need some opinions on eclipse, clarion, alpine etc

[Vanquish]

Hey guys,Im new to the forum, my truck go broken into and my headunit and a bunch of other things got stolen and i need some advice on which headunit to get. I had an alpine 9831 and i loved that deck but i was looking at this years alpine and didnt like them as much as last years and i cant find one from last year near me (Insurance company says i need to buy from authorized dealer) so ive been basically looking at these three headunits

Alpine cda 9853
clarion dxz855mp
eclipse cd5435

I can get all these for the same price just wondering what your thoughts are on these models or others in this price range thanks

Cody

[Chainsaw45]

Alot of people around here like Eclipse decks but I've never had any experience with one. I have an Alpine(9847) and it's great. Read up on the features of each deck and see which one has the options you'd most likely use. I'd go with the Eclipse or the Alpine though.

[ngsm13]

The Clarion is a great unit.

Good choices, those are the only three HU brands I'll touch.

Try to find an Alpine 9835 on ebay...those are the last of the AMAZING HU's.

NG

[Randy Savage]

Eclipse is the best CD player in the history of the universe, period.



Go with the Clarion...

[djbass_mekanik]

all 3 decks have good sound quality when hooked up to amps, but the clarion decks usually have very little voltage for the preouts, so check that out, and the clarion is also hard to exualize and fix the sound... i would go w/ the alpine or eclipse

[adam71]

Out of those 3 I would go with either the Clarion or the Eclipse. I would steer clear of the Alpine simply because of the low pre out voltage. The Clarion and the Eclipse have 4 and 5 volt pre outs respectively. Alot of people say this has no effect on the sound but if you ask anyone that went from a low voltage unit to a high voltage unit they will tell you it makes a nice difference. Being able to keep your gains down on your amps is always a good thing.

The Clarion has a 24bit d/a converter where as the Alpine and Eclipse have 1 bit.

Out of the 3 the Clarion is without a doubt the sexiest looking of them all. The stainless faceplate is very nice.

I'm not sure of the Eclipse or the Alpine (as their websites do not mention this) but I know that the Clarion has the option of turning off the internal amp. This may not be of use for you now but you never know when you might need such a feature.

But decide for yourself. Here's a link to them.

Eclipse
http://www.eclipse-web.com/cd/cd5435.html

Clarion
http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/.../DXZ855MP.html

Alpine
http://www.alpine-usa.com/

[adam71]

but the clarion decks usually have very little voltage for the preouts, so check that out, and the clarion is also hard to exualize and fix the sound... i would go w/ the alpine or eclipse

Really?? Check the voltage on that Alpine and you'll see it is 2 volt unit. The Clarion is a 4 volt unit. Nuff said.

[JLCivic]

I would go with the Eclipse.

[gnet158]

But the Eclipse and Clarion are are so frekin ULGY. Looks like something put out by Dual.

[JLCivic]

But the Eclipse and Clarion are are so frekin ULGY. Looks like something put out by Dual.

yeah, why buy the best sounding deck you can? Do you listen to deck or do you date it? I don't know about others on the forums, but when people listen to my system, they are much more interested in how it sounds than what the deck looks like.

The local shop carries eclipse and clarion. The eclipses, while not the best looking decks eclipse has put out, do look better in person(and they sound excellent). This year's clarions don't look great to me(except for the 9255 which is gorgeous), but I take performance over looks anyway. I know I am in the minority with that opinion.

[adam71]

yeah, why buy the best sounding deck you can? Do you listen to deck or do you date it? I don't know about others on the forums, but when people listen to my system, they are much more interested in how it sounds than what the deck looks like.

The local shop carries eclipse and clarion. The eclipses, while not the best looking decks eclipse has put out, do look better in person(and they sound excellent). This year's clarions don't look great to me(except for the 9255 which is gorgeous), but I take performance over looks anyway. I know I am in the minority with that opinion.

**** man I agree with ya. I haven't seen too many dual decks but I can guarantee they look nothing like the Eclipse or the Clarion. Pesonally I think the Alpine is worse looking than the other two just for the simple fact that Alpine decks pretty much look the same now as they did 10 years ago. Atleast other mfgs try to change it up a little bit.

[JLCivic]

**** man I agree with ya. I haven't seen too many dual decks but I can guarantee they look nothing like the Eclipse or the Clarion. Pesonally I think the Alpine is worse looking than the other two just for the simple fact that Alpine decks pretty much look the same now as they did 10 years ago. Atleast other mfgs try to change it up a little bit.

If I ever value looks over performance in choosing a deck, shoot me.

[travd27]

I have an Eclipse Cd8454 and previously owned the clarion dxz945 and although the clarion was a great deck it doesn't hold a candle to the Eclipse. The SQ on the eclipse is amazing and the volume goes up to 80 i know that doesn't really matter but on my clarion i could go up to 25 out of a possible 35 on the Eclipse i've never went higher than 53 and it screams with clarity.

[creater]

all three are great by me...personally...the eclipse or clarion...just pick one that you like

[gnet158]

yeah, why buy the best sounding deck you can? Do you listen to deck or do you date it? I don't know about others on the forums, but when people listen to my system, they are much more interested in how it sounds than what the deck looks like.

The local shop carries eclipse and clarion. The eclipses, while not the best looking decks eclipse has put out, do look better in person(and they sound excellent). This year's clarions don't look great to me(except for the 9255 which is gorgeous), but I take performance over looks anyway. I know I am in the minority with that opinion.

No I’m not going to date my H/U smart *** (or dumb *** depending on how you look at it) but you have to admit there not the nicest looking H/U out there. By stating that Eclipse are the best sounding H/U out there is pretty subjective. The H/U is only once piece of the puzzle. I’ve never demo(ed) an Eclipse but I have with some well respected Clarion units and it did not blow me away. I too would never take looks over sound quality but there are too many other H/U that sound “just as good” with out looking like crap. That’s where I’ll spend my money. I mean then how do companies like Alpine, Pioneer, Panasonic, JVC, and many others stay in business if Eclipse is the best? Think about it.