi isn't the same company it was 10 years ago, you are paying for the name and that's it, total waste of money.

 

[Doodoo]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Wait, to use the word "still" means they would have had to have made good stereos in the past, which is false.

I think Clarion use to be make some of the best sounding head units. This was back in the mid 90's when i was into car stereos. I use to have a Clarion DRX9675...loved that deck. Their amps suck though.

 

[redgtxdi]

Sparkomatic 2-knob anyone??

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: ayabe

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I still use a Clarion DRX6475, 1998 model. At the time, it was one of the few $200 units with a nice VFD display, 4V preouts, and could also play burned cd's (!). I've had to repair it once myself, the plastic post on the power button broke off (epoxied a metal post behind the button, good as new), but it's otherwise been solid. Of course, things could change in a 10 year span.

That said, it's survived 2 sets of components and two amps. Right now I'm not getting signal on certain frequencies to one side, and I'm hoping its not the head unit's preamp. If it is, the Nakamichi in-dash changers are something I've always wanted, or an Eclipse with 9V outs if they still make them. I really think car audio in general has shifted towards mass market crap, and you pay more for comparable stuff from 5 years or so ago. For instance, a lot of sellers dont even list the preout voltage anymore (assume 1 or 2V then), until you get into the $300 range for 4V+ outputs.

Sorry for the mini-rant.

Nakamichi isn't the same company it was 10 years ago, you are paying for the name and that's it, total waste of money.

Good thing I posted that, then If I wanted an in-dash changer, what would you suggest? I can go double-DIN if necessary.