Head Units: Pioneer or Panasonic?

[badazzDD 10+ year member]

Hey all, i am in the market for a new head unit. And i cant decide between a Pioneer Premier 740mp or a Panasonic dx802u.. the only real differences between the 2 is the pioneer has mp3 playback and the panasonic has 5V preouts to the pioneer's 4V.. I have never owend any cd player other tha pioneer, but know a couple people with panasonics. the cheapest i can find the pioneer is $259 (includes shipping) and the Panasonic is $209 (includes shipping and $30 mail in rebate) .. is the pioneer worth the extra $50?? Does panasonic have good build quaity?

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[Tek 10+ year member]

Pioneers are good, especially Premiers, no expierience with Panasonic, and I think you'll love MP3 playback after you start using it.

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

Personally, I have never had a problem with Panasonic head units. I know some of my friends dont like them but I do. Functional, asthetically pleasing, and get the job done.

On the other hand, I have yet to encounter a problem with a Pioneer - except for the slow Mp3 playback.

The 802u from Panasonic is pretty nice. The Ghost feature is pretty cool.

Both are good head units in my opinion...which one you you personally like better?

- Steve

 

[badazzDD 10+ year member]

Well, im not totally for sure which i like better... as for asthetics, the panasonic has many cool color variations, but the pioneer has nice backgroud pictures and things. I like the rotary volume know of the pioneer, but the touch screen feature of the panasonic is very cool.. and i think the ghost face, and flush mount design of the panasonic isa er good idea.. i really dont like to detch the face every time i get out of the car, but i dont feel safe to leave it to be seen.. thats where the ghost face comes into play.. I just cant decide.. If they were the same price, i would probabily go with the Pioneer, but for %60 extra, the MP3 playback (even though i dont have a cd burner!) better be a hell of a feature!

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

I know a lot of people are not happy with the slow playback of Mp3 encoded CD's from the Pioneer. Dont get me wrong, its still a very nice deck

Tough choice, I know.

- Steve