on the verge, the premier 860MP

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

thanks bud, i'll check into the kenwood.

 

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

you know that kenwood doesn't look too bad, me thinks that was a good suggestion. color me impressed, now onto some research.

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

go with the clarion. better sq. i've had a premier 860 and a clarion DXZ745 and the clarion had better sq. my pioneer sucked at playing stratched cd's. they are also known for having bad rca's

A batch was known for bad rca outs, and in no way should you base your SQ evaluation of a head unit based on its ability to play scratched CDs. Either way, I have an 860 and it plays a pretty darn scratched MP3 cd (by my deffinition) with very few problems. Buy a CD case. The 855 is a nice Clarion, if you like the touch interface. Personally, I do not but I know people who do like it. The processing power of the Pioneer is far superior to the Clarion (plus the 855 and 955 make an odd annoying noise when opening or closing). In my opinion, I would be choosing between the Kenwood 25th anniversary and the 860 (and I made that decision already for myself, the 860). Only major advantage (if it's even a major advantage) is that on the Kenwood you can turn the internal amplifier off. I think that the menus and adjustment on the 860 is much better

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

My next deck (if I can drag up the cash) will be either Kenwood's KDC-X889 or the XXV-01D 25th Anniversary unit. Kenwood is my personal preference, so take that with a grain of salt, but they made me a believer years ago and as of yet haven't made me question my loyalty to their products.

I wouldn't personally count the ability to play severely scratched CDs as an indicator of SQ. Mainly what it would be indicative of is the quality of the CD transport used in the HU in question's build process but it normally wouldn't have one thing or another to do with signal processing in any way...

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

A batch was known for bad rca outs, and in no way should you base your SQ evaluation of a head unit based on its ability to play scratched CDs. Either way, I have an 860 and it plays a pretty darn scratched MP3 cd (by my deffinition) with very few problems. Buy a CD case. The 855 is a nice Clarion, if you like the touch interface. Personally, I do not but I know people who do like it. The processing power of the Pioneer is far superior to the Clarion (plus the 855 and 955 make an odd annoying noise when opening or closing). In my opinion, I would be choosing between the Kenwood 25th anniversary and the 860 (and I made that decision already for myself, the 860). Only major advantage (if it's even a major advantage) is that on the Kenwood you can turn the internal amplifier off. I think that the menus and adjustment on the 860 is much better

i base my decision on that because my cd's are stratched

 

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

hmm, but i just found out that the kenwood x889 can't do a 3 way setup...

from crutchfield:

Sound Management System (S.M.S.): In order to optimize the sound quality, you can use the Sound Management System to set the vehicle and speaker sizes. The S.M.S. settings include the following:

Cabin Setting: Choose from Compact, Full Size Car, Wagon 1, Wagon 2, Mini Van 1, Mini Van 2, SUV, Mini Van Long, or Off

Speaker Select Front: Choose from 4", 5", 6-1/2", 6-3/4", 7", 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 6" x 8", 6" x 9", 7" x 10", or O.E.M.

Speaker Select Rear: Choose from 4", 5", 6-1/2", 6-3/4", 7", 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 6" x 8", 6" x 9", 7" x 10", O.E.M or None.

Speaker Select Subwoofer: Choose from 6-1/2", 8", 10", 12", 15" or over, or None

Preset Memory: Call Mode 1 & 2 and Memory Mode 1 & 2

so does this mean if i have components in the front and speakers in the rear door i'm kinda screwed?

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

You mean if you want to go active?

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

I think its a great unit

I prefer the older model, 940mp to the new 860mp

It doesnt have that chintzy 8way knob and ugly orange menu.

Just a FYI, its 6.5V on the pioneer. Underrated on the older models //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Yes you shoudnt buy on looks but if its *** ugly then i shure wouldnt.

Ive never liked clarion, there is better for the money.

 

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

You mean if you want to go active?

i'm not really sure what i mean diamond. i have components up front (midbass and tweeters) and then rear fill for the back. is this a 3 way setup? i read on elitecaraudio.com that the kenwood x889 doesn't have a 3-way mode, do i need this?

right now i have my 4 channel amp hooked up to my components alone through the passive crossovers the components came with. i seem to be getting more and more lost now.

....AND ANOTHER QUESTION. can the internal amp wires from the back of the headunit that connect to the speakers, be doubled up to just a set of speakers? what i mean is that i have a 4 channel amp for my components up front, but i need to use the internal amp from the headunit for my rearfill. has anyone ever taken the four wires from the internal amp and connected to two rear fill speakers? would that work, or just...not at all. yes i can be this dumb. thanks.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

components in the front and rear fill is not a 3 way setup.

You dont need 3 way, just 2 way

Yes, you can use the H/U's internal amp to power some rear speakers.

I wouldnt reccomend bridging the channels, those amps dont like low ohm loads and it would get plenty warm stuck in the dash.

 

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

awesome supa.

so is a 3 way setup just components up front w/ a sub and no rear fill? or is it having a midbass, midrange and tweeter up front?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

3way - seperate midwoofer, midrange and tweet

2way - midrange and tweet

 

[billybrown66 10+ year member]

thanks jack. i appreciate the help.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

what frosty said

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

3way - seperate midwoofer, midrange and tweet2way - midrange and tweet

From a component standpoint yes. But as an overview of a whole system a 3 way is L, R and sub.