Choosing a head unit

[DOZIER]

I am now in the market for a new head unit. I have decided to put some JBL GTi 6.5's in my front doors with speaker adapters. I will try to get kick panels later. The subs and amps are taken care of. The box will be built shortly and paneled in professionally for a custom look. I am looking for a double din head unit with touch screen and navigation. Stuck between Pioneer, Eclipse, and Clarion. Any suggestions?

 

[cdowns13]

i have heard pioneer head units have really good quality and put out a really good sound i would go for that and it may be worth it to make sure there is a bass option for the components and then a bass option for the sub (i wish i had this)

 

[jluv]

I absolutely love my Alpine setup. W200 + Blackbird. If you've got the dough, you should at least give it a look.

Have you looked at Kenwood? They have some sweet double-DIN units out as well.

I don't know anything about the new Clarion units. I've heard people complain about the Eclipse stuff before, but I have no experience with thsoe myself. The Pioneers are just God-awful ugly, imho. But to each his/her own.

 

[davesexplorer]

I'm lookin at the same thing, Kenwoods offerings seem nice to me... Pioneer has one, avh6800 or something, has a 6 disc DVD/CD changer built in. The Alpine W200 looks hot too. For the cheaper offerings, JVC has one that's nice, along with the Panasonic one which has 5.1 processing built in - although I cant vouch for the quality.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

I would go Kenwood. I put The same Kenwood (Can't remember which model) in my wifes car & my Mountaineer and they sound great. Got them off ebay for $79 ea new. They are $140-150 in the stores & Crutchfield.

I have a Pioneer DEH2700 in a '92 Cougar and the rear pre-out is not working correct. The rear speakers sound muffled. They sounded fine when I had them running of the HU itself.

I know it's not the amps because I switched the RCA cables between front & rear & when I did the front speakers sounded muffled & the rears sounded fine.

 

[jluv]

I would go Kenwood. I put The same Kenwood (Can't remember which model) in my wifes car & my Mountaineer and they sound great. Got them off ebay for $79 ea new. They are $140-150 in the stores & Crutchfield.

I have a Pioneer DEH2700 in a '92 Cougar and the rear pre-out is not working correct. The rear speakers sound muffled. They sounded fine when I had them running of the HU itself.

I know it's not the amps because I switched the RCA cables between front & rear & when I did the front speakers sounded muffled & the rears sounded fine.

He's looking for a double-DIN with touch screen and navigation.

 

[ford freak]

I realize that you want touchscreen and nav, but this double din is worth taking a look at.http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CQ-TX...categoryZ50560QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

[nvrenufedge]

I also have the Alpine IVA-W200, & love it! I don't have the nav for it though. I'm not sure what the others offer as far as iPod interface or other things, but I did like Alpine's iPod full speed connection. I can run everything on the iPod from my W200, and it charges it, too.

 

[Lil98Sport4X4]

I've been a Clarion user for a long time now. I've had a new Clarion HU in all of my previous vehicles (Merc Topaz, 2 Talon AWDs, and my X). I never had a problem with any Clarion I've owned, and I highly recommend them.

I was going to hold out for this HU but I decided to buy this one instead. The MAX675VD would be exactly what you're looking for, but I don't know if it's available, because they don't list a price for it on the web site.

While I was looking for a HU for my X, I checked out one of the Eclipse DVD HUs with the HDD nav option. I don't think it was a double DIN, but it's a really nice option-loaded HU for the money.


Good luck...

 

[EMG7895]

alpines quality this year is declining, while kenwoods has been going up. any of them should do fine though. Get the one with the features you want at the price you like.

 

[matt987]

go look at the pioneer Avic-Z1, it is a double din, touch screen, navigation with a million some points of intrest, plays DVD's in the unit itself (unlike the Avic-D1 and Avic-D2 ,that need an external player**but are still very good units), very high quality!

