Silvia Club of NSW

Why drive when you can drift?
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:36 pm

All times are UTC + 10 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Head Unit choice
PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:41 am 
Offline
T51 Hybrid

Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 11:17 pm
Posts: 376
Car: S13 Silvia Convertible
Hi,

I currently have a Panasonic with CD stacker but the stacker is skipping all the time and jumping all over the place (changing songs etc).

I am looking at getting a new system and trying to decide which features I would like.

So far I have seen the Blaupunkt Key West 36 and Sony Mex1gp. I really liked the Automatic sound feature on the Blaupunkt which the sales man told me is used to set a start up volume so if you have been driving and turned the volume up the next time you start the car the volume starts at a preset level rather than the last volume you had. I looked on the internet and the automatic sound feature also has automatic speed-dependent volume control (GALA) but the sales man says it doesn't. I also liked the idea of the 1GB memory in the face of the Sony MEX1GP as an easy way to put new music in the car and also know it should not skip at all regardless how bad Canberra roads become (10 years ago I think we had the best roads in the country but with such little maintenance I think we now have the worst).

The sound of the Blaupunkt in the shop was pretty bad which the sales man said was the really cheap speakers he had it connected to but said it would be fine with my existing speakers. In the other shop the Sony sounded great. I am a bit worried about the Blaupunkt sales man comments on all head unit produce similar quality sound seeing they now all use similar internal amps. If that was true then it would make sense just to buy the cheapest head unit with the features you want.

Does anyone own either of those head units or another head unit with features they really like and would recommend.

Thanks

_________________
Convertibles Rule


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:11 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2003 11:21 pm
Posts: 5731
Location: Sydney
Car: WGNC34,S14,AE86
I've always bought alpines,and always will. great value for money,which is even more true a statement these days as they're cheaper than ever and even the most basic of thier units have good features.

my gf's S14,and my stagea both have CDA-9853R's. $500 gets you a direct i pod connection & control interface,mp3 support,3 5v preouts, 50wx4 peak internal amp,BBE,basic processing,detachable face,and a pretty LCD display.
www.alpine.com.au


Justin...

_________________
STI - Made in Texas,not Japan.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:27 pm 
Offline
Admin Team
Admin Team
User avatar

Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2003 3:27 pm
Posts: 3870
Location: here
Car: Hello Kitty!
I just picked up a CDE-9852 for $300. It was an impulse buy :) It replaces my 8 year old Kenwood deck.

Mostly the same as Fergo's except regular old display and only 2 pre outs. Same internal amp if you want to run speakers with it, I just switched it off to boost the pre amp up a bit and run it through an external amp as it wouldn't have a hope in hell of running my splits at any reasonable volume.

_________________
meh


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:18 am 
Offline
T03 Hybrid
User avatar

Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 10:16 am
Posts: 188
Location: Sydney
Car: 200sx s14
I personally like either Pioneer and Clarion. But with the price of a mid range clarion unit you can afford a top of the range Pioneer unit. I like pioneer cause it also looks abit more modern then clarion. A couple of my friends has one of the latest pioneer unit [ Pioneer DEH-p9800BT ] and ive been hearing good things about them. I am soon buying myself one too. Its about $600.. With some good features like bluetooth, quality is crystal and looks good too. well thats my opinion. goodluck.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-iAMBfKj1Rc ... 130DEHP980

_________________
* God made turbo lag to give V8's a chance!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Head Unit choice
PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:02 am 
Offline
Quad T66
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2003 3:36 pm
Posts: 2938
Car: 200sx
Chris wrote:
The sound of the Blaupunkt in the shop was pretty bad which the sales man said was the really cheap speakers he had it connected to but said it would be fine with my existing speakers. In the other shop the Sony sounded great. I am a bit worried about the Blaupunkt sales man comments on all head unit produce similar quality sound seeing they now all use similar internal amps. If that was true then it would make sense just to buy the cheapest head unit with the features you want.


the blaupunkt head units ive heard sound fine. most modern head units do have similar internal amps, and quality amongst the GOOD brands (ive personally heard blau., pioneer, kenwood and alpine) is generally the same (this doesnt include sony, the one i heard was shocking). also, if your going to be running amps, it really doesnt matter, just check out the pre out voltages.

head units can only cram a little crummy amp inside anyways, none of them produce the power or quality for 'decent' speakers, i would get an external amp and hook up speakers to that, but i do like my music :)


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:57 am 
Offline
Twin T66
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:52 am
Posts: 1344
Car: CA18DET 180sx
t _ _Y wrote:
I personally like either Pioneer and Clarion. But with the price of a mid range clarion unit you can afford a top of the range Pioneer unit.


I am currently running the older TOL Pioneer headunit, always loved Pioneer decks, they just seem well built, always decent quality and sound sensational when hooked up properly.

I currently have the Pioneer DEH 8450MP in my car, 6 pre-outs, i-bus connection for stacker with auxilary, or just aux adapter for ipod, and RCA connection, controls high and low pass filter from the deck, has external audio compenstion (adjusts the volume if the deck senses higher volumes inside the cabin, such as convertables with the roof down), you can run the pre-outs and the post-amp speakers at the same time, has phone mute, illumination adjustment, and all that sort of standard garbage, face folds down for extra functionality and 'rice', so you can have realtime graphic equaliser, dolphins, cars, and other garbage on the screen, but you can also change all the settings, increase and decrease bass/treble/midrange, adjust the filters for better mix of signals, etc.

I would be very reluctant to give this head unit up, even if I was to sell the car, I rather spend 2 days installing a lesser functional Pioneer head unit for the new owner, and hook it all up with new wiring right through than to leave the 8450 unit in the car.

I paid just on $500 for my unit 2nd hand, but they retailed less than 12 months ago for $1500.

Personally, I have had Pioneer, Sony, JVC, Kenwood, and some cheap arse chong brand, and I would never go back to anything else except Pioneer.

(This is my opinion only)

B.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:09 pm 
Offline
T51 Hybrid

Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 11:17 pm
Posts: 376
Car: S13 Silvia Convertible
Thanks Guys, some useful information there.

That Crutchfield website has lots of useful information and the external audio compensation on the Pioneer sounds good for convertibles like my car.

Thanks
Chris

_________________
Convertibles Rule


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

All times are UTC + 10 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group