Head Unit To Fit My Wants

[Madness0528]

This is what i'm looking for, guys.

1. Sound quality is uttermost importance. Loudness is a distant second. SQ>>>>>>>>>SPL

2. Double Din to give a large face-plate so that I can see more of the CD's information text such as the full name of song, album etc.

3. I would like it to be a touch screen but that isn't all that important.

4. High quality prevolt to all three channels. Front, rear and sub. is a MUST.

5. Head Unit's ability to play many different formats. Hopefully FLAC and such but if it doesn't, that's not too too bad.

6. Sound quality is ALL. Loudness is a very distant second.

Eclipse used to be my go-to brand for head units. but they have since kind of dropped out. So what other brand is advisable?

Thanks guys,

Matt

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[Madness0528]

Any ideas, guys?

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Don't think there is much of anything SQ wise in a DD. I know pioneer was going to have some new DDs coming out with some nice specs. Not sure if they released them or not.

You might be best off finding a DD that you like for its features and then adding a processor.

But don't listen to me. I really don't pay much attention to double dins. Hopefully someone else will chime in with some info.

I'd love to have a DD with all the options of my 80prs + HD radio. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

But if your not worried about a nice EQ and auto time alignment, auto EQ, and ability to run 3 way active you should have a few options.

Do you have a budget?

 

[Madness0528]

For the HU alone. I am willing to spend (Probably) no more than $4 or $500

What does an add-on processor do? Does it just shape the sound? Is it just EQ's, High/Low pass filters, time alignment, etc?

Also, I forgot to add that I really don't need to use the HU's own built-in power. So the signal will come from the HU and 100% of the power will come from my alternators and capacitors.

I have an Eclipse

 

[Madness0528]

Oh, and also, I was thinking of getting a DVD HU. Not because I want to wreck my car as i'm buying. But because I can fit a ton of FLAC songs that should sound MUCH better than mp3's, right? Also, that the dvd's will hold far more songs and I wont have to have so many CD's in the car.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

For the HU alone. I am willing to spend (Probably) no more than $4 or $500
What does an add-on processor do? Does it just shape the sound? Is it just EQ's, High/Low pass filters, time alignment, etc?

Also, I forgot to add that I really don't need to use the HU's own built-in power. So the signal will come from the HU and 100% of the power will come from my alternators and capacitors.

I have an Eclipse

uh huh.....

well op with that budget, your not getting anything sound quality with a touch screen double din. The cheapest but one of the top of the line SQ oriented head unit is the pioneer 80 prs, has an sd slot reader that takes 128 gb easy. The internal DACs and 24 bit processors are very top notch and the sound coming from it is beautiful. Puts out a really strong signal so your amps get a really clean source that prevents clipping.

Most "close to SQ oriented" double dins are in the $700-1200+ range and they still dont have as in-depth of SQ functions as a pioneer 80 prs, kenwood x998, alpine 149bt. (the big 3 go-to SQ head units)

A digital sound processor cleans up the signal, make it sound really good and provide endless tuning possibilities along with very dynamic sound staging. Very expensive and not very noob friendly. You really need to know what your doing if you want to tinker with it.

also just to let you know, capacitors do next to nothing when it comes to providing power. They regulate fluctuations in the voltage which can be used for a 2/4/6 channel amp to keep a steady voltage and prevent spikes in the sound spectrum. However if you think it can provide power to stop voltage drops from the power draw of your amps, your sorely mistaken. A secondary battery or upgraded under the hood AGM battery does a much much muuuuch better job.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Your best option for anything close to sound quality based double din is going to be an Alpine W505 with the Alpine PXAH701 processor. That will set you back $1500 for new equipment.

 

[Madness0528]

First, thank you guys so much. You've been very helpful and I do appreciate it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Hmmm.

OK. Screw the double din. The ONLY reason I wanted double din was because I thought that it would be cool to see the entire song, album, etc. And not just a few letters because there isn't much room on my Eclipse. And also because I felt that a double din DVD player was more likely to play FLAC files which I was interested in because it's lossless (I believe) an would sound better.

OK. How about now? Any new recommendations? DD is no longer in the picture.

