HU Recommendations?

[MrWizzard 10+ year member]

Hey Guys, I'm in the process of slowly but surely getting a system installed, i still have Factory Everything... hehe. I'm basically doing extensive searches and checking out reviews on things i need to get... i do got a REXXX 12" on the way, but so far thats all i decided on (plus i got it for 1/2 price), i'm still desiding on the amp, but my eyes are hurtin from doing soooo much reading, so i decided to look for a HU, and figured i would ask to see what you guys could come up with for what i'm looking for first then i wont have to do much reading on em as they should be slightly easyer than choosing the right amps and mids...hehe.

Basically, a HU that....

A. Has No internal amp

B. Has line outs, 1-3 would be kewl, 1 is good tho... (course it will if no amp..hehe)

C. Can Play MP3s on CD-R/RW etc...

D. Cam Play MP3s From DVD-R, but no video, since i dont plan on watching TV in the car either... just for storage purposes.

E. Has a Line Input for External MP3 Player, like Ipod... (FM Transmitters ****)

F. Has a Remote and support for a Steering wheel remote, so i dont have to keep reachin over at times.

G. Decent display i can see, especially at an angle, saw a few that dimmed if you were on an angle.

I guess thats about it.... somthing that does have an EQ will be nice and adjustable Bass/Treble/Mid... maybe Sub output adjustment if it has two line outs one for mid/high and sub.... although its not super important.

I'm looking for a decent brand, like pioneer, clarion, alpine etc...... about in the $200-400 range...

I was looking at the eclipse reviewed here and its quite nice, but too pricey, and still does have an internal amp, but way too many controls too... I'll probably just get an external Crossover and PEQ, or use the crossover on the amps for now if i run outta cash. At least this way the system is slightly more upgradable without worrying about other stuff they have or dont have.

Thanks for any recommendations //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

A) A good many head units that could potentially be used to source a moderately to heavily involved system have defeatable internal amps. Most dead-heads (head units with no internal power at all) are designated as competition decks and tend to be pretty pricey.

B) Almost every in-dash cd player has at least one set of preouts nowadays. There are the entry-level exceptions but they have become the exception rather than the rule for current times.

C) Even some el-cheapo units will decode .mp3 and .wma files nowadays. It's becoming fairly standard rather than something to upgrade to.

D) I do not know of any non-video capable decks that will read DVD-Rs. I understand the reasoning behind wanting it as they are 4.7 gigabytes of storage as opposed to 700 megabytes but I don't know that anything will fill that bill for ya.

E) Again, heaps of decks have aux. inputs (RCA-type) and some have dedicated iPod inputs on them as well.

I am a die-hard Kenwood loyalist and dearly love their eXcelon line. Have a look at the KDC-X789 and X889 (both '05 models) and see if they'll do what ya need them to do. I cannot recall at the moment if either have dedicated inputs but I do know for certain that they'll accept an auxiliary input adapter through the cd changer control port (the adapter is an extra $20 or $30, I think)

The Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, and Eclipse fans will be along shortly, I reckon and will have other recommendations for you to peruse.

Good luck with your hunt!

 

[TeenWolf 10+ year member]

Things I look for:

-3 pre-outs...like the idea of having an external amp for front, rear, and sub and can manipulate all three seperately from the HU

-Moderately high pre-out voltage (something higher than 2.2V)

-Internal amp power not an issue, but as mentioned above, most will have an internal amp

-Remote is great for those camping trips

-Big display with visual animation is cool, as well as CD Text

Pioneer have some nice decks that fit the bill.

 

[Silver 10+ year member]

Clarion DXZ655. Cannot reccomend it enough! Screensaver, motorized plate, LED display, 3 sets of pre-outs plus an AUX. CD text, bunch of tuning, crisp and clean sound. low pass filter, plays .mp3/.wma. plays dvd's (need external screen, (AUX)), plays CD-R's, RW's, u name it. The only down side is tacky font, but the scrolling programmable message and 768 colors to chose from make up for it.

Only thing also, I dunno if it will play DVD-R's/w .mp3's.

NIce unit.

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

Clarion site says it will play mp3 encoded cd's.

 

[MrWizzard 10+ year member]

Nice, Thanks guys... espcially for the 2v preout tip too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I've looked at a few but havent checked out JVC yet either though, but i did see that one at futureshop and it said DVD-R so thats why i mentioned it above to see if there were others that did the same thing.

Whats the voltage output on the line outs on the clarion? it dosent say on their site...

 

[MrWizzard 10+ year member]

Maybe i should just get a Controller for a CD/DVD Changer, instead.... hehe.

Next year is a while, i could always sell whatever i'm going to buy, i got factory in the thing, so going another year with that would really ****, lol....

 

[Silver 10+ year member]

there 2v preouts. My amp still pushes my sub NP. Also, if you were wondering, it comes with a remote. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

Clarion DXZ655. Cannot reccomend it enough! Screensaver, motorized plate, LED display, 3 sets of pre-outs plus an AUX. CD text, bunch of tuning, crisp and clean sound. low pass filter, plays .mp3/.wma. plays dvd's (need external screen, (AUX)), plays CD-R's, RW's, u name it. The only down side is tacky font, but the scrolling programmable message and 768 colors to chose from make up for it.
Only thing also, I dunno if it will play DVD-R's/w .mp3's.

NIce unit.

x2

Just got it and I absolutley love it

 

[MrWizzard 10+ year member]

I was looking at Pioneer Premere Model H/U, or the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X889. But i find the Kenwood on the cheap side with the price for the specs... 24 bit DAC and all that for such a low price? is there anything wrong with the thing?

For the pioneer, i was lookin at the DEH-P860MP. Anyone have this, does it got good SQ? i guess its about the same price as the kenwood, perhaps i could goto the next model up, i'm just not to into the motorized stuff, just inase it breaks, hehe.

 

[stones 10+ year member]

"24 bit DAC and all that for such a low price? is there anything wrong with the thing?"

No, its just priced fairly.

 

[MrWizzard 10+ year member]

Who's better for SQ, pioneer or kenwood? hehe

 

[stones 10+ year member]

That subjective man, go check one out for yourself.