Pioneer headunits are the best..hands down

 

[DOZIER]

Here is the link to the eclipse head units I was looking at. Leaning towards the 6600.
http://www.eclipse-web.com/6600index.html
Here is the link to the pioneer double din I was looking at.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069681_295632461,00.html
Kenwood looks ok, but I don't think they are up to par. I also cannot find a nice Alpine unit out there. I hope I don't have to modify the dash bezel too much for a double din. What it comes down to is I really am asking opinions on the Eclipse double dins, and Pioneer double dins, and I am open to other brands also. I checked out the Clarion also. It looked nice. Anyone dealt with that other than LIL98SPORT? I have a price max of around 1,500.00. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[wharriso]

Here is the link to the eclipse head units I was looking at. Leaning towards the 6600.
http://www.eclipse-web.com/6600index.html
Here is the link to the pioneer double din I was looking at.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069681_295632461,00.html
Kenwood looks ok, but I don't think they are up to par. I also cannot find a nice Alpine unit out there. I hope I don't have to modify the dash bezel too much for a double din. What it comes down to is I really am asking opinions on the Eclipse double dins, and Pioneer double dins, and I am open to other brands also. I checked out the Clarion also. It looked nice. Anyone dealt with that other than LIL98SPORT? I have a price max of around 1,500.00. Thanks for the help guys.

That Eclipse has everything! But for just under $1500.00 on eBay, I would be afraid to leave the car unattended.
________
Kawasaki KX250

 

[jluv]

alpines quality this year is declining

That's ridiculous... and completely false.

 

[jluv]

Pioneer headunits are the best..hands down

Hands down? LOL! What makes you think so?

 

[jluv]

Kenwood looks ok, but I don't think they are up to par. I also cannot find a nice Alpine unit out there

Why do you not think the Kenwoods are up to par? They are SLICK.

As for Alpine, there is only one double-DIN offering, the W200. It is a GREAT unit, but doesn't have built in nav. You can add the Alpine Blackbird, which is a fabulous nav device. You can hide the Blackbird and control everything from the head unit, and then take it with you to another vehicle, or even on foot, whenever you want. You can also add a PXA-H701 for the ultimate in processing. The great thing about all of these Alpine products is that you can control everything from the touch screen head unit.

It is very hard to beat Alpine quality. Period.

 

[EMG7895]

That's ridiculous... and completely false.

While they are still good, they arent as good as they used to be. They havent gone way down, just more inline with the rest of the competition.

 

[jluv]

While they are still good, they arent as good as they used to be. They havent gone way down, just more inline with the rest of the competition.

Why do you feel that way, specifically?

I wholeheartedly disagree.

 

[EMG7895]

While they are still good, they arent as good as they used to be. They havent gone way down, just more inline with the rest of the competition.

I'm talking single din decks.
Their new 06 line has a horrible menu system, as in going through 3 menus to change a basic function. The glide touch is more trouble than its worth and often defective, they no longer have time alignment, 3 way crossover and parametric eq. Now you have to buy an external processor. Basically they have cut features, increased price and are making a lower quality product. Although I dont own a new one everybody that I know that has one says it will be their last alpine because of the sub par sound quality and overall quality.

I was in the market for a new one I tried out some alpines and did not like them. I wanted an older 9815 or 9835 but ended up getting an kenwood excelon kdc-x889.

 

[nvrenufedge]

I am now in the market for a new head unit. I have decided to put some JBL GTi 6.5's in my front doors with speaker adapters. I will try to get kick panels later. The subs and amps are taken care of. The box will be built shortly and paneled in professionally for a custom look. I am looking for a double din head unit with touch screen and navigation. Stuck between Pioneer, Eclipse, and Clarion. Any suggestions?

Ok, everybody is gonna have "thier" brand. Even myself. The only thing I can suggest is go out and see for yourself. See what brands have what options. See what is more user friendly to you.

The only thing I don't get, is why buy on eBay? Ya, you save some money, but what kind of warranty do you get? Do you know it works? I've seen people on these forums that get a hell of deal, only to have that fold-out monitor (example) to go bad in 6 months.

Thats my opinion.