Which head unit should I get for my car?

[Ragnarok2]

And OP, do you have a link to the Alpine you are planning on buying?

 

[Imyourzero]

I loved my Alpine, but Pioneer makes great units for the money. A lot of car audio nuts swear by the sound quality of Eclipse and Nakamichi (sp?)decks, but most of them are pretty ugly IMO so I went with an Alpine for my last HU and would highly recommend them. Hard to go wrong with Pioneer or Kenwood, though. Just stay away from the low-end stuff.

 

[acegazda]

Yeah... this one.

 

[Ragnarok2]

Originally posted by: acegazda
Yeah... this one.

That Alpine is a good choice, I would have recommended either that Alpine or This Pioneer

 

[FeuerFrei]

When are the head units with HD radio tuners coming out?
Or is that already in the high end stuff?

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2
Pioneer is the way to go for Headunits. Most Sony headunits look like crap. Alpine is a great brand for anything, so if you got the money go for an Alpine. If you want a reasonably good looking headunit for a very good price, go for a Pioneer. For a little less than $150, I'd recommend you the Pioneer DEHP3900MP. My friend just got one installed in his Subaru Legacy and it looks and performs sharp. And theres not really a way to judge sound quality of the headunit, if you get good speakers hooked up to a any cd player it'll all sound the same. And, dont get anything less than 45-50X4ch. Watts peak(20x4 watts rms).

EDIT: BTW check out crutchfield.com for headunits and other car stuff

Supreme disagree. The quality of the CD player is at the heart of a good head unit.

The head unit is your pre-amp and source - the two most important factors behind speakers.

-edit-
Want to judge the sound quality of a head unit? Take your favorite CDs to the dealer and listen.

Yeah there will be a difference between a crapshack $40 headunit and $200 headunit...but between Alpine and Pioneer in the same price range($150 in this case)...hes not gonna notice anything. And thats why I told him to look for at least 50Wx4ch.

You're not going to get 50 WRMS out of a head unit, regardless of what it says on the box

Thats why I said 50x4 Watts *PEAK* which is about ***20Watts RMS***

Why even mention what car audio companies publish for peak watts? It's one of the most irrelevant stats out there...

Why mention the peak power? Because headunits dont even list RMS wattages on the faceplates, only peak wattages. Thats how he'll know how to get one thats at least 50Wx4 peak which is equivalent to 20Wx4 RMS...

No, Sony's "50w peak" will be about 17, Kenwood's "50w peak" will be about 21, Lanzar's "50w peak" will be about 12, Eclipse's "50w peak" will be about 25...

See the problem of looking for "50w peak" on the box?

 

[nakedfrog]

Get a Clarion.
This one should do the trick
$100, or get a scratch and dent for $85.

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: FeuerFrei
When are the head units with HD radio tuners coming out?
Or is that already in the high end stuff?

you're going to fork over at least $300 for that. Alpine has one for $350 I think.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Again, I'd like to say that Sony=trash.

Wow is it ever cool to hate Sony. The 9 year old Sony CDX-C880 in my car is still working beautifully and puts out quite decent sound.

To the OP:

Just get whatever one you like unless you're out to set up an in-car theatre or something that will win awards. These threads always amaze me. Someone posts that they just want a simple deck with MP3 capability and the thread devolves into a pissing match between the audiophiles here about Peak power versus RMS when it's pretty clear that you're not building some "ultimate" setup, you just want something that sounds decent.

For $100-$150 you're going to get sound that is perfectly fine. It's not going to win any audio contests, but it's also not going to sound like crap either.

Just get what you like.

ZV

 

[lokiju]

Alpine over Sony without a doubt.

I've had my Alpine for about 4 or so years now and have had no issues.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

Another vote for Pioneer

 

[JulesMaximus]

Pioneer

\thread

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Just get whatever one you like unless you're out to set up an in-car theatre or something that will win awards. These threads always amaze me. Someone posts that they just want a simple deck with MP3 capability and the thread devolves into a pissing match between the audiophiles here about Peak power versus RMS when it's pretty clear that you're not building some "ultimate" setup, you just want something that sounds decent.

Deck power is only important to someone looking for a simple setup...

The "audiophiles" you mention would use an external amp...

 

[Ragnarok2]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Just get whatever one you like unless you're out to set up an in-car theatre or something that will win awards. These threads always amaze me. Someone posts that they just want a simple deck with MP3 capability and the thread devolves into a pissing match between the audiophiles here about Peak power versus RMS when it's pretty clear that you're not building some "ultimate" setup, you just want something that sounds decent.

Deck power is only important to someone looking for a simple setup...

The "audiophiles" you mention would use an external amp...

haha good response

 

[acegazda]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Pioneer

\thread

uhhhh hmmm... if that was the case, the thread would have been done @ post #3. Alas, it is not. Thanks for your input though.
Seems like I've made up my mind.
Gonna go with the alpine mentioned above and 2 pairs of infinity reference speakers.
Thanks again.

 

[BrokenVisage]

Go Pioneer

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: acegazda

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Pioneer

\thread

uhhhh hmmm... if that was the case, the thread would have been done @ post #3. Alas, it is not. Thanks for your input though.
Seems like I've made up my mind.
Gonna go with the alpine mentioned above and 2 pairs of infinity reference speakers.
Thanks again.

Good choice. A nice 40x4 amp would be a good move as well.