Basicly I'm looking for a $280 ish head unit. I'd like to stay under $300 that plays MP3's. I'm down to three units: JVC Arsenal AR-800 Alpine CDA-9827 Pioneer DEH-P7600MP JVC has the two year warrenty, wich is good but I am not shure on the quality of the unit. :unsure: The Alpine I like but I've heard some things about under rated preouts? The Pioneer, has the slowness of reading MP3's been fixed? I'm currently leaning towards the JVC. Seems to be more bang for the buck.
Preouts.. underrated? How much voltage do you need? That's what your gain control is for... to match the amp's input, to the voltage being supplied into them. That's singularly it's purpose, and it's got a broad range of adjustment - usually to well below 1v. Unless you have a noise issue in your car, I'd really not even consider this as a factor - it doesn't affect anything related to sound quality, or sound in general. I'd go with the Alpine, I've got two Alpine 7894's, and I love them. Last year's IASCA rookie SQ competion world finals champion had that HU in his car (really, a more entry level deck in Alpine's line 2 years ago), and continues to use it this year, and is again going to world finals - this time as an advanced competitor. If Pioneer has time alignment adjustability built into it as the Alpine decks do, then I'd consider that one also. The JVC I don't know about their long term reliability, or SQ... but they've been making head units forever. Also, I think nearly everything they make has MP3 built into it. The shop I'm working with sells JVC HU's, and we've got one model that's $160 (marked price) that has MP3 capabilities. Pioneer also has several lines below the 7600MP that do MP3.
I've got an alpine.. and it's great.. personally, with your price range, i'd check out the 9833. you can find it on ebay for under $300, but you just have to be careful and check the feedback of the seller.. This one looks pretty legit to me..
My Alpine 7892 has overrated the outputs..... :angry: I wouldn't say that the 7894 was an entry level deck... it was just the lowest model with MP3 capability. Mine was lower - the 7892 was the lowest model with the flip-down faceplate... the ones below that had no flip-down face, just slot load in front.
well then, i'd go check out www.onlinecarstereo.com. i've bought most of my stereo stuff there (both my amps and my MB quarts), and the customer service is great. it's the cheapest "legit" online seller of brand names that i know of... pretty much everything comes with at least a 1 year warranty.
i got a Kenwood excelon KDC-X969 for $250 on ebay and i only have one complaint, you cant change the sound settings from the remote only ajust the volume
well if want a good qulity radio well under 300 and have a warranty of if they steal your radio in the first yr you buy it , with just a police report they will send you a brand new head unit .. the brand is called eclipse .. here's the site www.eclipse-web.com you want to buy one go to any curcit city they started providing it this mouth ... and that warranty is on all there produts .
Thanks for the concern guys, its my second Kenwood and I've had decent luck with them. My MP919 took a crap on me after 3 years of service, I fixed it by replacing the cabel that goes between the faceplate and hu. Worked great for a few months. Got the ipod adapter and it seems to lock the MP919 up, so I'm using the KDC-X579.I dont use cd's anymore so I really wouldnt care or notice for that matter if it started skipping.
hey jvc is pretty good for the price. they have 24 bit burr brown dac's. good sound quality because of that. oh yeah kenwood is unrelyable. 2 of my friends had a kenwood mess up within 3 months of purchase
Was wondering about kenwood.heard nothing but good things but the anti-skip in mine is starting to go too.....plus it is heating up the cd's. It's a 122....not sure how old my daughter gave it to me,it was in her car when she bought it but took it out to put in a sony w/memphis amp and two 12"Pb's.
Myself have a Kenwood 122p(for now) w/A Profile 600(cal.)amp hooked to two 8" fusion subs and 4-audiobahn mid/tweeters in the doors. Sounds great to me,but i'm not looking to loosen the bolts on my "D",lol. The dang ken has been getting pretty fringing hot on the inside and thats when it starts to skip and gets the cd's really hot. Anyone know how to cool it down?
durango.. this is called "snyping" - or "hijacking" taking someone's thread and using it for your own evil.. you're better off starting a new thread with a clear title, that way you'll get the right attention to your question.. like "how to cool down a kenwood?" see you on that thread..