Lets talk headunits...

[SuRrEaLNJ]

As the title says im in the market for a new head unit for the focus

Ive gotten tired of dealing with cds and mp3cds in the stock unit, biggest factor is going to be ipod connectivity and looking for a decent unit. Im by no means an audiophile, and while i like loud music the stock unit isnt all that inadequate for me. As of now I have no plans to add any kind of system to the car.

I had a few people recomend the Alpine CDA-9886 to me, and was wondering if anyone here had some opinions on it, or any alternatives i should consider.

 

[Burns]

I usually stay within alpine and clarion. Just been a fan of both brands.

I do like the CDA-9886. Its got the ipod hood up in the box.

 

[Implorer]

heres a question you gotta ask yourself.. if you get an alpine one your not going to be able to use your ipod to control the songs so either your going to have to make playlists or become patient and learn how to scroll through your artists and songs on your hu.. which is not easy.... i have an alpine deck that is a year or two old and idk if they have changed it up or not but its not the easiest to get used to and i hate when a song pops into my head and it takes me an hour to find it. you can find hu out there that connect into the 85mm or headphone jack on your ipod instead of the sync port on your ipod.. which in turn gives you the ability to go to aux on your hu and scroll through your songs on your ipod and just hit play and the tunes come out..( be aware thou there are some hu out there that distort very badly) so just go to your local audio store (NOT BEST BUY) they always tell your the absolute wrong things... and just ask one of the employees which they have in their car and which sounds the best and the basic questions..

 

[RegularJoe]

The new Pioneers have IPOD support. My 4000UB has a 3 ft USB cable out the back. Plug in a IPOD or flash drive and it plays stuff. Never tried an IPOD but I use a flash drive all the time. I just got a cheap 4GB one for $30. For the controls, Up/Down changes folders, Left/Right changes songs. Can't get any simpler than that.

 

[Cobraguy]

I gotta say...even though some of this new Pioneer stuff can be buggy at first, they really are leading the way with some of their features and benefits. Worth a look.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

I looked at some of the units we had in the store and i wasnt really impressed with what we have by pioneer, nor did anyone else there seem to be, which is why i was thinking alpine.

id prefer to not have to do a customer fulfillment (special order) for myself and limit my choices to something we have in store

 

[snoborder42]

Have you looked at units by Panasonic???

I've had one in my expo for years and it has never let me down. And they are fairly reasonable on prices too...

 

[JTX]

I would get one with a USB port also. It so nice to have a flash drive with all your music.

Let me know what you get. I'm looking for a newer one also.

 

[sjr033]

Over the years I have tried many different headunits. What I have found is they all have pros'/cons'

Sony: Alot of features for little $, cd's seem to skip alot

Alpine: Best bang for the buck, good features and good performance, moderatly priced.

Pioneer: Best radio tuner

Eclipse (My favorite): Good features, best cd performance, best outputs, but usually pricey.

 

[68amc]

I have the pioneer peh-5000UB. It also has the USB cable, its nice. Easy to use once you get the hang of it, not expensive ($180), all the sound adjustments / sub controls you would ever need, and really looks good.

 

[corkey]

i just got a new Kenwood kdc x891,
i am very happy so far, it works good, has ipod connectability and an external usb connection,, i have had a few kenwood head units,, my last worked trouble free for 7 years, and i just found out the repair it needed is next to nothing,, so i will be using it in my other car,,

 

[DMacLennan14]

i would go with the alpine cda-9886. i used to have the 9885 until i got my alpine dvd player. i would still have the 9885 if i didnt want the big screen. great unit!