Please help an old fart out..Best sounding head unit is???

[spnkysprky 10+ year member]

Well,since Im old and not hip to the new LOL...What are some good sounding head units on the market now.When I was competing it was Alpine,Clarion,Eclipse and nachamichi(mispelled).What brands produce GREAT sound now?Thanks

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[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

p880

I believe the alpine 9500 have the imprint which is badass

 

[customtronic 10+ year member]

If money is no object I'd buy a Denon DCT Z1. Plan on spending close to or over $1000. An easier deck to find that I feel is also an awsome SQ deck is the Clarion DRZ9255, also around the same price. Just my two cents. Everyone has their own opinion.

 

[redcalimp5 10+ year member]

Alpine CDA 7998

 

[spnkysprky 10+ year member]

If money is no object I'd buy a Denon DCT Z1. Plan on spending close to or over $1000. An easier deck to find that I feel is also an awsome SQ deck is the Clarion DRZ9255, also around the same price. Just my two cents. Everyone has their own opinion.

Ahh who could forget Denon...I totally forgot about Denon.They had wonderful amps as well back in the early 90's or late 80's.Wow $1000....hmmm Im looking to spend about $400 on a HU

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

alpine 9887

 

[packy 10+ year member]

I have the Kenwood Excelon x591, it sounds great, has USB for non stop muic Im using an 8gig flash drive. 3 band eq. I love the sound it was only 159.00 from Crutchfield I would have gone with the 891 but money was a crutch

 

[Gary S 10+ year member]

Which sounds best is a loaded question... head units are more about features than sound quality of the CD transport... but features like crossovers, DSP, and EQ can change the sound.

Add-on HD tuners which plug into the head unit would give you the best AM/FM quality. Analog tuners in Kenwood, Eclipse, Alpine, and Pioneer sound better than others, (such as Sony, for example), with pioneer being the best. I'm looking at buying another deck for another vehicle right now and I'm looking at Pioneer for the analog tuner and the DSP crossovers which appear to be very good... there are so many features though, it really depends on what's important to you.

If you ever thought about trying surround sound, panasonic has a few decks with CS automotive.

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

you still can't go wrong with eclipse, I am running a CD8443, not completely up to date with all the bells... but it has great control options and the signal is as better than most of the rest of my systems ability

 

[redcalimp5 10+ year member]

Alpine 7998 for $238 shipped here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alpine-CDA-7998-complete_W0QQitemZ220189992069QQihZ012QQcategoryZ39755QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[CrossFired 10+ year member]

Well,since Im old and not hip to the new LOL...What are some good sounding head units on the market now.When I was competing it was Alpine,Clarion,Eclipse and nachamichi(mispelled).What brands produce GREAT sound now?Thanks

Pioneer 880 is by far the best bang for the buck(IMO)!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[its_bacon12 10+ year member]

Alpine 7998 for $238 shipped here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Alpine-CDA-7998-complete_W0QQitemZ220189992069QQihZ012QQcategoryZ39755QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

THATS a hella deal.

If you're looking for less expensive, dont care about looks, check out Nakamichi CD-300

i paid 155 shipped for mine brand new, by far the best sounding head unit i've ever heard (off internal amp nonetheless)

 

[theothermike 10+ year member]

id honestly say save 200$ more and buy a clarion 9255. pure copper chassis, not interference. 90khz sample rate and dual high bit dac converters. on top of 4 way active crossover / time alignment and leveling. and a sleek look makes for 1 of the best hu's out there.

props for whoever else supported it.

 

[atsaubrey 10+ year member]

Save up $200 and get the Clarion DRZ9255 refurbed on the Bay. There is no finer deck made. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[spnkysprky 10+ year member]

id honestly say save 200$ more and buy a clarion 9255. pure copper chassis, not interference. 90khz sample rate and dual high bit dac converters. on top of 4 way active crossover / time alignment and leveling. and a sleek look makes for 1 of the best hu's out there.
props for whoever else supported it.

Yeah,thats an idea.I havent heard anything from clarion in a LONG time LOL..But I will say that they were among the best in my time...Im not that old,But Ive been out of the loop awhile.I remember when I bought a new rockford fosgate amp about a year ago and began to cry...the amp ****** so bad,i was in shock.It couldnt touch the old Rockford when they were american made.So thus,I began to research why and noticed other companies had lost quality...at least at cheaper prices.So thats why I want to make sure I make the right choice for the modern head unit.I dont want to be dissapointed