Audio Junkies...advice Needed On Head Unit

[rednut]

Gday,

I've got an S15 spec r gt with the factory 6 cd changer (clarion i think) and as good as an in dash 6 stacker is...the factory unit blows chunks. I've heard a new head unit is the first thing most S15 spec r owners do but i'm personally quite a fan of the 'factory' look so am quite reluctant to install an aftermarket deck. But i've had to take it out twice now to un-jam it and am ready to put my fist through this clarion heap of shit.

So...with a budget of $400, any recommendations on a decent single DIN head unit...? I've been out of the car audio product knowledge ring for a few years now but am quite a fan of anything Kenwood or Sony...but am open to suggestions. For now, i'm gonna stick with the factory speakers but down the track plan on some decent splits up front and just some new 6" two ways for rear fill.

Cheers

[342Four]

go pioneer

for $400 you could get a really decent single din unit

here check this one out:

http://www.pioneer.com.au/car_entertainmen...50mp/index.html

around $300 - i think

(selling for about that on eBay - brand new (new design so...) maybe $400 or just over)

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

alpine 9847......

- triple 4v pre-outs with sub adj.

- gangster chrome rotary knob

- its actually rated in real rms watts not some yum-cha max watts bs

- I have the older series (9827) lol

all the above reasons to get it

[dangerous_daveo]

Go in to a decent shop. Look at the aplines and the eclipse units. Even the lower end ones will probably be better than the 'cheaper' brands.

Other than that probably jvc or pioneer would be the best bet. Id seriously pay more and get a decent eclipse tho.

[DeathIsFreedom]

Go in to a decent shop.  Look at the aplines and the eclipse units.  Even the lower end ones will probably be better than the 'cheaper' brands.

Other than that probably jvc or pioneer would be the best bet.  Id seriously pay more and get a decent eclipse tho.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

jvc are the best..

they just bought out alpine..

[Primordial]

jvc are the best..

they just bought out alpine..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yer i'll vouch for JVC - They produce awesome quality sound, with no crazy price tag cos they are relatively unknown in the head unit market.

At the end of the day, if your headunit puts out shit quality sound, the whole system is doomed from the start

[sl33py]

JVC! Forget Alpine unless you want to have an accident while adjusting the stereo (and I'm talking about even when the car is stationary!) I just bought an 800 bucks Alpine head unit (9853) and even has their highly toughted little bar which u can slide your finger across, but it sucks totally. In all but the most expensive Alpine units, the "graphic" EQ isn't. When I read that, I expect a row of bars with at least a left/right and up/down button to adjust them visually. On the Alpine, its just a boost/cut amount, Q number, and frequency. Now, before ppl go saying "u don't know what ur doing!" I DO. But I don't want to set it up that way. My old JVC was much more intuitice and displayed a LOT more info at once, for half the price. And the aerial is ALWAYS up, even if your source is the CD/MP3, which pi$$es me off no end. And their second from top of the line unit has 2 volt preouts!!! WTF and their top of the line has only 4V!!! In my car, I can hear the white noise in the background when I'm cranked up to only 3/4 volume, and I did the proper method to set my amp's gains using the head unit's volume. Disgusting for a second from top of the line product!

And when I set all the frequencies to -0 on the EQ and then dialled in +6 on the lowest frequency, I can hear it dialling OUT the higher frequencies in a vain attempt to level out the sound for you! I don't want that! I want the EQ frequency settings to be completely independant! Otherwise you have to raise the volume again to get the treble/whatever where u wanted it, cos the unit changed everything around you! GRRRRRRR

Eclipse seem to have impressed specs on their units (eg 8V preouts), but I asked the owner of the local audio shop to show me how to change the angle on it and he couldn't figure it out. That's an instant disqualification for me! It also just looked clumsy and too small to read in general.

