ECLIPSE CD8455- Review & Pics

[BodegaBay 10+ year member]

Thanks for the review and the pictures Manny. I was ready to give up on the 2005 Eclipse's until your photos -- much better looking than their website.

Can I ask you a few questions?

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

1. I see you have Arc XXK amps. Were there any problems mating the amps to the 8V Eclipse? I believe Arc is limited to 2.5V, can accept 4V, but I wasn't so sure about 8V.
   
2. Are you running your front components in 2-way or 3-way config?
   
3. What mode do you use? Normal or Pro?
   
4. Have you tried the Circle Suround mode? I believe it's only accessible when the PRO mode is OFF.
   
5. Is the internal amplifier defeatable?
   

PRO MODE QUESTIONS:

1. What is the min crossover frequency allowable for the FRONT RCA's HIGH PASS? That is to say, how low a frequency will the Pro Mode allow the front channels to go down to? The 8053/8443 only allowed it to go down to something like ~320Hz.
   
2. Can you double confirm that the crossover slopes of 24dB is allowed for all channels: Front, Rears, and Sub?
   

NORMAL MODE QUESTIONS:

1. Are the crossover available in 24dB or is it only limited to 12db? The 8053/8443 limited it to 12dB.
   

I have compared the small differences between the 8445vs. 8455. Other than the 7 band P-EQ and different modes (the 8445 has "Advance" and "Normal" modes while the 8455 has the "Pro" and "Normal" modes), I'm not seeing much differences.

Thanks again for your time.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Thanks for the review and the pictures Manny. I was ready to give up on the 2005 Eclipse's until your photos -- much better looking than their website.
Can I ask you a few questions?

GENERAL QUESTIONS:

1. I see you have Arc XXK amps. Were there any problems mating the amps to the 8V Eclipse? I believe Arc is limited to 2.5V, can accept 4V, but I wasn't so sure about 8V.
   
2. Are you running your front components in 2-way or 3-way config?
   
3. What mode do you use? Normal or Pro?
   
4. Have you tried the Circle Suround mode? I believe it's only accessible when the PRO mode is OFF.
   
5. Is the internal amplifier defeatable?
   

PRO MODE QUESTIONS:

1. What is the min crossover frequency allowable for the FRONT RCA's HIGH PASS? That is to say, how low a frequency will the Pro Mode allow the front channels to go down to? The 8053/8443 only allowed it to go down to something like ~320Hz.
   
2. Can you double confirm that the crossover slopes of 24dB is allowed for all channels: Front, Rears, and Sub?
   

NORMAL MODE QUESTIONS:

1. Are the crossover available in 24dB or is it only limited to 12db? The 8053/8443 limited it to 12dB.
   

I have compared the small differences between the 8445vs. 8455. Other than the 7 band P-EQ and different modes (the 8445 has "Advance" and "Normal" modes while the 8455 has the "Pro" and "Normal" modes), I'm not seeing much differences.

Thanks again for your time.

Arc amps- in no way, shape, or form are they limited to 2.5v- their sensitivity is rated "2.5v @1khz" -its a scenario you'lll never see- many dont know how to read these specs and assume they cannot take higher voltage- heck Arc processors and EQ's have between 8v balanced and up to 9v rms capability- why would they make these if their amps coudn't handle it? All this means is i'm getting full rated power with much lower gains. I had no issue w/my 8443 nor this 8455 and I've applied a good 85-90% volume w/ no clipping and although ear deafning levels, it remains crystal clear //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Ok here we go....

Non pro AND PRO MODE have 6db/12db/18db/24db slope selections

Non Fader output has a STEREO or Monoaural selection

CSII- is only available on basic mode- has a LOW or HI, OFF setting

PRO MODE PEQ

the lowest for each band are as follows-

Band 1(F/R) 63hz

Band 2(F/R) 80hz

Band 3(F/R) 100hz

Band 4(F/R) 200hz

Band 5(F/R)250hz

I dont have much use for the PEQ, as I didn't use it much either with the 8443- dunno if its due to my tweet placement- but i dont suffer much from reflections or feel the need to boost/cut - I'm getting very true to the source flat response.

So I've been going back and forth between Basic/Pro as i feel like. In Pro mode you have Bass/Mid/ Trebble controls so they pretty much take care what I need to on the fly.

I'm currently running a 2way passive set as I'm working on adding a set of midbasses to the existing set Via a piggyback passive X'over- these 6.5" mids will be playing midbass in conjunction with my primary mid from 80hz up its smooth rolloff at 220hz....Not a traditional 3way, but called a Dual woofer system by Rainbow- its supposed to give a 6db increase in that freq range

There is no way to defeat the internal amp- although Eclipse decks dont suffer from it SQ wise as other decks do. IMO its a non-issue.

