New headunit... looking at pioneer premiers,300 to spend, need your help

[HincklNutt 10+ year member]

so, im looking into a new headunit, id like to go no more than 300shipped. ive been looking at allot of the pioneer premiers in the price range. and am currently deciding beetween these units.

Pioneer DEH-P860MP

Pioneer DEH-P780MP

Pioneer DEH-P680MP

PIONEER DEH-P8MP

although some are slightly over 300 would it be worth the extra money? the 860 has 6.5v preouts vs. 5V on the others. i like the features, and regardless of which one i choose it will be a fairly drastic upgrade from my current head unit JVC LX100. also, whats your take on Refurbished head units? worthwhile or not? am i going to recieve a unit with a shitload of scratches or what?

i like the thought of the whole automatic dialing in of the crossovers via included mic //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

so, which one of these would you choose, and why. also is there a better deal that im missing out on?

and with a higher voltage preout, my current one is 2V i wont need to push my amp as hard correct?

thanks again, i appreciate the help

-Brian

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[Nitewing911 10+ year member]

I've had the 860 before, and I currently have the 780 now. If you're looking for a Premier model, on this forum everyone's going to recommend either the p880prs or the p780mp, both of which can be had for about $300, give or take. The 860 is a great unit, and if you can get a price that's significantly lower than $300, it wouldn't be a bad unit to get at all. It's very much like an 880 without as many audio-tuning functions, especially in layout of the buttons and knobs and menu operation.

Also, the 860, 780, and 880 all have 24bit Burr-Brown DACs for high-fidelity CD playback. The 680 and the p8mp won't offer that.

There is a very small difference between 6.5v and 5v. Really, it's not much...not enough to warrant a decision based on that alone. And I'd avoid refurbished units, personally. I know of some people who've purchased refurbished and have had their units break down on them.

I would narrow the selection to the 880 and 780, with the 860 as a maybe, if you can get a great deal on it. Look for my post about my impressions of the 780 (which I do a bit of comparing to the 880), and there are a lot of posts about the 880 in the forums.

 

[Nitewing911 10+ year member]

Also, the Auto-EQ, in my experiences, is completely useless. It automatically dialed my EQ in a horrible way. But that's just my experiences (with the 860, I might add). Others may have fared better.

 

[HincklNutt 10+ year member]

Also, the Auto-EQ, in my experiences, is completely useless. It automatically dialed my EQ in a horrible way. But that's just my experiences (with the 860, I might add). Others may have fared better.

thank you for the help, ill deffietly go with a new head unit, i was iffy about the refurbished in the first place.

 

[aadadams 10+ year member]

The 880 autoeq is excellent IMO. Before implementing it I had to do a great deal of tuning for music when I switched genre. Afterward only very minor tweaks are required. I also use th eposition selector with auto time alignment and I do not need to adjust that at all for great sound. The 880 is a great HU as evidenced by its psuedo-cult following of late. At least check it out before making a decision.

 

[HincklNutt 10+ year member]

i personally really like the look of the 780, it has most of hte features id ever want or need, and comes with a very nice screen. i like the 880, but if im going to drop 300+ on a head unit, i want to get one that is aesthetically pleasing to me. i like the 880, but other than the auto EQ/dual 16band eq is there that much of a difference? and if so, is it worthwhile?

thanks again, and i will be purchasing one or the otehr when i get home later this evening.

 

[Colin+M 10+ year member]

if you never plan on going active, just get the 780 if you prefer the looks of it.

 

[HincklNutt 10+ year member]

is the auto EQ really worthwhile? and is it going to be all that difficult to EQ the 780 myself?

ill probably go with the 780 just because i prefer the looks, and it's an all around awesome head unit. especially considering how much of an upgrade it will be

 

[Nitewing911 10+ year member]

Like I said, I never had any good results using Auto-EQ. I just set the EQ myself and it's all good. Setting the EQ on Pioneers in general is pretty straightforward. Compared to Kenwoods and Alpines, I consider Pioneer to be the easiest to adjust. I'm very happy with my 780, and have no regrets. Hope your experience is as good as mine.