Quality deck for beginner
- Thread starter conway90
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I have the Sony CDX-F605x in my car, got it for $150 on ebay, works great
i only mess with pioneer except for pioneer subs i mess with jl audio subs
I'm a Kenwood fan for HU's.
ShinsenTuner
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I'm a fan of Alpine . . .
My sister has a Pioneer in her Corolla, it's nice. But usually I only use Alpine products...
I have some Alpine Motorized face HU w/ remote(not the one im selling)... it's silver, blue buttons, animated graphics on the screen, etc. etc... i like it.
My sister has a Pioneer in her Corolla, it's nice. But usually I only use Alpine products...
I have some Alpine Motorized face HU w/ remote(not the one im selling)... it's silver, blue buttons, animated graphics on the screen, etc. etc... i like it.
DO NOT get sony whatever you do. trust me. pioneer is okay but nothing beats alipne sound quality. i went from the highest end pioneer to a cheap alpine (~$200) and it sounds so much better. very simple to use. i have the 9847 model that has the amber backlight and white display. kenwood used to have good quality but thats changed for the worse. eclipse ive heard good about but theyre just so ugly.
pics of my alpine. im sure you could find it much cheaper than what i paid BB when it first came out.
pics of my alpine. im sure you could find it much cheaper than what i paid BB when it first came out.
see i disagree, there's nothing wrong with my Sony. I had a Panasonic hu and it was ok, but nothing compared to my Sony, and the Sony has a builtin crossover, something which Alpine, for one reason or another, got rid of. And if he's looking for something cheap, theres nothing wrong with Sonygearbox said:DO NOT get sony whatever you do. trust me. pioneer is okay but nothing beats alipne sound quality. i went from the highest end pioneer to a cheap alpine (~$200) and it sounds so much better. very simple to use. i have the 9847 model that has the amber backlight and white display. kenwood used to have good quality but thats changed for the worse. eclipse ive heard good about but theyre just so ugly.
pics of my alpine. im sure you could find it much cheaper than what i paid BB when it first came out.
alpine all the way... i've had mine for about 4 years and it hasn't given me any problems yet and still sounds great and as good as the day i got it 
I am a car audio salesman. What i found that most consumers like are a nice interface, easy to navigate, and good sound quality. Pioneer and Alpine seems like the way to go because of those attributes listed above. Alpine has bigger buttons and the navigation is easier to control than the Pioneer. The Pioneer has more options for tuning IMO. I like the pionner dehp6800mp, its a sweet deck and my customers all love it as well. You could go on www.crutchfield.com and read some reviews on the different decks. Are you planning to any amplifiers down the road?
ShinsenTuner
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I just believe in my opinion, every headunit has it's pros and cons, I just prefer Alpine because... well.. in my opinion it's the nicest compared to Pioneer or Kenwood. Although all companies have nice headunits, you should really just go to real audio stores and stuff (not bestbuy... ) and look at what they have, gather that info, come home, research more about different headunits and then buy it yourself, install it yourself too. I am the first in my family to install a stereo on my own (took 15minutes), all you do is purchase an Adapter harness (7 dollars on eBay or at walmart or any automotive store/stereo place really), SOLDIER it to the headunits harness (soldiering not really needed, but its recommended) then just plug everything in. Some cars don't need the installation kits (plastics to make the headunit fit and add like a small box to hold s**t).. then your good. Look it up online how to take your car apart. Not only will you learn how to do the things yourself, you'll be able to be more confident in taking apart your car. I installed a system with my friend on my car. Two guys, a 155peice Craftsmans tool kit, bought all the stuff online(and some very vital parts given. =D) and then did it ourselves. it hits hard and we saved a shitload of money.
Alpine or Pioneer IMO FTW! Had Alpine 2 years worked great.(then rolled my car and it got kinda broke
) I've had my Pioneer premier HU for about 1 1/2 years and I love it. Alpine's all buisness but simple to use. Pioneer has more flash(more "show," if you will.) But still has the go.
Eclipse HU's are so nice but they are, as someone previously stated, ugly. Not in a cheap, cheesy looking kinda way, they're just basic looking. But to me, function is beauty.
) I've had my Pioneer premier HU for about 1 1/2 years and I love it. Alpine's all buisness but simple to use. Pioneer has more flash(more "show," if you will.) But still has the go.Eclipse HU's are so nice but they are, as someone previously stated, ugly. Not in a cheap, cheesy looking kinda way, they're just basic looking. But to me, function is beauty.
ShinsenTuner said:
Whatever dude, I work at Bestbuy and have 11 years experience, mecp certified and am tired of little shits coming in and acting that the people at Bestbuy don't know s**t.
I have had to deal with shitty installed and thought out systems from the best shops in town to the diy nightmares.
So you read a couple of tips online and helped your friend and bought a lunch box worth of tools and now you know what shops can help anybody professionaly?????
Are there dumbasses at bestbuy, yes. But I have found more bad advice at smaller high end shops. I get talked to like I'm some idiot until I usually cut them off. They ride there rep in hopes that kids will buy anything they say, cuz they are the "real" shop
Listen, as far as a deck, I would suggest the Alpine. Reliable, good sound qua;ity and easy to use. Pioneers are a little confusing on their higher end decks.
