Looking to Upgrade My Deck. Need Suggestions

[Fenix 10+ year member]

The Pioneer deck that I have which is the DEH 1900 just isn't going to cut it anymore. When the deck was bought, I didn't really look at the options available as it was a quick purchase.

Now that I'm looking to upgrade, I've narrowed it down to two decks and would like some suggestions as to which was to go and why.

The decks that I have chose are the Clarion DXZ575USB and the Pioneer DEH-P4900IB

I haven't ever been a big fan of Clarion, but I've heard there new stuff is pretty good. I do like the usb port in the front of the deck for those long road trips. I also like seeing the 6 volt preouts. What I don't like about the Clarion is the design of the faceplate. Looks like it's "busy" if that makes sense.

As far as the Pioneer, it's a sharp looking deck, I'm more familiar with the Pioneer set up, it has 4 volt preouts which is also it's downside compared to the Clarion.

I guess the thing for me is the voltage. I'm still kind of new to this whole area of car audio, so I'm not familiar with how important the voltage on the preouts are. I do have subs and amps hooked up within my system, so I am looking for something to push those components to give the most out of them.

What do you all think?

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[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

budget ? can be in can or us

Pre out voltage is not something that you need to worry about, if its over 2V thats great.

Will you notice a difference between 2V and 4V, probably not.

Id be more concerned about how many bands of eq it has, what kind fo radio reception does it have,does it support or have ipod, mp3 ect.

Dont be fooled with the gimics and how it looks. You dont see audio, you hear it. SO if it looks like *** and sounds like gold then who cares.

Also take into consideration user interface. Some h/u's can be a royal PITA to change things with. Thats when you need to go down to visions, a/b sound, future shop or w/e and play with whatever h/u's they have and see what you like.

P.S

If you are really anal about the preout thing go eclipse, cant beat the 8V they have

 

[UCF52 10+ year member]

if it were me id go with either eclipse or pioneer, whatever models fit your price range. thats just my .02

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

I'm not really anal about it since I don't know much about it you know what I mean. And I am limited actually to only shopping at one store as I actually returned the DEH1900 but can only get store credit. I'd love to check out an eclipse, but that will more than likely be something for me to look at for my next deck.

That's why I've narrowed it down to those two. From what that store had that I was interested in, that is what I came out with. I'm sure they have better decks, but they included things that I'm not really interested in.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

buy some piece of crap

sell it locally

take the money you made off that sale and buy something thats not junk

Every eclipse that ive owned sounded amazing, the only problem was the interface was horrible and i sold both of them...which were the top of the line units eclipse made back in the day.

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

if it were me id go with either eclipse or pioneer, whatever models fit your price range. thats just my .02

I appreciate that. I'm looking for things exactly like that.

When I started getting into car audio probably 6 years ago, Clarion equipment was a joke and I never thought about them at all until I saw that deck today. But if I won't notice anything with the extra two volts, then I'll just go with the Pioneer as then I won't have to mess with the wire harness or anything. What I do know is that this deck should blow the 1900 out of the water.

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

So you're saying both those decks I mentioned are junk?

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

Look for yourself...

The only gain i see is 1.8v more in the preout, sub preout and rear aux in

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-YITHl059fzj/cgi-bin/ProdComp.asp?g=300&c=3&s=0&cc=01&pt2=0&compareitems=130DEH1900&compareitems=130DEHP490&x=38&y=5

If you think thats worth the upgrade by all means go for it

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

There's also more options for customization for SQ and sub control which the 1900 didn't offer.

What about the Clarion then? If you feel the same way about that, if you want to try something for me, check out futureshop.com and give me a couple suggestions

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

When i went to FS i bought the best h/u i could, ive still got it today and havent regreted buying it. Ya it cost me like $450can but it did its job and it did it well. Plus it has an aluminum face which no other h/u at the time had.

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

What did you end up going with? And I'm not saying FS is shit, but they aren't amazing. They only carry JVC, Clarion, Pioneer and Sony decks. I was looking at a JVC as well as I've used JVC in the past and I really liked their many EQ settings and ease of use. Just not a big fan of the cheap screens they use. How do you feel about JVC? I can grab you the model number if you'd like.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

If i had to pick one it would be this:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10084889&catid=

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

What did you end up going with? And I'm not saying FS is shit, but they aren't amazing. They only carry JVC, Clarion, Pioneer and Sony decks. I was looking at a JVC as well as I've used JVC in the past and I really liked their many EQ settings and ease of use. Just not a big fan of the cheap screens they use. How do you feel about JVC? I can grab you the model number if you'd like.

Well it was back in 01 but it was a JVC-KD-SH55.

Some people dont like JVC, ive personally never had a problem with them.

FS has a really poor variety of stuff

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

I really liked my JVC actually. I went from an Alpine deck to the JVC and I loved how I could know what I wanted to do on the deck and get there without having to press 18 buttons to get there. Which is why I was looking at the JVC today. It was the JVC KD-G830. I didn't go with it mainly because the screen as well as the layout which after playing with it for a bit wasn't too bad.

With the Panasonic, would that be a good way to go? Alot of people don't like PS but I know people know get deep into car audio to know which companies make certain products and have heard that alot of higher end equipment is made by the same people as PS. Out of what I showed you tonight, with the Pioneer, the Clarion and now the JVC, what makes the one you picked stand out? I'm not questioning you or anything, I'm just trying to get as much info from you because it sounds like you know your stuff when it comes to HU

 

[Fenix 10+ year member]

I can't find that deck anywhere as far as reviews go. Does it go by a different name in the states?