I'm sure we've all noticed that many nice (read expensive) cars have at least a decent head unit. Even if it doesn't have the whole package coming out of the factory. The current trend of attention grabbing flash is distracting and not much use in sound performance. Are there any quality HU's in the $250-450 range with an understated appearance?
Naks are a bit tough to find in the US and repairs are about twice as tough. Eclipse would be a good choice also.
The higher end models of most brands will usually look flashy, but they do have some great features (auto-eq and timings, mp3 restoration, etc), just check them out before you rule them out.
Thanks, I'll have a listen with Eclipse. Does any one have experience with Clarion? A road and Track review was favorable on the Clarion ProAudio DXZ845MC. (List @ $500) The Clarion site boasts high end audiophile heads for up to $1,400. I'm wondering where does the law of diminishing returns kick in and will I have to lie to my wife about what I end up spending.
I've finished my crash course and bought my first decent HU: Eclipse 5445. The rest of the system is mostly JL, including a shop made 2X8 fiberglass sub-enclosure for under the back seat, and dynamat. I am grateful that I have been able to stretch to finance this set-up. I knew nothing about car audio until three weeks ago, and was going to spend 1K (spent a bit more). This forum helped it begin to make sense. Install is Saturday. I can't bear to play music in my Tundra until it's in. Thanks All, Shuns
"lol.. be careful where you place those uninformed opinions."
Whoa, who said anything about uninformed...opinions? I've owned their headunits and have found only one thing: they aren't worth it. It's very difficult to find a good deal on a Blaupunkt and once you purchase it, the technology is lagging in comparison to other headunits within its class.
Well I've only owned one, but I've had no problems that caused it to need service, no problems with the quality or technology.. in fact it skips less on mp3 cds than any other mp3 cdplayer i've seen. And as far as pricing... i dunno wtf you are talking about .. .I paid $143 for a $400 MSRP HU (MP41; now discontinued)
Other than blaupunkt? Yes I owned a rockford fosgate a few years back and it was an excellent HU... it skipped only once over the course of a year and a half (that was because i bottomed out lol) Several of my friends have HU's that include pioneer, alpine, and sony... other than that no... but the blaupunkt is just as good as the alpine and better than all the others (from my experience)
King Kava
Unregistered guest
Posted on
You have to take into account how much you want to spend. For the sort of money your asking, Nakamichi is the obvious choice. A Alpine is a decent price, but the Nakamichi is less flash. If you want high end stuff for that price, look on ebay.
Audioguy22
Unregistered guest
Posted on
You can pick up the lowest Alpine(with 6 DSP's) for around $300. or a Pioneer 860/8600 for around $325.
AS far as skipping goes, there aren't many head units that will skip (any more).
I've tried to make my Kenwood KDC-X979 skip on MP3 and on CD. It won't do it. It's in a '96 Ram 4X4 with a rather stiff suspension. No skipping off-road and no skipping hitting speed bumps too fast.
The majority of the newer headunits have a large enough buffer to mask any skipping of the read head.