Alpine, Clarion, Eclipse, or Pioneer HU

[NEXT 10+ year member]

What head unit would you guys go for right now out of these for, perferably last years models so I can get the best deal possible.

Which one is easiest to use?

Which one has the best SQ?

Which one has the best processing/features?

Which is the best all-around?

And does anyone know where to get the best deal on them at?

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[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

Well to answer questions 2 and 3, you should go with eclipse or a higher model Alpine deck. But the eclipse would be better for that stuff.

Ease of use would fall under the Pioneer decks.

Best all around.. depends on what you like. There is no best deck, totaly dependent on what features you need/like/use and such.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

all 4 brands have great decks. if you are on a budget i would say clarion, if not eclipse, but all those companies make pretty decent headunits.

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

eclipse is the most user friendly as far as controls go. i believe that alpine has more controlable processing, but it still sucks. eclipse has better sound quality anyday over alpine, but that is just my opinion.

 

[NEXT 10+ year member]

At first I'm not going to have any out-board processing but I will later. I also want to keep it around $3-400

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

eclipse. i would only say alpine if you are going to use an external eq.

 

[Speedyd718 10+ year member]

i just installed a pioneer premier 960 upgrading from a 740 and i think it has really good sq and very easy to use. but u can't go wrong with any of those brands.

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

I have used alpine, kenwood, clarion, pioneer and 4 Eclipses(before going to the RF 8250).

Out of your choices, I would buy an Eclipse. They make excellent sounding decks, and I have always found them easy to use(although they have always sounded great right out of the box, everying set flat).

 

[Zombietime 10+ year member]

I have a clarion dxz745mp and I like it a lot... it's not super high end but it gets the job done and sounds great.

 

[AznRevlAzn 10+ year member]

all three of those brands are great, just research and you'll find the perfect one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[MasterBlast 10+ year member]

I would get an alpine. There nice h/u and easy to use atleats i think so. Every othe h/u ive seen or used has not been as good as my alpine.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Eclipse.

 

[Bartak1 10+ year member]

I would also say any one. I have a lower model Pioneer and it is easier to run than the Alpine my sister has(currently sitting in my room). More features too. 2 of my friend have an Eclipse and Clarion, and they are pretty nice to. From what Ive heard, the older Eclipses are the ones to go with(if you are going Eclipse) becase Ive heard they are kind of going comercial shit with there new HU's and arent as good as they used to be.

I havent heard the Clarion much, but Iv also heard more than a few people say they would take Clarion over Alpine because of Alpines clipping problem at higher volume.

But like I said, the last few things I said where just from what Ive heard, Ive had more experiene with the alpines and pioneers, and I like the pioneers better, although I like the way the alpines look better.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

Eclipse 8053,

 

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[bri487 5,000+ posts]

From what Ive heard, the older Eclipses are the ones to go with(if you are going Eclipse) becase Ive heard they are kind of going comercial shit with there new HU's and arent as good as they used to be. .

i have had extremely old eclipses and all of the new ones. i was scared to see their prices drop because i thought that quality might have dropped as well. according to the eclipse rep, the 05 models are still using the same parts, but they are beginning to get cheaper and production is getting less costly. as of the older decks versus the current decks, i have noticed no change in build quality or performance.