What car CD Receiver?

[downhiller80]

I only want to spend £300 or under.

What makes are good at reading CDR's? Which aren't?

Are there any good CD-MP3 players out yet?

Does anything have an input so I can play my MP3 portable through the car speakers?

What does everyone think of the Sony CDX-M700R?

seb

 

[Thegonagle]

My Pioneer is my least favorite CD receiver I?ve ever owned, but it plays CD-Rs better than my 3 year old Kenwood eXcelon, which has trouble getting to the end of an 80 minute CD-R.

I?ll bet that any new CD deck will read any CD-R to the end without problems.

Pioneer fans, don?t get me wrong here. The Pioneer sounds great, but it?s not very simple to operate while you are driving compared to my old Sony, my Kenwood, or even a POS Koss from origins unknown. BTW, the Pioneer was already installed in the car when I bought it, so it?s not my fault for having it.

 

[downhiller80]

What about power? I don't want to buy an amp for now, just head unit and speakers. I've heard that kenwood are the most powerful. Is this right?

seb

 

[Thegonagle]

I've heard that Kenwood = best value for the price, and I had good luck with them, until I had a tape deck ripped off a few years ago, just before I bought the eXcelon CD Deck. The general consensus is that nearly all after-market receivers have plenty of power built in to push stock speakers, but you?ll want a decent 4-channel amp to push good after-market speakers. In my experience, that?s generally true, but you can run non-stock speakers off the deck, just not very loud, and you won?t be able to hear much bass.

 

[downhiller80]

So you're saying that I'll get less bass if I buy new speakers vs using the standard speakers?

Sounds unlikely...

seb

 

[Thegonagle]

Stock speakers will be louder because they are more sensitive to the input signal. They are designed to be loud with the limited power that the stock stereo feeds them. After-market speakers are designed with high quality sound in mind, use more than one driver (a low-mid and a tweet), assume you?ll probably use an amp, and many assume that you?ll also use a sub. Therefore, you?ll need more power to get the same volume from them.

Edit: for grammar!

 

[Nutcase99]

Here is the one that I am thinking about buying. Its cool looking and its for less than what you are looking to spend, Though I'm not sure of the price in the UK here in the US its for about $380.

 

[mosdef]

Isn't that their top of the line model?

-mosdef

 

[downhiller80]

Well I'm looking at the moment at the Sony CDX-M700R. Its one of those ones with the funky display on the reverse of the controls.

seb

 

[KingHam]

Nakamichi 45z

Forget about toys made by the likes of Pioneer and Kenwood. This is a real head unit.

KingHam

 

[downhiller80]

Well it may be "real" but the price is a "joke".

seb

 

[downhiller80]

I do apologise. I assumed it was going to be a mega-high end $$$$ unit.

Looks pretty ugly though. And that IS important!

seb

 

[Doodoo]

That nak is one of the best sounding decks out there...also one of the ugliest. If you want flash...go with clarion. They make quality decks. My cuz has that pioneer u linked...its a pretty good deck. Check out the model above that...or the clarion 9675z. I have the clarion and i love it...can't really beat the display on it either.

 

[jsm]

Of all the Pioneer decks, I think the 9200R is their top of the line. I have that deck and it kicks serious ass. The 7200 is pretty good too, but the 9200 I believe has a bigger display and a couple more features.

 

[KingHam]

I guess it all comes down to what you are looking for... glitz and glam or sound quality? IMO Sony's Decks are like all of their products: overpriced for what you get.

KingHam

 

[warcleric]

I just bought this and am very impressed with it. Plus it looks cool as hell. http://www.jvc.com/mainprod.jsp?modelId=MODL015060 Plus it was only $239 locally.

 

[divinemartyr]

<< Of all the Pioneer decks, I think the 9200R is their top of the line. I have that deck and it kicks serious ass. The 7200 is pretty good too, but the 9200 I believe has a bigger display and a couple more features. >>



Don't know if you're including the Premier series or not, but their top of the line unit is the DEX-P1R. I used to own one (before some thieves stole it and my entire system about 4 months ago) and it's one of the absolute best head units on the market. It won't work for you though sebfrost, too expensive and no on-board amp. Requires the use of separate power amplifiers.

dm