i'm getting a new headunit for my birthday as a present to myself for getting old. to me, 23 is the begining of the end..but whatever. anyway, here's where I need from all you audio gods. I know this has been asked before but with new stuff out and all I'm asking it again. If you could pick ANY HU on the market right now in the $300 or less range, what would you pick? Just pretend someone handed you $300 and said buy a stereo, what would YOUR choice be? Because, like I said, I'm a car audio moron. I will probably be adding subs with an amp and probably new 6x9's and door speakers (whatever size they are...) this summer, so amp preouts would probably be a good thing to have. Anything else I should look for? Is there anything else any manufacturers are getting ready to release that I should wait for? My last stero was a JVC KDLH100 or something like that, that I bought because it looked cool. Thank god it got ripped off because it was a worthless pos.
Thanks for your help guys
Brian
Alpine makes decent HU. Just look around you can find them. I had the CA9825 HU, It was pretty good, but since upgraded to a Flip out screen, with Nav.
As for speakers, i only like Infinity. They are expensive, and they are great for SQ lovers. And the quality is bar none.
http://members.rankmyride.com/djtorello
actually...after a little more research, i think i like the 9853 better, the reviews i heard say the display is better
Brian
I personally am a fan of the pioneer line, they have a great h/u in your price range
For HUs, it's hard to go wrong with either pioneer or alpine.
The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
i've got a jvc headunit (its an out of production model now so the model number isn't important) . its decent. i went for pioneer speakers all around. they work well and they were in my price range. i'll probably be upgrading my front speakers to components cuz my subs kill the highs. so you might look into components if you'll be doing subs soon.
by the way, your door speakers are 4x6 but you can make a bracket so it'll hold a 6 1/2
GO PATS!!!
Definately steer away from Sony, JVC, and Dual. Alpine, Pioneer, and even Panasonic make nice decks.
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited
1999 Cavalier Z24 Supercharged
1999 Grand AM SE (Beater Car)
1997 GMC Sierra
2007 Honda CBR 600RR
2005 Honda TRX450R
i love my panasonic HU. It has the big dot matrix display and sounds good. I have pioneer 6x9s in the back, i dont remember the product number but they MSRP at about 200 bucks, and they sound perfect. I got some infinity references for the 4x6 in the doors. I could afford teh Kappas, but i heard them next to each other, and they sound identical until they volume is blaring on an amp to them.
Either way, i love my setup a lot and it didnt cost me much. I would greatly recommend the panasonic HUs cause they arent badly priced either.
yup, i agree with the alpine choice. I went from a sony hu to an alpine 9805 ($150) and the difference in sound quality was amazing.
oh, and if you happen to be looking for components for your doors, check out the 6.5" cdt audio classics. Not a bad price and they sound great.
Right now, I would go with the Pioneer deh-p7700 i think it is... very nice all around unit and keeps you under 300...
In my opinion the Alpine CDA-9847 is a great head unit and i bought mine brand new from Circuit City for like $150 plus tax on sale, and it is basically the same as the 9851 but doesn't have a remote, but my thoughts are i a not riding in the back seat when i drive my car.
"Drive it like you stole it"
if i had 300 bucks to spend on a headunit, i'd go with this one
Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP
cant go wrong with 3 6.5v preouts and a full color display. i'm just a pioneer fan i guess.
^^^ Agreed
09 HHR LS, Wife's Car
05 Cavalier, Clarion DXZ375MP, Autotek MM8000.5 & 13Kv.2, wife's old car, updates coming soon
I'm a fan of Clarion HUs, but Alpine and Pioneer are good as well.
-Chris
SomeGuy wrote:if i had 300 bucks to spend on a headunit, i'd go with this one
Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP
cant go wrong with 3 6.5v preouts and a full color display. i'm just a pioneer fan i guess.
Very much agree with that. That's the next HU I'm getting.
2010 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited
1999 Cavalier Z24 Supercharged
1999 Grand AM SE (Beater Car)
1997 GMC Sierra
2007 Honda CBR 600RR
2005 Honda TRX450R
i lvoe my alpine ca9847 and i love all my alpine speakers lol. I like clarion too, but panasonic is good too, along with pioneer
hmmmm.... I am confused, and the Blonde genius that is me,
does not easily get confused
Quote:
If you could pick ANY HU on the market right now in the $300 or less range, what would you pick? Just pretend someone handed you $300 and said buy a stereo, what would YOUR choice be?
What's important to you?
Sound Quality?
Looks?
Features?
All of the above?
My advice is to get the best Alpine HU your money can buy. Even the cheapest HU Apline makes sounds noticeably better than anything else I've owned (Sony, Kenwood). The Sony looked VERY cool, but could I ever hear the difference when I switched!
I am currently using a CDA 9835 (Last year's model) and I would only change it for a newer model!
Keith.
2003 Z24 Auto.
16.125 @ 84.42.
I love my pioneer, never had any problems with it. I've put alpine in both of my friends cars and they sound just as good. None of us have ever had problems with them yet.
Don't dig on the newb's sig!!!
panasonic 8301 u has a better feature set than all the rest of the decks named. how do i know? i install them , and chose pana for my ride.
mecp certified installer#39272
I kindof like my JVC's options....especially if you travel alot...
It should be in your price range if you look around....
Personally The best sound i've ever heard was from My Sony, it was a bit over the 300$ price though, looks sweet, it was the
MEX-5D1 ,it's in my car now. Second in sound is a Panasonic 1200$ DVD player....
Panasonic CQ-DVR909U
I'm thinking of putting this in my new car.
JVC Model KD-AVX1
I have sat in some great cars, with some great installs, and except for the very low end head units, I didn't hear much difference in the head units overall....It's more about options that your looking for, and what you can afford.
Everything LOUDER than everything else!!
