Is there really that much difference in SQ between head units?

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

Oh does it really even matter if you're going to use an iPod with it? Half the people on this site don't even realize how much of a SQ hit they take just by running compressed music. Even some CD's were recorded with crappy equipment that made them clipped or compressed, and not in a 'good' sounding way like tape compression.

The specs that are going to make the most difference, audibly, are the S/N ratio, the preamp voltage (if running an amp), and what type of DAC you are running. Some units even have Dual 24-bit Burr Brown DACs, but not in the

Personally, I like the sound of the Eclipse and Kenwood units. Pioneer seems to color the sound on everything but the higher end units, PRS880 and higher. Alpine needs to update their 80's buttons look on all their decks, but they do sound good! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[wickedwitt 10+ year member]

SQ Hu thread...dam. You know what, I was just thinking about this.
Of the HU's that rank at the top in recent 'mainstream' memory for a reasonable price....you will most likely see the Prioneer PRS880 (which I have run in the past), Alpine CDA9887, and Eclipse 7200mkII (which I currently run in my truck).

All are outstanding HU's, and deserving of their price point when they where first introduced to the 12v market.

But what disturbs me most it this...ALL OF THESE HU MODELS ARE 2008-2009 MODEL HU'S!!!!!!

Why the hell hasn't a single mainstream HU manufacturer released a model to best these in current production years at a competitive price point???

Hell, the technology to produce an equivalent or better HU has most certainly become less expensive given current advances in technology.

If the average 'life-span' of a desktop computer has been shorted to under 18months, then why has the basic tech we find in Hu's become so far outdate given the price?

Yes, mainstream HU manufacturers have been offering many low priced Hu's ($70 msrp for example), but where are the equivalent advances in higher-end Hu's?

I for one (as a 12v retailer) am sad to say that given currently offered lines, I can't even sell my customer a similar HU $-for-$ to the Eclipse 7200MKII that have run in my truck since 2009.

Yes, I know that stock HU integration is becoming the norm, but until a Manu can offer me an integration that will offer similar options and qualities of my 7200MKII/PRS880 (from 3yrs ago) for a similar price point....well, I guess I will just sit here and wait and wish.

The answer to this, is that there is no money in $500+ HUs anymore. Most of the companies that put out these top of the line units in 2008-2009 have been sold and/or no longer distribute directly to the US. Other companies handle the distribution for them, and only distribute the lower end models because they can't get buyers or dealers for the more expensive units.

 

[martiandancer31 10+ year member]

FYI, pioneer did at one time release a newer HU with better specs than the prs880....

DEX-P99RS - Reference Series CD Tuner with Digital DSP and USB Port with Digital Direct Signal Transmission | Pioneer Electronics USA

and for the guy who asked me about time alignment......your music will sound much more coherent if all your speakers are time aligned. It's a beautiful thing, and sadly hard to describe without actually a/b comparing a time aligned system and one that is not....

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

I went to school for audio engineering and in live sound we would only delay speakers about 75 feet away from each other so people way in the back would hear the same thing (concert event)seems like some cars are not big enough to where u would actually hear a 33 millisecond change from ear to ear considering the speed of sound is about 1120 feet per second i would see why u would delay the driver side speaker because its the first one u hear but why all speakers? But your right I would need to just hear it to understand

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

I'm going to be running 2 head units.

one double din with an ipod hook up and a high end cd player. A lot of my music cannot be found on cd or I'd just run all disk.

ALSO the clarion and McIntosh headunits are brand new and much better then anything from Pioneer and alpine have ever released, and that's coming from a guy with a full active old school alpine sitting in the garbage car. The other headunits may have more features but for the actual sound, Clarion, McIntosh, Nakamichi get my top 3

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

You use time delay in a car because most the time with out it the sound is muddy because of the slight delay in the further speakers. It's not like your hearing double notes or anything. You just don't get the clarity you do with it aligned properly.

 

[06goat 10+ year member]

P99rs ftmfw

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

ALSO the clarion and McIntosh headunits are brand new and much better then anything from Pioneer and alpine have ever released, and that's coming from a guy with a full active old school alpine sitting in the garbage car.

Tell that to people who have run Pioneer ODR or Alpine F#1 Status. All four of those companies have had some truly outstanding head units.

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

okay I understand now

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

I'm not touching this thread except to say you will not hear a difference between DAC's... anyone who claims different is either a liar or an idiot...

 

[smgreen20 10+ year member]

I'll stick with my Clarion ADSC-1. I take any chance I can to talk about it. I love her so much......... Not another HU made to even come close to what it can do. It's ONLY weak point would be the small number of EQ bands.

 

[ds0110 10+ year member]

So after 3-4 days of solid research in my downtime, I have a better understanding what really matters in a HU:

1. 3 way crossover

2. USB Port (aux in uses the sansa fuze+ DAC rather than HU - defeats the purpose of a sq HU)

3. 5+ band EQ. 7-12 is better.

4. Ease of menu navigation/ergonomics

5.

When i first made the list I thought there was big difference in DAC. After much google, I dont think there is, especially when applied to car audio. There is a fine balance between customizing the audio and ease of use. Adjusting Q and slope seem kind of daunting, but I can learn. I can now see why a nakamichi is a different animal than an eclipse 7200.

