Touch Screens with navigation - BEST SOUNDING ONE?

[Capolan]

As the title says, I'm looking for what is the best sounding Touch screen w/ Navigation out there right now. The front runners are Pioneer, Kenwood Execelon, Alpine.

If budget was no issue...

which head unit SOUNDS best? Bells & Whistles and navigation, I can figure out all that, but Sound Quality is something that no one seems to mention when they review these units.

I've used Nakamichi CD400 and currently have a Eclipse 7200ii pre-processor. I know I'm going to take a sound hit going to any of these units, but which one sounds the best out of all of these, and in your opinion is the sound "bad" or "good". (i.e. the pioneer for example may sound the best out of these choices, but still may sound bad in comparison to non touch screen units)

I know this is my first post, but I've come here looking for help as the internet has let me down on this question, and I was hoping some experts out there could lend a hand/throw their opinions out there.

Thank you in advance!!

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[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

What separates the good sounding head units from the great sounding head units these days is mainly DSP, considering new/current models only. Among the top head unit brands even the entry level units sound good. Your basic DAC technology has not changed in a very long time. You'll have a much larger effect on the sound by your choice of speakers than anything else in the system.

What you should be far more concerned about is day-to-day ease of use. Nobody wants to drop $1,000+ on a flagship head unit with navigation and get pissed off by a function you use every time you drive the vehicle. You should have local stores that carry those brands with at least one navigation head unit on display or in a vehicle to check out.

 

[Capolan]

What separates the good sounding head units from the great sounding head units these days is mainly DSP, considering new/current models only. Among the top head unit brands even the entry level units sound good. Your basic DAC technology has not changed in a very long time. You'll have a much larger effect on the sound by your choice of speakers than anything else in the system.
What you should be far more concerned about is day-to-day ease of use. Nobody wants to drop $1,000+ on a flagship head unit with navigation and get pissed off by a function you use every time you drive the vehicle. You should have local stores that carry those brands with at least one navigation head unit on display or in a vehicle to check out.

Thank you. Unfortunately it is looking like more and more the fancy navigation units *right now* are just not as capable as we all would like them to be. I know they took voice-activated navigation out of all the new ones (the pioneer 130 still has it...crappy maps, but it has that...). I thought I'd treat myself with something cool that is more than just eye-candy, something that is truly useful. It doesn't sound like these things fit that perspective. As far as systems go, my system right now is pretty fantastic - top of the line components, brown-bread matted throughout, etc. I just thought I'd put something cool in, but it sounds like it would be me just throwing money away...

You raise very good points regarding day-to-day use also.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

For in-dash navigation your best bet is a head unit that can pull data from an iPhone or Android smartphone. What I'm waiting for to replace my current head unit is the Clarion NX603. If you have an iPhone(4S or the 5) the Pioneer AppRadio 3 might work for you.

 

[dumple 5,000+ posts]

App radio and arliberator makes android phones awesome on the app radio