JVC's could be operated by a baby, but are high quality. The only reason I had to buy the alpine unit was cos i had a short which killed my old jvc unit *sniff* With alpines and eclipse units, you can't see all the main menu options at once, which in my opinion is a joke. On JVC you can see pretty much everything and once, and those u can't, are the obscure set-once and forget options.

Anyway, I've just gone and bought the JVC KD-SHX855 for 668 @ JB. Apparently they are releasing a new range of head units (they can be checked out at www.jvc.com they all look awesome, but will be more expensive on initial release. The one I bought was 1000rrp when released and now 750rrp. It has every single thing I want in a head unit. 5V preouts, 9 band graphic EQ, AND parametric EQ for those who want it. Time correction for all speakers, will read SD cards, adjustable face angle, a few "la di la" things to make the music sound better (the usual junk noone uses except for the heck of it), but best of all, SOOO easy to use.

So if u consider these the most important goals of your head unit (like me):

- EASY TO USE INTERFACE!

- High pre out voltages

- Detailed EQ section with user presets

- Auto ariel up/down

- Reliability (I dropped my JVC faceplate once or twice, battlescars, but still worked perfectly!)

- High degree of control over things like time delay between speakers.

Then for god's (and anyone else's) sake, buy a JVC unit, or at least play with a unit in the shop to make sure u can do the important stuff before splashing out. I had to buy the alpine cos I was at work while they had my car open to fix other things and found the old unit was stuffed, so I couldnt try it. I woulda been better off getting them to put in a 200 buck job and swap later, instead of paying the 800, I've yet to pay off! That's right, I've bought my next head unit, before the old ones even paid off. That's how much I hate the thing. (end rant lol).

Whatever you buy, just be sure to test it out first!

[AdamsR33]

Mate i've got an Eclipse head unit and they're awesome for sound quality! as for adjusting the angle of the face it's pretty simple, you just hold down the open button until it moves to the angle you want!

[Xizor]

Im a fan of JVC quality but to be honest i just browsed there current offerings for headunits on the oz site and there wasnt really anything there i liked the appearance of. Quite dissapointed, im in the market for a HU next month.

[Chris Rogers]

wait for super cheap to start carrying JVC then tell me about quality....

[Chris Rogers]

thought about blaupunkt?

[Hui]

Go panasonic very reliable and easy to use, often looked over for the bigger brands in audio

[dangerous_daveo]

Mate i've got an Eclipse head unit and they're awesome for sound quality! as for adjusting the angle of the face it's pretty simple, you just hold down the open button until it moves to the angle you want!

Mine doesnt, but then thats how my old one broke so I dont care.

Really eclipse is where its at, its a tad tricky to get used to, but SQ over almost anything else is just amazing. I honestly thought I had a new set of speakers in my car after it was installed, it was just THAT much better. There are a few small niggly things I liked about my old one more, but hey, its all about the sound, or should be anyway.

Really just take a CD with you (if you have lots of MP3s, take one of those too) and listen and play with all the decks in your price range. Ask the shops if they want to get rid of any display stock, you might get something a lot better a LOT cheaper. But if it feels like its going to fall apart, it most probably will.

[siddr20]

lol i got an alpine cd9835(top of the range 05 model).. no dramas with it and very easy to use and got it for aorund 500bucks..

BUT YEs the glide touch alpine headunit sucks.. Thats why buy 05 range and not the 06..

its my first headunit, so i cant really compare anything.. but all im sayin is the 05 model alpine headunit is very easy to use and looks awesome with its fancy colours etc etc..

[Bro'Duh]

My uncle is in japan his doing some english teachign there for the students , anyway he's getting me the Sony XAVA1 head unit i asked himif he could get me the latest pioneer 1 but i havent heard from him so i dont know

[mr 32]

just look at the sound quality features of each head unit not what colour the display is or it can shot flames out of the cd slot.

and if you want to keep the stock unit and are going to run amps etc etc get a jl audio clean sweep

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_cleansw....php?page_id=94

mr 32