Which head unit should I get for my car?

[acegazda]

I've been looking mainly at sonys and alpines. The latter seems to be of better quality, but the former has some good buys. I'm not looking to spend more than $150 on the unit. An aux input is a nice plus but not a necessity. I need mp3 capability. Also: could someone explain how to judge sound quality of head units? Thanks.

 

[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

 

[Hyperlite]

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

seconded. i suggest using amazon to make the purchase, just picked up a Pioneer P6900UB from there last week for considerably less than the other places i checked.

 

[Compton]

Whatever you do, don't get a Sony. Look at Alpine and Pioneer. I think the higher end Panasonic head units are pretty good too.

You may want to consider buying on ebay. There are a few car audio sellers with near perfect feedback selling way under the retail prices. The only catch is that they're not "authorized dealers," so you probably won't have a factory warranty. I bought my head unit on ebay 3 years ago and it still works perfectly. At the time, it was about $200 less than Crutchfield's price.

 

[b0mbrman]

Howdy.

1) Decide on what features you need
2) Find the least expensive model from the brands Alpine, Clarion, Eclipse, Kenwood, Panasonic, and Pioneer, that has all those features and is also available at sounddomain.com
3) Send an email to sounddomain.com asking for a price match.
4) Enjoy

Cheers,
b0mbrman

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Used Alpine headunit - I got a 9811 for $60 or so? 9827 is also good, I own one of each.

For under $100, you'll get a very nice Alpine headunit and in most cases you can't notice any different other than maybe the next track button's lettering being a little worn, that's all really. I can't encourage this route enough.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: acegazda
I've been looking mainly at sonys and alpines. The latter seems to be of better quality, but the former has some good buys. I'm not looking to spend more than $150 on the unit. An aux input is a nice plus but not a necessity. I need mp3 capability. Also: could someone explain how to judge sound quality of head units? Thanks.

For all intents and purposes, "Sound quality" of head units only comes in how much real power they put out and the adjustable features that come included such as built-in crossovers, built-in equalizers, built-in levels (mostly sub remotes)

 

[acegazda]

alright thanks guys, I'll take a good look @ some pioneers.

 

[thomsbrain]

don't spend more than $150, that's all i can say. your 91 car probably presents exactly 2 seconds of protection against anyone who wants your radio. your best bet is to not have them want your radio.

i had a pioneer CD player in my old accord. it did the job and sounded better than the original.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Again, I'd like to say that Sony=trash.

 

[radioouman]

JVC KD-HDR1

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Aharami]

get an used Pioneer 7600mp off ebay

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2
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.

And my point is don't skimp on the head unit. It's MUCH more important than people think. But if all one wants to do is make loudness than a cheap head unit, with decent speakers and a lot of cheap power will be loud.

 

[patentman]

I can;t tell you what to gt, but I can tell you to stay away from clarion head units. The are overpriced, under featured, and, in general, crappy.

 

[Ragnarok2]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Ragnarok2
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.

And my point is don't skimp on the head unit. It's MUCH more important than people think. But if all one wants to do is make loudness than a cheap head unit, with decent speakers and a lot of cheap power will be loud.

True, but you don't have to go all out on an expensive headunit either. Right now I have me a Pioneer DEHP3800MP(which was like $130 a few months ago), 6 Boston Acoustics speakers, and 2 12" Infinity subs...and I have absolutely NO DISTORTION all the way up to vol 62(max). That proves that you can, indeed, getting amazing sound with a mid-range headunit if you have decent speakers.

***I recommend to the OP that he buys an Alpine or Pioneer headunit for $130-150 and save his dough for GOOD speakers***

 

[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

 

[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***

 

[clickynext]

What kind of speakers do you have? Because if you have the stock speakers, it won't really matter what head unit you get, they'll all sound the same.

I found a Kenwood unit on craigslist for pretty cheap, very satisfied.

 

[Ragnarok2]

Originally posted by: clickynext
What kind of speakers do you have? Because if you have the stock speakers, it won't really matter what head unit you get, they'll all sound the same.

I found a Kenwood unit on craigslist for pretty cheap, very satisfied.

The stocks will sound a tiny bit better with a new headunit, but yeah I agree, OP should invest in new speakers(if OP has stocks) if he wants to hear a real difference.

 

[xgsound]

How's this Pioneer with MP3 and aux for $109.95 ? http://www.cardomain.com/item/PIODEHP2900MP My Pioneer MP3 player has worked fine for 4 years now. It never skipped, displays folders and holds 175 or so songs per CD.


Jim

 

[acegazda]

I'm going to get some infinity references too. Seems like there's an alpine for $150 that is probably my best bet.

 

[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...

 

[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...