Best Head Unit of All Time (for SQ only)

[Tantricz]

I love my Eclipse Cd-4000 5v pre outs. It sounds superior

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I love my Eclipse Cd-4000 5v pre outs. It sounds superior

I'm sure it sounds great but how much can you do with a 3 band EQ?

 

[architect7 10+ year member]

Have you ever owned any of the upper echelon Eclipses (not the AV head units, but earlier models)? Curious to hear your opinion of them, if you have owned any of them.

The only one I would consider is the 8053 because it has some external connectivity capabilities as well as built-in EQ (no external DSP required) though most of these connectivity solutions still require proprietary adapters that tend to add complexity/noise. I wouldn't be too interested in the 55090 or CD7200MKII. And I'm not a huge fan of Eclipse's 8v preouts. Very few amps can take this much preamp signal, many will be sent straight into clipping at the input stage. I've used plenty of 4v decks with zero noise so not sure why Eclipse thought we needed 8v back then.

I had a modded CD7200MKII once, it was painfully slow when navigating USB, Bluetooth sound quality was horrendous (Pioneer does a GREAT job at this) and overall it always felt a little clunky/off.

The 55090 has pretty limited features from a tuning perspective and needs the 39011 DSP to really be taken seriously compared to modern HUs with DSP built in. Most older Eclipse CD mechanisms break or the ESN locks you out because it comes to a point where it can no longer read the security disc...so you have to pay Eclipse $$$ to fix it later on. With more modern options out there with better features/reliability, no real reason to go with the Eclipse units.

 

[Ge_off_me 5,000+ posts]

I thought my Denon DCT-A100 was pretty impressive, more so than my DRZ and DRX 9255.

 

[Tantricz]

I'm sure it sounds great but how much can you do with a 3 band EQ?

Yeah That's the down side to it. But for daily driver it's good

 

[architect7 10+ year member]

I thought my Denon DCT-A100 was pretty impressive, more so than my DRZ and DRX 9255.

Really? What about the Denon impressed you more than the DRZ? I had a Denford 8250ti once and while it had a pretty face, it didn't offer much else. It was on par feature-wise with the DRX but impossible to compare to a DRZ...since you get so much tuning capability with the DRZ and the SQ is as good or better. I even preferred the SQ of the DRX over the 8250ti. Plus more flexible source selection with the DRZ...but all IMHO //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

That's one thing I don't get about the Mc units. They look cool but offer no tuning so you still have to add a processor. So whatever they do offer is getting overwriten anyway.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Panny tube.

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

I love my pioneer 880prs the discontinued one that was $500

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Holy ****, $1,200 for a HU!
I think this beats the 80PRS model.

Worth every penny when you compare the cost with replacing all it's features with external processing.

The 99 is a full blown processor. In realty you are getting a good deal at $1200. Considering a good HU is $300 and a good processor is $700. And you don't need a laptop and software to tune it.

This^^^^

Panny tube.

Surprised this took 2 pages to come up. This is definitely the best looking of the lot IMO.

Consider that even the Burr Brown op amp is now obsolete how good really are the older "SQ" head units? I'd hazard to guess that after you get outside of entry level just about anything should give you very accurate sound reproduction and from there you're just paying for processing and features which may or may not be worth the extra money depending on the user, application, or what other equipment you have or like to run.

 

[architect7 10+ year member]

Worth every penny when you compare the cost with replacing all it's features with external processing.

Yep, definitely the best HU decision I've ever made. And for the typical preowned price of ~$800 the 99 is a no brainer. My favorite HU that I have ever owned.

 

[Jroo 10+ year member]

I thought the Alpine 7909 was still regarded as the best ever?

 

[Ge_off_me 5,000+ posts]

Really? What about the Denon impressed you more than the DRZ? I had a Denford 8250ti once and while it had a pretty face, it didn't offer much else. It was on par feature-wise with the DRX but impossible to compare to a DRZ...since you get so much tuning capability with the DRZ and the SQ is as good or better. I even preferred the SQ of the DRX over the 8250ti. Plus more flexible source selection with the DRZ...but all IMHO //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The DCT-A100 is superior to the "Denford" unit.

The difference between swapping out the DRX and the DRZ for the DCT-A100 was outstanding to say the least.

The vocals were more well-pronounced, the low-end was more taut, and let's not forget the looks of the Denon are far superior as well.

The thing about units without processing is that the pride themselves on a superior signal path, and a superior cd transport. The cd transport is one of the more important parts of a head unit as far as I'm concerned.

That's one thing I don't get about the Mc units. They look cool but offer no tuning so you still have to add a processor. So whatever they do offer is getting overwriten anyway.

I highly disagree, the cd transport on units like the DRZ, panasonic tube deck, Denon head units, and the 7909 are fantastic. After that is where the clear signal path comes into play.

I would much rather export all of my tuning functions to a processor that will do a better job than any head unit out there, and add very little noise to the signal path.

I would easily argue that what you gain from having a headunit like the ones I mentioned, is not voided by adding a processor into the mix.