Which head unit for under $400?

DinanE36M3 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-22-2003, 06:44 AM

Hey, i am looking to replace my head unit as the stock one is fading quickly and not sounding so hot. I have replaced the entire system so far including all interior speakers and added two 10" subs. Because of this i would like to have a sub control. I am also really interested in having Sirius radio. Let me know what i should do.

The only one i was looking at so far was the Ghost by Panasonic. anyone have this one? is it good?

thanks,
Heath

bmw328iproject · #2 (**permalink**) 04-22-2003, 07:18 AM

Check out some of the higher end Kenwood units. I bet you can get a great deal on Ebay. Things to look for in a head unit:
S/N ratio: the higher the better
Preout Voltage: Again the higher the better, 4 volt is the minimum these days, especially with subs
MP3 capability: it is sweet!
Satelite Radio: Kenwood has Sirius, alpine has XM, Eclipse has nothing

bmw328iproject · #3 (**permalink**) 04-22-2003, 07:19 AM

If your interior speakers are powered by a seperate amp I would look at the Alpine units that have no internal amp. An internal amp will take away from your SQ and cause hissing at high volumes.

DinanE36M3 · #4 (**permalink**) 04-22-2003, 07:33 AM

I do have separte amps for both my subs and interior speakers. I have seen the Panasonic Ghost, and think it is pretty cool. I haven't used it yet, so i don't know how good it is. Let me know if you have heard anything.
-Heath

Jahkesh · #5 (**permalink**) 04-25-2003, 07:18 PM

Signal to noise ratio means nothing. Do not buy a head unit on that. 4 volt preout is ok. Its just noise reduction guys, thats it. output voltages dont really matter that much because you can use a line driver anyway. Goto local shops and play with some units and see which one you like.

Stay away from sony. Im getting a clarion 835mp. It seems ot be the best HU out for the money. But eveyrone has different tastes and want different things out of thier systems, i would personally go with the 835mp.

Good luck

nOiZe · #6 (**permalink**) 05-04-2003, 08:58 AM

if you're still in the market i have a alpine cda7873 for sale for cheep it has sub control, crossovers and all kinds of stuff. 3 rca out (front rear sub) etc..
hit me on aim
fourtysixpro
or email: leadfewt@yahoo.com

oh, it doesn't have sirius, it has XM

BanginBeema · #7 (**permalink**) 05-20-2003, 09:03 PM

Eclipse 8 volt preout with copper frame

Scarface · #8 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BanginBeema
Eclipse 8 volt preout with copper frame

THAT is the way to go, I am about to get rid of my Eclipse cd 5442 and get a new cd8053, 16/8 volt balanced out and comes with a line driver!!! Probably a little out of your price range, you could step down to the Eclipse cd8443 or the cd5433..The 8443 and the 8053 have a very complex eq very similar to the alpine f1 but at a fraction of the cost!

http://www.eclipse-web.com/

go there and check them out, I sell this brand of radio more than anything else I have ever sold since we picked this line up...Great performance, excellent quality, excellent warranty and excellent security feature(ESN)

Jahkesh · #9 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 07:38 PM

The 8053 is very good unit (would have got it if it matched interior better) but does not compare at all to the Alpine CDA-7990 and PXA-H900; they are in a completely different league.

He initially said he wanted to use Sirius, so Eclipse isn't compatible.

Honestly most of the features eclipse incorporated into its units are mostly for noise rejecting, the units don’t have many built in features. The 8053 is slowly changing this but it is out of your price range.

The only things I miss about the eclipse deck are:

1) They play scratched damaged CD's better than any deck I have used. I don’t think there was a CD that it couldn’t play. I have the cd8061 which didn’t play MP3’s though so I don’t know how that is.

2) Load times were near instant, fast-forward, rewind, and track changes were very quick.

That’s about it, other than that it didn’t have anything special and preout voltages don’t really mean much if you don’t have a noise problem. And as long as you know how to install an amp right and wire RCA’s correctly you won’t have a noise problem.

If you get an eclipse deck make sure you get the credit card remote because that NOB remote is the crappiest remote and whoever designed it was an idiot.

So if you could list us some things that you absolutely want like:

Sirius compatibility, sub control, built in XO’s, any particular color? Do u want it to match your interior lights? Any aesthetics… like screensavers and stuff. IMO the eclipse deck is pretty ugly but it does what it is supposed to do (Play cds) very well.

What do u want your HU to do for u?

Scarface · #10 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 09:20 PM

well, about the sirius and eclipse, our eclipse rep told us a while back that they will be going sirius and you will be able to control the sirius receiver through the changer output on 2002 and newer models...but yeah as far as playing scatched cds yeah they are the greatest I have seen, i have demonstrated that to alot of customers, I will ask them to get a cd out of their car that will not play in their cd player or does but skips alot, then bring it in and play it on my entry level eclipse radio and show them the difference!

BanginBeema · #11 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 09:23 PM

I'll take an Eclipse AV8132

Scarface · #12 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 09:27 PM

yeah the av8132 is a hot piece! I haven't sold any yet for the fact I don't have a customer yet who wants to spend that much extra money for 5.1 surround, so far everyone is settling for the av8022, which is an awesome piece! It outsells my clarion vrx935vd and it doesnt have the bells and whistles the clarion has like touch screen and screen savers, etc....

BanginBeema · #13 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 09:29 PM

hey out of curiousity what is your cost on an 8012?

Scarface · #14 (**permalink**) 05-24-2003, 09:41 PM

well i would rather not publicly discuss that on a forum but feel free to email me at dreamworksdes@aol.com to discuss this further....

bmw328iproject · #15 (**permalink**) 05-29-2003, 12:56 PM

Whoever said S/N ratio is meaningless is wrong or has never listened to really high end home/car gear. The better the S/N ratio the cleaner the signal end of story, it does get to the point where the human ear can't notice it but if you are running amps that aren't crazy powerful then the noise becomes audible when you are pushing your amps. That's where high output voltage helps as well, with a higher voltage you won't need to turn the gains up on the amps so less noise. Plus the problem with line drivers is that a lot of them (unless you are getting into high end eq's) have crappy S/N ratios and crappy signal transfer and end up jacking up the voltage at the cost of SQ, which makes little difference if it is for your subs but for mids and highs it messes them all up.