Question for you audio buffs.. i dont know very much.. but for the head unit.. is a higher signal to noise ratio better? or lower better?? what do you guys think of a kenwood kdc-x917 or the kenwood kdc-9017.
From what i heard.. kenwood is one of the better head units because of their clarity? anyone care to agree or disagree?

higher sig-noise ratio is better.
both of those headunits are very good, but the excelon is better if you have a subwoofer.

Kenwood is a very good brand for headunits, i wouldnt say the best..... but still good. some people prefer kenwood, and that's great but Eclipse and Alpine are much better.

What makes Eclipse & Alpine better than Kenwood? Any specific features, or general quality, or...?

a bunch of things. build quality, cleaner sound at higher volumes, better preamp output voltages, and preamp controls, better cd player (plays through scratches and bumps with no problem).

they're just better all around receivers. but as far as i know, eclipse still doesnt have an MP3 unit availabe.

You're right, Eclipse doesn't make an MP3 unit. I thought the build quality of my JVC was better than the Kenwood, and it has higher preamp voltages as well (4v versus 1.8v). Just wondering what you thought...

yes, the JVC is an excellent choice for anyone who plans on using external amps to power the speakers. higher preamp output voltage means less distortion, and the amp doesnt have to work as hard to produce a loud clear signal. this also means less heat, which is the amp's worst enemy.

Actually, my JVC unit gives me the ability to switch off its internal amp if I'm not using it (which I did!). This means even less heat & power consumption - a nice feature.