You'll get a few different responses to this question (mainly alpine, clarion, pioneer premier etc.). Search the forums for others' takes on it, I'm sure you'll find it helpful.
i am not going to say that Pioneer is the best....b/c its not. but it is my favorite brand. i like their menu layouts, and the design of their HU's.....minus the big g.a.y. one-button-designs. lol
Clarion, Alpine, Eclipse....etc. make VERY nice HU's as well.....just not my cup of tea when it comes to Audio settings and desing layout.
I would stay away From Sony, JVC, Kenwood, Panasonic, can't think of any others....but i have seen and heard a few of those models....i wasn't impressed, but i am sure their top-of-the-line stuff is nice.....minus Panasonic. haha
This is sounding like another Alpine F#1 thread...so I'll just say it to get it out of the way...the Alpine DVI-9990, TMI-M990, or CDA-7990 would probably be the top headunits ever. The Pioneer DEX-P9 combined with the DEQ-P9 is an extremely nice setup as well.
you know what. i respect that opinion kevin, alot of people havent played really with them and so thats why they dont like it, lets not forget they started the srs wow enhance sound, and burr brown 24 bit so tell me kevin is that something that should be ignored, i think theres nothing wrong with kenwood, kenwood is in the same field as every other high end brand out there, and i agree with the looks
My favorite deck I ever owned was a Kenwood. It was my first high end deck. I don't remember the specs or model number. It was a long time ago.
From what I can recall, it had a flip down face. When the face was up, it was one big led screen. (U know, with the all blue led lights; kenwood style ). And when the face was down (the back side), there were all the controls. Basically, you needed the remote to really enjoy it. It was tight. I had the led set up to display the sound bars* (don't know what you call it).
Had it for about 6 months, then got stolen.
Never could find a Kenwood HU that was the same style.
I like the cheap Eclipses because of their price/performance and the expensive ones because of all the new technology.
I think the ultimate HU in terms of features (low end) would be the sonys...i wish they were a little better in SQ though...because all those features (7band EQ etc) are nice.