Looking for a good Head Unit under $300 for Ford Expedition 1997

[dennismv]

I am looking for a head unit that will drive 10" JL subwoofer (10W3v3-4 10" Single 4 ohm W3v3 Series) + speakers (speakers TBD). Budget for head unit only: under $300.

What are some of my choices considering I want a unit that:

1. Connects via Bluetooth
   
2. Connects via 3.5mm stereo jack (or similar, any wired connection really that can play from phone)
   
3. plays MP3 CDs
   

Looking for 1 din unit that will work. This will be for Ford Expedition 1997.

i.e. I see there is a Alpine CDE-HD149BT that's just under $300, although I am not certain that it plays CDs with MP3 on them, and not sure if I can use a plug of any kind wire.

But if there is a comparable unit for say $150 that will satisfy the above, without sacrificing quality, I rather go for the $150 and save some money. What would you recommend?

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[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

they dont have any really good headunits anymore. the really highend ones are 1k and the rest are OK at best. i still like alpine and kenwood and the pioneer PRS-880

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I am looking for a head unit that will drive 10" JL subwoofer (10W3v3-4 10" Single 4 ohm W3v3 Series) + speakers (speakers TBD). Budget for head unit only: under $300.
What are some of my choices considering I want a unit that:

1. Connects via Bluetooth
   
2. Connects via 3.5mm stereo jack (or similar, any wired connection really that can play from phone)
   
3. plays MP3 CDs
   

Looking for 1 din unit that will work. This will be for Ford Expedition 1997.

i.e. I see there is a Alpine CDE-HD149BT that's just under $300, although I am not certain that it plays CDs with MP3 on them, and not sure if I can use a plug of any kind wire.

But if there is a comparable unit for say $150 that will satisfy the above, without sacrificing quality, I rather go for the $150 and save some money. What would you recommend?

90% of head units out there do what you are asking it to do. other 10% are cheapo bluetoothless head units.

You might want to update yourself a bit. If you are using MP3s, Use a USB. The sound quality from a USB is digital meaning it will sound much better than a 3.5 mm jack. Even bluetooth is much better than an 3.5mm jack. Thing about MP3 CDs is, its pretty **** useless since you can only store soo much on a disk while a 64 gig USB or SD card can store 8000+ songs.

The alpine 149bt is more than just a simple head unit, it has very advanced sound quality tuning features etc.. Definitely not something a newbie can take advantage of without lots of research, knowledge and testing on your end.

You can get by with a much cheaper head unit if you just want a simple plug and play. However if you really want to get balls deep into this audio hobby, the 149bt is a great head unit. Along with the pioneer 80 prs.

 

[Dimestore55]

I just got a Pioneer DEH-X8700BS ($180-200) and I like it a lot. The bluetooth works extremely well. Phone calls are crystal clear. I have a JVC head unit in another vehicle that I bought recently also and I have all sorts of problems with it. One note about the phone, it only plays through the front speakers. I found this out after I completed my install and had the dash back together because I connected RCA's for amp to the rear outputs (this is not in the manual).

It has Pandora app built in so once connected you can control Pandora from the head unit without fumbling with your phone. I also use Sirius app on phone but it does not control that. Time to delete those ****** MP3's and upgrade to FLAC because this unit plays them too.

 

[dennismv]

Thanks all.

• Pioneer DEH-X8700BS looks best to be due to price and good reviews on Amazon.
   
  
• Pioneer DEH-80PRS looks good as well but is $100 more.
   
  
• Alpine CDE-HD149BT sounds that it might be too advanced for my knowledge level, plus it is ~$150 more.
  

I will look at individual features a bit more but in the end will probably go with Pioneer DEH-X8700BS due to price and I just want to play music, and not care much about deeper settings. Equalizer is probably all I will need right now. While my needs may change, I don't see myself requiring more at the moment.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Thanks all.

• Pioneer DEH-X8700BS looks best to be due to price and good reviews on Amazon.
   