Eclipse impo are crap, overpriced and unreliable. I would rather spend my money on a JVC. Decent prices, cool features. A 2001 civic is not a car I would advise to go at it yourself.
Go to a decent shop that offers install for free LIKE BEST BUY OR CIRCUIT CITY
buy your $36 in parts and let them install it.
Unless you are sure you can get your center dash peice out without creasing the main dash.
PS installing it yourself saves you nothing, you will need the parts anyways, and installing it yourself will usually knock the warranty down to 90 if bought by an authorized dealer. Buying offline from other than crutchfeild and a few other will usually void all warranties.
And on a side note, if you are on a budget sometimes buying the extra service plan that BB abd CC offer can be a wise investment. Comes in handy if something happens to your deck and you don't have any money to replace it
aot of small shops are suck. be sure they are well known and talk with the install guys before doing anything. same goes for CC and BB. i had cc put in my speakers and dynamat, well they totally screwed it up. i had to strip the car down and reinstall everything. the spacers were cracked because they could not aim the drill right, one of the surrounds was torn, and the cone had all kind of plastic shaving and dirt in it. the dynamat was just pressed on and was starting to fall out. so i had to buy new everything and fix their crap job. ofcourse i didnt notice this til after a year later so i couldnt really go back and complain. and they thought a ricer like me would never notice. and now that i installed them properly, the sound quality is 2x better. and yea alot of rejects work at those places. i have some stories but i dont wanna post them to scare everyone. but not everyone is bad, there are some installers that actually care, although its rare in my experience.
and ya always always buy the service plan if you buy from a store. i already had to send my alpine for repair once after a year of owning it so they could clean the laser.
and ya always always buy the service plan if you buy from a store. i already had to send my alpine for repair once after a year of owning it so they could clean the laser.
I've had a Kenwood deck for about 2 years now, and runs great. Just need to clean the laser...
I would definatley stay away from Clarion. I had 2 clarion decks, and both started crapping out on me pretty quick. Had to have a laser replaced on a 2 month old deck. I wasn't impressed. I'll never go back
I would definatley stay away from Clarion. I had 2 clarion decks, and both started crapping out on me pretty quick. Had to have a laser replaced on a 2 month old deck. I wasn't impressed. I'll never go back
wow. i find that shocking renegade. clarion is generally a really good product, at a good price. 
you usually can't go wrong with that.
for a beginner, if you don't know much about features, and aren't planning on educating yourself, i'd say something like alpine. kenwoods are pretty simple too. pioneers seem to be a bit more complicated.
and there's nothing wrong with best buy. just make sure you talk to someone knowledgable, no matter where you go. most of the f**ked up things with my audio have happened at those small, higher end shops. and guess what? they don't like fixing their s**t either.
buuuut... like i always say, go see for yourself. go into best buy, circuit city, a small shop, wherever, and look at the units yourself. play with them. they are there so you can see how they operate, so take advantage of it and decide for yourself.
you usually can't go wrong with that.for a beginner, if you don't know much about features, and aren't planning on educating yourself, i'd say something like alpine. kenwoods are pretty simple too. pioneers seem to be a bit more complicated.
and there's nothing wrong with best buy. just make sure you talk to someone knowledgable, no matter where you go. most of the f**ked up things with my audio have happened at those small, higher end shops. and guess what? they don't like fixing their s**t either.
buuuut... like i always say, go see for yourself. go into best buy, circuit city, a small shop, wherever, and look at the units yourself. play with them. they are there so you can see how they operate, so take advantage of it and decide for yourself.
I bought a Kenwood KDC 2025 for about $90 shipped
It specs out at the same 22W RMS as it's more expensive eXcelon brothers, the controls are easier to use, it's been dead reliable, and it's Sirius or Music Keg ready. The only downsides are that it only has 2 preouts, it won't read some MP3 formats, and the EQ curves are a bit more simple than the higher end eXcelon models.
I can solve the EQ and preout problem with a Kenwood EQ...and will eventually, as soon as I find a favorable 4 channel amp.
I've never liked Pioneer's controls. Just my personal preference. They might work for you.
My friend has an Eclipse in his Eclipse RS...the dayum H/U is worth more than the car
but I really don't think the sound quality is any better than my cheapo Kenwood.
I had a Clarion system before. I liked it.
I had an Aiwa (Sony). It sucked. looked cool but it sucked.
It specs out at the same 22W RMS as it's more expensive eXcelon brothers, the controls are easier to use, it's been dead reliable, and it's Sirius or Music Keg ready. The only downsides are that it only has 2 preouts, it won't read some MP3 formats, and the EQ curves are a bit more simple than the higher end eXcelon models.
I can solve the EQ and preout problem with a Kenwood EQ...and will eventually, as soon as I find a favorable 4 channel amp.
I've never liked Pioneer's controls. Just my personal preference. They might work for you.
My friend has an Eclipse in his Eclipse RS...the dayum H/U is worth more than the car
but I really don't think the sound quality is any better than my cheapo Kenwood.I had a Clarion system before. I liked it.
I had an Aiwa (Sony). It sucked. looked cool but it sucked.
my GF has had a Sony HU in her car for 2 years now with no issues. It's not my cup of tea but she likes it and it's easy to use. She hasn't exactly been kind to it either...