P880PRS vs XXV-01D for SQ

[dirthog 10+ year member]

Love my 880. They auto ta and eq does a good job. Better than i can do.

 

[Babs 10+ year member]

I dont know what the x991 is, its not on sale in the UK. Is it the one with the 512mb internal memory?

He's referring to the KDC-X991 (as it's called in the US).. Maybe the KDC-W9537U in the UK might be the equivalent.. Not sure though.

 

[Babs 10+ year member]

If you have a two-din space, in the UK, you have a unit we don't have in the states, now that I look.. This clarion... Very sharp looking unit.. The tuning features may not be top-line, but it's very very nice to look at for sure... Wish more looked like this.

http://www.clarion.com/gb/en/products/2007/audio/source_unit/cd/WXZ468RMP/gb-en-product-pf_1146412231658.html

 

[Babs 10+ year member]

Adding.. About THE only major equivalent (well.. that's an opinion) for the 880 I see among the big hitters in the UK is the CDA-9887R alpine.. equivalent to our CDA-9887... It's a nice unit, from reviews I've read.. You have to have the imprint kit though to really make it rock.

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

My buddy uses the XXV, and I have the 880, unfortunately I haven't spent enough time w/ the XXV to compare the two directly, but I have used my 880 for over a year.

The Auto TA/EQ feature works very well. I did everything in my ability to get the TA perfect, but compared to Auto, it was a night and day difference, the auto was so much better.

The Auto EQ on the other hand, I could live w/o, it overly bloated the midbass region so I turned that part off and just eq'd it my self to my tastes.

Also, a few things that people don't mention, not only is there the L/R independent eq, but you can also independently adjust the crossover points, slopes, phase, and level between the front stage, IMO it would take a good amount of time to get that dialed in perfectly, but it's another feature the 880 has that I'm pretty sure the XXV does not.

Hope this helps some.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

Had the 880...hated it, switched back to my alpine. Definaly hate the multi control knob, feels flimsy and like it would break, the screen is small, and doesn't have great definition and washed out in the sunlight.

I haven't used the kenwood deck, but I would definatly try it before the 880...a way over hyped deck.

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

Had the 880...hated it, switched back to my alpine. Definaly hate the multi control knob, feels flimsy and like it would break, the screen is small, and doesn't have great definition and washed out in the sunlight.
I haven't used the kenwood deck, but I would definatly try it before the 880...a way over hyped deck.

I understand your points completely, but how does the visibility of the screen in the sunlight make it overhyped? Yes this could be seen as a downfall, it annoys me too actually, but the sunlight doesn't affect the ability of the 880 to do what it was intended to do, which is reproduce a digital signal into music.

If you're going to use this deck in standard mode, you're probably better off getting something else, but if you want to run an active front stage (networking mode) the 880 is VERY hard to beat in its price range.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I guess the seeing the display in the sun isn't an issue if you turn it off.

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

The display doesn't make it overhyped...the deck period gets more good press than its worth. Not that great, and many people told me I wouldn't like it, now I have a 1 month old 880 just sitting in my room.

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

How though, the only downsides you mentioned are all personal preferance, you didn't mention anything about the actual performance of the unit, or than you think it looks/feels poor.

And since your 880 is just sitting in your room, wanna trade face plates, mines kinda worn, the cheapy silver paint on the knobs is flaking off.

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

The RCA whine problem has been documented many times, the EQ is decent, but sounded no better than a 5 band parametric EQ, People are all over this deck because it has that magical 16 band eq...and its not that great.

I have used and installed many CD players for me and customers at the shop I worked at...and the 880 is VERY low on source units I would recomend...I would reccomend alpine units with glide touch over the 880 and its multi-control knob.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

What about customers that use the remote. The only time I use the knob is for setting the x-over points.

The RCA whine can be fixed, but the customer shouldn't have to repair BNIB equipment either.

I just don't see any advantages to the alpine really...

 

[Dozy_production 10+ year member]

how does an EQ sound?

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

The 16band EQ wasn't actually a selling point for me.

However, the auto TA, active x-overs, and ipod control were what sold me.

If all I were doing was running 2-way components up front using the passive cross-overs, I wouldn't be using this deck, I would have stuck with my Nakamichi CD-400.

The 880 isn't for someone that just wants to run coaxils or 2-way passives, you'd be wasting it if thats all you were doing, you'd probably be better off saving your self a few bucks and getting a mid level Pio, Alpine, or Clarion.