 

[BodegaBay 10+ year member]

Manny,

Many thanks for answering all my questions. From your responses, it would seem Eclipse have made their upper end units a lot more flexible with the crossover frequencies and slopes in both BASIC and PRO modes. If you will remember, the 8443 (and thus 8053) limited the BASIC mode to just 12db x-over slope. It also limited the PRO mode to only ~320Hz for the front channels; this severely limited the bass output on front channels -- your note below shows the front channels can now go down to 63Hz!

I am pleasantly surprised with these change because I was looking at the Alpine 9835/9855 for greater flexibility than the 8443. I guess I won't have to go back to Alpine afterall.

A final question -- have you tried the CSII? How does it sound?

P.S. Thanks also for the technical explanation for the Arc's input voltage issue.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Manny,
Many thanks for answering all my questions. From your responses, it would seem Eclipse have made their upper end units a lot more flexible with the crossover frequencies and slopes in both BASIC and PRO modes. If you will remember, the 8443 (and thus 8053) limited the BASIC mode to just 12db x-over slope. It also limited the PRO mode to only ~320Hz for the front channels; this severely limited the bass output on front channels -- your note below shows the front channels can now go down to 63Hz!

I am pleasantly surprised with these change because I was looking at the Alpine 9835/9855 for greater flexibility than the 8443. I guess I won't have to go back to Alpine afterall.

A final question -- have you tried the CSII? How does it sound?

P.S. Thanks also for the technical explanation for the Arc's input voltage issue.

Oh yes....much improved as well as the ergo's - the only reason I had to let go of my 8443, I loved that unit. It showed me I truly got my $$'s worth buying an Eclipse.

The CSII is cool- I have no rear fill in my car so its hard to give you a detailed explanation- but when engaged it has CSII Trubass icon goes on- so it does boost

in the sense of your typical bass engine feature at low volume. Its meant more for a surround sound feature, so if you video i your car its a cool thing.

 

[BodegaBay 10+ year member]

Well I visited the Good Guys tonight and they actually had one unit in. Since I have bought a lot of gear with them in the past, I was able to deal it down to $599 + free install. Of course I wanted to install it myself and was hoping to get the extra warranty with Eclipse. But I was surprised to see the warranty card saying that it was only 1 year mfg. warranty. This is curious as I thought Eclipse's warranty was 3 years. Perhaps they changed it for 2005?

I was hoping to also buy the Sirius SIR-ECL1 as well but it wasn't even in the system yet. Too bad because I wanted to see the price. Manny -- you noted that the Sirius unit cost $79 -- can you tell me if that was a preferred pricing? What's the MSRP? The Sirius website shows it's $99.99 but I'm not sure how correct the info is.

I did peruse through the manual and read up all the features. This is one heck of a feature rich unit with flexibility to boot. One feature that caught my eye is the the supplied microphone for the P-EQ feature; this can be potentially be very useful if it can actually help with the peaks and dips in the car. I am heavily into home theater so it was a nice suprise to see that someone was actually incorporating Auto-EQ into mobile audio!

Biolite (and perhaps Glide-Touch) feature(s) aside from the upcoming Alpine 9855, I feel that the Eclipse 8455 has much more useful features with finally giving a lot of flexibility in the crossover freq and slopes that were missing from previous units. I'm still undecided about the new look until I fire it up but I can say it is much better looking than Eclipse website. The rubber rotary is missed and the new rotary silver trim ring looks to be real machined metal vs. plastic -- a nice touch.

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

Well I visited the Good Guys tonight and they actually had one unit in. Since I have bought a lot of gear with them in the past, I was able to deal it down to $599 + free install. Of course I wanted to install it myself and was hoping to get the extra warranty with Eclipse. But I was surprised to see the warranty card saying that it was only 1 year mfg. warranty. This is curious as I thought Eclipse's warranty was 3 years. Perhaps they changed it for 2005?
I was hoping to also buy the Sirius SIR-ECL1 as well but it wasn't even in the system yet. Too bad because I wanted to see the price. Manny -- you noted that the Sirius unit cost $79 -- can you tell me if that was a preferred pricing? What's the MSRP? The Sirius website shows it's $99.99 but I'm not sure how correct the info is.

I did peruse through the manual and read up all the features. This is one heck of a feature rich unit with flexibility to boot. One feature that caught my eye is the the supplied microphone for the P-EQ feature; this can be potentially be very useful if it can actually help with the peaks and dips in the car. I am heavily into home theater so it was a nice suprise to see that someone was actually incorporating Auto-EQ into mobile audio!

Biolite (and perhaps Glide-Touch) feature(s) aside from the upcoming Alpine 9855, I feel that the Eclipse 8455 has much more useful features with finally giving a lot of flexibility in the crossover freq and slopes that were missing from previous units. I'm still undecided about the new look until I fire it up but I can say it is much better looking than Eclipse website. The rubber rotary is missed and the new rotary silver trim ring looks to be real machined metal vs. plastic -- a nice touch.

