POLL! What brand of deck do you feel is the most popular?

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

if u have a noise problem (unless its a bad rca) changing brands very rarely corrects the problems. i have done enough non copper decks without noise (and used in comp both types) to say your ear couldnt tell the diff!!! oh boy!!! lol it does look pretty though and yuh that copper costs more than the regular stock they use but i doubt its 40 bucks more lol

 

[mrray13 10+ year member]

ok, but I still don't see how this means this deck does NOT out perform any Eclipse deck. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

i'd say it would easily out perform eclipse's low end decks....but head to head with eclipse's flagship....8volts of pre amp output with just 55ohms of impedence.

the eclipse flagship

i mean, why would u want to compare it to the low to mid level stuff, when that's pioneer's top of the line? of course it should beat the lower end. if it is a better h/u then the 8454, then it is...but i'd say it's really close. and there probably isn't enough difference for the human ear to pick up.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/peace.gif.2db28b618ed8d1964ebbe2f5021d2c39.gif

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

8 volts of preout doesnt mean a whole lot unless you cant get around noise or have generally crappy amps. the lower impedence means more

 

[mrray13 10+ year member]

8 volts of preout doesnt mean a whole lot unless you cant get around noise or have generally crappy amps. the lower impedence means more

yeah, but 8>5...at least that's what my wife tells me.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryexcited.gif.c26a15f316d23068607f36ddacd7a7ab.gif

good thing i got a metric ruler...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/hilarious.gif.02a037aad04aa96f19982b298a3d70a8.gif

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/peace.gif.2db28b618ed8d1964ebbe2f5021d2c39.gif

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

I voted Pioneer cause that's what I've always used and liked. Never let me or anyone I know down.
Eclipse makes good stuff, but I don't think they'll ever live down the "E-skip" era that plagues them. That and a lot of people are having some pretty bad problems with turn on/off pop with last years offerings (specifically the 8443).

Kenwood ***** ass, plain and simple. Had one of their HU's break 5 times in 6 months....stupid POS

Eclipse has long since fixed the skipping problem, and the pop seems to be pretty much isolated to the 8443. Are those issues worse than Alpine's weak pre outs that they finally did something about in their '04 decks? There were countless posts from people on several forums complaining about the "weak sub out" on their alpines since I started on the forums in 01. Testing of some decks by forum members confirmed it. Alpine finally fixed the problem in this year's decks, and now their pre outs seem to be as strong as advertised.

I have used Eclipse decks for 10 years. I had one minor issue. My best friend ran an Alpine 7863. It crapped out 6 months later. Circuit City replaced it, and THAT 7863 crapped out 6 months later.

My point is, over the course of time, any manufacturer can have issues. The local shop has sold Eclipse since '92 or so. They stuck with Eclipse when they had the skipping issues, and since then(and before), they have had excellent results with Eclipse. Eclipse makes excellent sounding decks, and until I bought my RF 8250, Eclipse had made the best sounding decks I had used(having also used pioneer, kenwood, alpine, and clarion).

If Eclipse is not as popular, I can think of a few reasons why:

Their decks are not as flashy as many others

Their decks are not wh0red out everywhere like most other decks(you can find alpine, clarion, pioneer just about everywhere....authorized shops or not).

Eclipse has not been around quite as long as Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, etc.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

Monster cables //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Hahahahaha exactly //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

eclipse decks I think are high class, especially the 8443, that thing looks awsome. Simplicity can be overall the best. Also yes any deck can crap out, my oldest alpine in the family is pushing 20 years old now and I myself have never had one die from just simply failing ect but I have had several others die on me.... but then again I have never owned anything but the flagship alpine gear "except now, have a 9835 on order"

On the weak sub out deal, it seems it only affected a narrow band of alpine decks from the info I am seeing. I know my 1999 / 2000 / 2001 units all were rated at 4v and actually put out 5v unclipped as tested by many magazines. Looks like the had a two year batch of them from 02-03 like that. Glad to know the 04's were better. I will know as soon as I get the 9835 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I think in this day and age especially for the audiophilic basshead or just audiophile who wants a really nice deck for the money, I think alpine and eclipse are the only way to go.

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

eclipse decks I think are high class, especially the 8443, that thing looks awsome. Simplicity can be overall the best. Also yes any deck can crap out, my oldest alpine in the family is pushing 20 years old now and I myself have never had one die from just simply failing ect but I have had several others die on me.... but then again I have never owned anything but the flagship alpine gear "except now, have a 9835 on order"
On the weak sub out deal, it seems it only affected a narrow band of alpine decks from the info I am seeing. I know my 1999 / 2000 / 2001 units all were rated at 4v and actually put out 5v unclipped as tested by many magazines. Looks like the had a two year batch of them from 02-03 like that. Glad to know the 04's were better. I will know as soon as I get the 9835 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I think in this day and age especially for the audiophilic basshead or just audiophile who wants a really nice deck for the money, I think alpine and eclipse are the only way to go.

That narrow band of decks went for a few years though. I saw it mostly on 7894s and the 7897(the testing done on that was not very impressive at all, and the local shop tested one for a customer, and the pre outs were pathetic...that shop doesn't sell alpine but installed one that a customer had).

Again, they have fixed the problem with the '04 decks, or atleast the testing I have seen indicates that they have. The 9835's pre outs put out rated voltage(or a little over) from the test results I have seen posted.

My point was that any manufacturer can have problems. If they problems are fixed, and the company has a pretty good rep for reliability, I wouldn't worry too much about it(whether the company is Eclipse, Alpine, Clarion*).

*the local shop had major reliability issues with clarion a couple of years ago. Error 6 codes coming up alot and some decks that were dead right out of the box. Clarion had a manufacturing issue and rectified it so it only affected the supply for a few months.

 

[packerfan 10+ year member]

Your forgetting sony mobile es, those things owned.

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

Your forgetting sony mobile es, those things owned.

Yep, those are very highly regarded decks.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

You guys and your Eclipse....its funny.

Although it should be:

Peformance> Looks

Its not, its :

Looks> Peformance

Thats why Eclipse scores so low

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

You guys and your Eclipse....its funny.Although it should be:

Peformance> Looks

Its not, its :

Looks> Peformance

Thats why Eclipse scores so low

Yeah, it seems most people take looks over performance. That line of thinking baffles me, but to each their own, I guess.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

Same here...

Ive never actually "used" an eclipse H/U, therefore i have no oppinion on them.

 

[Bring97 10+ year member]

Their decks are not as flashy as many othersTheir decks are not wh0red out everywhere like most other decks(you can find alpine, clarion, pioneer just about everywhere....authorized shops or not).

Eclipse has not been around quite as long as Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, etc.

oh you forgot another reason some people are not willin to spend money on a great item just because its more expensive... i personally think that eclipse does make some of the best decks out there, of course im am partial though cause i own one. anyway, everyone is gunna have there own opinion on whats best to themselves so its always gunna just be back and forth

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

alpine is ahead..? what happened to the pio nazi's?