alpine/kenwood/pioneer differences

[wp7456 10+ year member]

I want to get my dad a nice HU for christmas, he has an 05' suburban. He listens to talk radio a lot as well as his ipod, and might look into getting xm or sirius. I'm pretty sure alpine has the best ipod interface out there but I have also heard good things about pioneer and kenwood (excelon). I want to spend around $150 to $200 for everything, ipod cable and any adapter things that may or may not come with the HU. Doesn't need anything real flashy just something that sounds nice and is easy to use. Any suggestions?

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[wp7456 10+ year member]

Anybody have this one? http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11104_Pioneer+Premier+DEH-P400UB.html

I was also looking at this kenwood excelon, http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11766_Kenwood+eXcelon+KDC-X592.html I can't tell does it have 17 watts or 22 per channel? We won't be hooking up an amp to his speakers if he even upgrades them so I was looking for something on the higher end as far as the internal amp goes.

 

[wp7456 10+ year member]

also looking at the 9884, because xm and sirius ready is a must. Not sure which one is better though, does anybody have xm or sirius and prefer one over the other? If I order from sonicelectronix, will they send me the proper trim piece for my specific car? I know crutchfield did, just not sure about these guys.

 

[macq32 10+ year member]

for the simplicity your looking for I think all 3 brands make decent enough products to handle it. I really like my excelon 791. Kenwood puts out nice units that arent ridiculously priced. But i dont think you could go wrong with any of the units, i guess its really just your preference and the factor of the cost for the IPod adapter

 

[blazeplacid 10+ year member]

Id order from Crutchfield, they have great customer service and are authorized dealers for everything they sell. As stated they will help you with trim pieces,wiring,kits etc

 

[eharri3 10+ year member]

I want to get my dad a nice HU for christmas, he has an 05' suburban. He listens to talk radio a lot as well as his ipod, and might look into getting xm or sirius. I'm pretty sure alpine has the best ipod interface out there but I have also heard good things about pioneer and kenwood (excelon). I want to spend around $150 to $200 for everything, ipod cable and any adapter things that may or may not come with the HU. Doesn't need anything real flashy just something that sounds nice and is easy to use. Any suggestions?

I have an alpine but have been checkin out pioneers. Imho they all make good stuff but pioneer gives most features and quality for the money. A 160 dollar pioneer gives u stuff ud pay over 200 for with the other brands.

Perfect Example:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8679691&type=product&id=1197678618266