I believe the warranty card has said 1 year for quite some time, but if dealer installed, and you send in the card, it is 3 years.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Like JLCivic said it is 3 years if dealer installed. Otherwise its only the one year like the card states.

The Sirius tuners came in about a week ago for me, the MSRP is $119

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Well I visited the Good Guys tonight and they actually had one unit in. Since I have bought a lot of gear with them in the past, I was able to deal it down to $599 + free install. Of course I wanted to install it myself and was hoping to get the extra warranty with Eclipse. But I was surprised to see the warranty card saying that it was only 1 year mfg. warranty. This is curious as I thought Eclipse's warranty was 3 years. Perhaps they changed it for 2005?
I was hoping to also buy the Sirius SIR-ECL1 as well but it wasn't even in the system yet. Too bad because I wanted to see the price. Manny -- you noted that the Sirius unit cost $79 -- can you tell me if that was a preferred pricing? What's the MSRP? The Sirius website shows it's $99.99 but I'm not sure how correct the info is.

I did peruse through the manual and read up all the features. This is one heck of a feature rich unit with flexibility to boot. One feature that caught my eye is the the supplied microphone for the P-EQ feature; this can be potentially be very useful if it can actually help with the peaks and dips in the car. I am heavily into home theater so it was a nice suprise to see that someone was actually incorporating Auto-EQ into mobile audio!

Biolite (and perhaps Glide-Touch) feature(s) aside from the upcoming Alpine 9855, I feel that the Eclipse 8455 has much more useful features with finally giving a lot of flexibility in the crossover freq and slopes that were missing from previous units. I'm still undecided about the new look until I fire it up but I can say it is much better looking than Eclipse website. The rubber rotary is missed and the new rotary silver trim ring looks to be real machined metal vs. plastic -- a nice touch.

Nice- I'm very curious as to your USER review. Please post, I'm curious as to your feelings on the unit.

If the place you bought it from is an authorized Eclipse dealer, and they installed it your warranty is good for 3yrs.

 

[BodegaBay 10+ year member]

Thanks guys for the warranty and Sirius confirmation.

I looked at my Warranty Card from the older 8443 and it said 1yr as well. And as I recalled, it is indeed 3yrs. if dealer installed. Good Guys is a fairly large A/V chain in Western US is indeed an authorized dealer. The manager gave me free install on the receipt for proof of install for warranty purposes.

I am curious of something else with the new units from last and current years. I know the manual states that only a Memory Stick (or Duo with adapter) up to 128MB can be used. Has anyone here tested if a higher capacitry MS can also be used? May consumer electronics states they can only read up to a certain amount of flash memory only to be proved incorrect by everyday users so I'm curious of the Eclipse can read a higher capacity MS.

 

[electronicsgeek 10+ year member]

another bad pic- diff color combo...

I'll take better quality pics as i'm reading the camera's encyclopedia of a manual to figure out how to use my manual focus, as you can see the pics are over exposed....

meantime, any questions can be answered by the installer and remote operator

do you feel safe posting pics of your...online...im sure if i had some i wouldnt...

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

do you feel safe posting pics of your...online...im sure if i had some i wouldnt...

if she still looked like that....shes changing by the day- anyways thanks for assuring me this world is filled with sick mofo's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[imready77 10+ year member]

if she still looked like that....shes changing by the day- anyways thanks for assuring me this world is filled with sick mofo's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

do you know how much th 8445 cost and, what are all the differences between the CD8445 and CD8455?

 

[Zombietime 10+ year member]

if she still looked like that....shes changing by the day- anyways thanks for assuring me this world is filled with sick mofo's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

Yah if you don't want to see pics of sick things done to your kid, you shouldn't post a pic on a public forum.

 

[Speedyd718 10+ year member]

hey manny thanks for the great review. i was so good that i replaced my pioneer 960 with this and i am simply amazed at the difference in sq. i love the eclipse deck. alot less gimmicky than the pioneer but all out on the sq. i can't wait to see what all i can do with the eq mic, 10band parametric eq, time alignment, and e-iserv. the memory stick idea is a nice touch too. don't hesitate here guys this deck is the sh!t.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

hey manny thanks for the great review. i was so good that i replaced my pioneer 960 with this and i am simply amazed at the difference in sq. i love the eclipse deck. alot less gimmicky than the pioneer but all out on the sq. i can't wait to see what all i can do with the eq mic, 10band parametric eq, time alignment, and e-iserv. the memory stick idea is a nice touch too. don't hesitate here guys this deck is the sh!t.

Haha...I'm not alone in this world //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I did not install my Eq mic, but I will soon.- With the EIserv I dunno where to begin...

And let me tell you the 960 is a good deck, glad to see you could take a walk on the other side and experience the difference. Good luck with it and thanks.