Quality head units?

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

They'll get loud around tuning. Mine are around 140 @36-38hz. But I went from 1 death penalty 15 on the same amp doing 145.6 so it was a pretty big downgrade.

I was running 3 sa8s on a dd m3 at 0.66 and they were around 143 in a trunk

 

[giltyler]

Before condemning the existing unit verify that it has a very good ground to solid metal.

Sometimes even good installers get lazy with good grounds

I have the Alpine INE W960 and it has been great

Before that I had a pioneer Premier that was flawless for 5 years

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

I just got kenwood x301 and may not be kind of unit u looking for but the 5v preouts, xovers and 10 different types of eq and sound enhancers, time alignment, display choices and dimmer WOW it's loaded and sounds amazing (i have cheap speakers) really hard to believe all it has $119.. only thing i don't like is cd eject button is tiny, everything else about it is awesome..

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Alpine and Pioneer still make really good units. I wouldnt put Jvc in that class. I went from a prs80 to a Jvc AR959 and the difference in quality was staggering.
Get a prs80, alpine 149 or 164

Does tge 149 or 164 have 3 way xovers?

 

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

Both are. As is the 163

 

[Sonic. 10+ year member]

I just got kenwood x301 and may not be kind of unit u looking for but the 5v preouts, xovers and 10 different types of eq and sound enhancers, time alignment, display choices and dimmer WOW it's loaded and sounds amazing (i have cheap speakers) really hard to believe all it has $119.. only thing i don't like is cd eject button is tiny, everything else about it is awesome..

X2 nice hu !

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Both are. As is the 163

yea but its killer because you have the PRS80 which is boreder line SQ and the p99rs which is reference but nothing in the middle. so at this point for a Three way setup you are better off with a good deck with a single high quatitly D/A good isolated preamp section thats just a pass through unit and a audison bit ten.

so my CD players for sale.

 

[stuffandthangs]

I just got kenwood x301 and may not be kind of unit u looking for but the 5v preouts, xovers and 10 different types of eq and sound enhancers, time alignment, display choices and dimmer WOW it's loaded and sounds amazing (i have cheap speakers) really hard to believe all it has $119.. only thing i don't like is cd eject button is tiny, everything else about it is awesome..

Is the display readable in sunlight? That seems to be a problem with a lot of radios, even stock radios are easier to see in sunlight a lot of times.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Is the display readable in sunlight? That seems to be a problem with a lot of radios, even stock radios are easier to see in sunlight a lot of times.

The black-on-white display in this unit is made to be visible in sunlight.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_020M205/Clarion-M205.html?tp=61742

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

They'll get loud around tuning. Mine are around 140 @36-38hz. But I went from 1 death penalty 15 on the same amp doing 145.6 so it was a pretty big downgrade.
I was running 3 sa8s on a dd m3 at 0.66 and they were around 143 in a trunk

what car you have?

 

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

Those sa8s were in a saturn sl1.

Currently have a blazer

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Is the display readable in sunlight? That seems to be a problem with a lot of radios, even stock radios are easier to see in sunlight a lot of times.

well not many displays are great in sunlight, it's not as good as factory was but I'm sure most aren't..

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Is the display readable in sunlight? That seems to be a problem with a lot of radios, even stock radios are easier to see in sunlight a lot of times.

you'll need to go with pioneer or alpine if you want readability in sunlight.

Its also not the head unit's fault, sometimes the shape of the car's dash is soo fked up that with any head unit, you'll get sun glare. Some cars have that misfortune. only thing you can do is get head units with obnoxiously bright lights which pioneer and alpine are known for. Kenwood has pretty weak overall brightness throughout most of their models.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I just got kenwood x301 and may not be kind of unit u looking for but the 5v preouts, xovers and 10 different types of eq and sound enhancers, time alignment, display choices and dimmer WOW it's loaded and sounds amazing (i have cheap speakers) really hard to believe all it has $119.. only thing i don't like is cd eject button is tiny, everything else about it is awesome..

Not gonna steer you wrong when it comes to what you need for sound quality and how things will work with your setup bud! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

I've not owned a Kenwood unit so can't comment but I've owned Alpine head units since the mid 70's and they have all been great...some more so as I moved up to units with more features but even the basic units worked great.

Just make sure the unit is installed correctly by someone who knows what they are doing.

Good luck and tell us what you wind up with.