Last night, I bought a set of NIB rainbow slc ng 6.5's off craigslist for $150. This is going in a 2004 silverado regular cab. One day ill add a single fi q 12" or similar sub in a sealed console/seat box. So the plan is tweeters, rainbow slc comps, fi q 12" in a 3 way passive (using rainbow xovers instead of HU xovers, right?)

So here is a list of 3 way HU's with ability to use usb, then a list of cons against each one:

1. Eclipse CD7200mkii/7100

2. Clarion DXZ785USB/DXZ775USB

3. Pioneer Premier DEH-P800PRS/P880PRS/P860MP/DEX-P9 + CD-UB100 USB Adapter

4. Alpine CDA-9855/9835/117 + imprint + KCA-620M

5. JVC KD-SH1000

6. Pioneer DEX-P99RS

7. Ural Concert CDD

8. HU with optical out to Rio Car (empeg)

9. blaupunkt bremen mp78

1. Hard to find, Price. Perfect otherwise

2. might not actually be 3way?? I don’t see bandpass.. slope only goes to 18db (fine), sliders instead of knobs, otherwise nice

3. Require external usb interface, but it works. I never thought pioneer would be near the top of this list..

4. Addons make it too costly. KCA-620M has bad reviews. Imo, ugly.

5. Looks ok, but its jvc, and the rears can't be hipassed any higher than 200hz. Seems like a good value

6. $$$>truckputer

7. $$$>truckputer

8. $$$>truckputer

9. Havent used or seen blaupunkt in over 10 years…not too confident in them

So now the search for something in the top 3 begins. I may have missed a few, its suprising how niche 3way/usb is. I think my budget is going to pull me towards pioneer, but I am going to keep a lookout for the clarion and eclipse hu's...Thanks for the replies, they were all appreciated.

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

So after 3-4 days of solid research in my downtime, I have a better understanding what really matters in a HU:
1. 3 way crossover

2. USB Port (aux in uses the sansa fuze+ DAC rather than HU - defeats the purpose of a sq HU)

3. 5+ band EQ. 7-12 is better.

4. Ease of menu navigation/ergonomics

5.

So here is a list of 3 way HU's with ability to use usb, then a list of cons against each one:

1. Eclipse CD7200mkii/7100

2. Clarion DXZ785USB/DXZ775USB

3. Pioneer Premier DEH-P800PRS/P880PRS/P860MP/DEX-P9 + CD-UB100 USB Adapter

4. Alpine CDA-9855/9835/117 + imprint + KCA-620M

5. JVC KD-SH1000

6. Pioneer DEX-P99RS

7. Ural Concert CDD

8. HU with optical out to Rio Car (empeg)

9. blaupunkt bremen mp78

So now the search for something in the top 3 begins. I may have missed a few, its suprising how niche 3way/usb is. I think my budget is going to pull me towards pioneer, but I am going to keep a lookout for the clarion and eclipse hu's...Thanks for the replies, they were all appreciated.

I am going thru the same process, and have tentatively settled on the Alpine CDA-9887 over the CDA-117 due to it's 3 way crossover control.

Like you, the HD radio and BT stuff dont mean anything to me...just looking for a solid SQ HU that I can pick up for

Hope you'll post again with what you end up choosing, and your experiences with it along the way.

 

[ds0110 10+ year member]

I am going thru the same process, and have tentatively settled on the Alpine CDA-9887 over the CDA-117 due to it's 3 way crossover control.Like you, the HD radio and BT stuff dont mean anything to me...just looking for a solid SQ HU that I can pick up for

Hope you'll post again with what you end up choosing, and your experiences with it along the way.

I settled on a clarion dxz775usb that has the features I wanted...NIB on ebay for 115 shipped. Considering the features, I think that was a steal. Im eagerly awaiting hooking it up to my ppi art a300 and rainbow slc components. Thanks for the interest.

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

HUs are very important to sound quality. I won't get into exactly why, but yes there is big audible differences. As for SQ itself EVERYTHING is important! The whole idea behind audio is that it is an attempt to imitate the sounds produced from hundreds of different instruments. Even the best audio system ever created is always going to be an imperfect art. We use recording to take in the sounds created by these instruments, then we use processing and programming to read these recordings and tons of things like circuit boards and wires and solder joints and crossovers just tons and tons of stuff all in an attempt to recreate the sound produced by these instruments using speakers one thing to reproduce tons of sounds. Now when we think about a system that is already an imperfect imitation The nicer components in the system are the closer we will be getting to reproducing those sounds effectively, in a system like this everything needs to be on an equal level to work properly, parts we can't really control like how head units are built subs and speakers, all we can do is choose some and throw them together. When we choose our equipment, head units, speakers, wires, connectors, connections, it is all extremely important to the sound quality. One single thing being of sub par level will make your entire system not up to par. True audio professionals take extreme measures in ensuring every part of their system is on par because they know that with trying that hard to just make an imitation it all better be good. Even dust collected on a jack or socket can dramatically affect the sound of a system in the ears of pros. It isn't like pros can actually hear better than we can we all hear the same, but they are trained to know what to look for when listening.