 

[Madness0528]

Aye, Jeff. Do you prefer Howard Jones or Jesse Leach?

 

[Madness0528]

Also, I have an Eclipse CD3100. Back in the day Eclipse made the best HU's. How will your advised HU's compare with my Eclipse, which is maybe 3 or 4 years old but still kicking.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

First, thank you guys so much. You've been very helpful and I do appreciate it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Hmmm.

OK. Screw the double din. The ONLY reason I wanted double din was because I thought that it would be cool to see the entire song, album, etc. And not just a few letters because there isn't much room on my Eclipse. And also because I felt that a double din DVD player was more likely to play FLAC files which I was interested in because it's lossless (I believe) an would sound better.

OK. How about now? Any new recommendations? DD is no longer in the picture.

FLAC is lossless, but you cant tell a difference between 320kbps and MP3. There are maybe a handful of FLAC capable HU's out there.

As far as active capable headunits with time alignment and 4v+ preouts you have alot more options.

Eclipse CD7000, CD7100, CD7200 (deadhead), Alpine CDA9887, JVC KDSH1000, Clarion DXZ785USB, Pioneer PRS880, PRS800, and PRS80.

 

[Madness0528]

One more thing. I was checking out the Pioneer 80PRS and it has two USB ports but they are both in the back. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Jeff, or anyone else, do you just use a USB extension that is always connected to the two USB's in the back of HU and then plug your USB flash drive into that cord or what? Kind of messed up. The USB input port should be in the front. Just my .02¢

 

[Madness0528]

FLAC is lossless, but you cant tell a difference between 320kbps and MP3. There are maybe a handful of FLAC capable HU's out there.
As far as active capable headunits with time alignment and 4v+ preouts you have alot more options.

Eclipse CD7000, CD7100, CD7200 (deadhead), Alpine CDA9887, JVC KDSH1000, Clarion DXZ785USB, Pioneer PRS880, PRS800, and PRS80.

Sweet.

What does "active" refer to, friend?

I've been out of the car audio picture for quite a while. haha.

Thank.

Edit: Oh, three way active refers to the pre-amps. Front, rear and sub. Got it.

And yes, I need three way active pre-amp outputs. I won't even consider anything less than three-way

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Aye, Jeff. Do you prefer Howard Jones or Jesse Leach?

Howard all the way.

One more thing. I was checking out the Pioneer 80PRS and it has two USB ports but they are both in the back. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif
Jeff, or anyone else, do you just use a USB extension that is always connected to the two USB's in the back of HU and then plug your USB flash drive into that cord or what? Kind of messed up. The USB input port should be in the front. Just my .02¢

if your worried about not having a front USB, dont fret too much about it. Normally when you have a dash mount kit for your head unit, there's a hole somewhere in the storage compartment and you can easily put the usb wire through and it'll be a nicely hidden usb. Here's an example of how mines look like.

Advantage of this is your USB's life will be extended because its not exposed to the hot sun all the time (i have had usbs die that way) and the display on the head unit will be bigger due to the extra space. People also generally dont look inside that hole, you only see something in there because of the flash on my camera, normally its totally hidden. When i'm using the usb instead of SD slot, they have no idea where the source of my music is comming from. Most think i have some fancy subscription. Having the usb in the front makes it look kinda cheap headunit wise. It would have been cool if they moved the aux to the back too and made the screen even bigger. I'd prefer a bigger screen to having a usb sticking out like a sore thumb anyday.

My head unit also has a SD card slot reader up to 128 gigs for those extremely bloated lossless files. However, this head unit is soo **** good that you really dont notice too much of a difference between mp3 and flac since the digital audio convertor on this head unit is really great.

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Sweet.
What does "active" refer to, friend?

I've been out of the car audio picture for quite a while. haha.

Thank.

Edit: Oh, three way active refers to the pre-amps. Front, rear and sub. Got it.

And yes, I need three way active pre-amp outputs. I won't even consider anything less than three-way

Active is when you process the signal going to the speakers before amping them. So you do your processing at the headunit or amp, and then the signal hits the amps, it amplifies them, and then your speakers only play what the headunit tells it.

A traditional setup is when you dont do the processing at the headunit, you amplify everything, and then you do the processing after.