  
• Pioneer DEH-80PRS looks good as well but is $100 more.
   
  
• Alpine CDE-HD149BT sounds that it might be too advanced for my knowledge level, plus it is ~$150 more.
  

I will look at individual features a bit more but in the end will probably go with Pioneer DEH-X8700BS due to price and I just want to play music, and not care much about deeper settings. Equalizer is probably all I will need right now. While my needs may change, I don't see myself requiring more at the moment.

Get the 80PRS its worth the difference in price

 

[EpicMango 10+ year member]

Just got my 80PRS.....

Get the 80PRS..

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Thanks all.

• Pioneer DEH-X8700BS looks best to be due to price and good reviews on Amazon.
   
  
• Pioneer DEH-80PRS looks good as well but is $100 more.
   
  
• Alpine CDE-HD149BT sounds that it might be too advanced for my knowledge level, plus it is ~$150 more.
  

I will look at individual features a bit more but in the end will probably go with Pioneer DEH-X8700BS due to price and I just want to play music, and not care much about deeper settings. Equalizer is probably all I will need right now. While my needs may change, I don't see myself requiring more at the moment.

Just get the 80 prs, youll eventually want everything the 80 prs can offer. Its more advanced than the alpine but it has much more EQ options than alpine 149bt.

 

[big scott]

80prs for the win.

love mine.

 

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

Alpine 164 can be had for about 180 and looks like a strong unit.

I owned a prs80. Really good unit, especially at the price they can be had now. (I paid 350)

 

[dennismv]

I went to a local car audio shop today and got recommended CDE-164BT as best for BT purposes and was quoted $240 for it. ehhh. I probably should get the unit online first or look for a deal.

But yeah all seem to be good radios. I did get confused by reading some "critical" reviews on Amazon that PRS80 is "antiquated, clumsy and simply not user-friendly". Not something you want to hear when paying $250.. But I can't deny the ratings on Amazon are pretty good.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I went to a local car audio shop today and got recommended CDE-164BT as best for BT purposes and was quoted $240 for it. ehhh. I probably should get the unit online first or look for a deal.
But yeah all seem to be good radios. I did get confused by reading some "critical" reviews on Amazon that PRS80 is "antiquated, clumsy and simply not user-friendly". Not something you want to hear when paying $250.. But I can't deny the ratings on Amazon are pretty good.

Those reviews are from very old men that are technologically inept. Most of the times people who are happy with their product dont waste time reviewing stuff but rather enjoying it. There's a small learning curve but its definitely easy to use after a day or two with play it. Definitely not clumsy or slow, its extremely responsive fast and the sound quality is off the charts. amongst car audio enthusiasts its basically the holy grail of the modern head day sound quality head units with only the thousand dollar 99prs beating it out. Bluetooth, lets just say I had a buddy pair up his ipad for music and i dropped him off, I drove several blocks away and the music is still connected and playing crystal clear, idk how good the bluetooth that alpine claims to be but thats a tough achievement to beat.

Its recommended on here and almost every other car audio enthusiast forum along with great overall ratings on online retailers for a reason, well built, reliable quality and unbeatable features. If you feel like you arent up to learning how a simple options menu work, then i'd suggest get something 100 dollars with all your basic functions and literally no sound tuneability and be done with it.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Keep in mind that no HU will have the levels of power you're wanting.

Even the best can only supply 15-20w per channel without external amps.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Keep in mind that no HU will have the levels of power you're wanting.
Even the best can only supply 15-20w per channel without external amps.

more like 7-10 actual watts. Stock head units are around 5 or less. No head unit can put off a legit 20 watts rms, their 18/20 gauge power wire and ground wire would disagree with you. The ones that do put off more power is the sony mex 100bt which has a dedicated amp that does 45x4 watts.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

80prs.

It's got some very good features. Hella source unit for the price.

Feels cheaply made. You can't have everything great for that kind of money.