What to look for

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

I am a noob that is trying decide on what headunit to get for my car but I dont really know what specs to look for. I do not know exactly what my system will have, but I plan on having a CD changer to the HU, 2 amps (1 for mid/highs and 1 for subs), 4x 6.5", 2x tweeters, and 1x 12" sub. Any specs that you could help me with would be great. I am a fan of Alpine, but am willing to look at any good brands.

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[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

look at thd, s/n ratio, and preout voltage

 

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

look at thd, s/n ratio, and preout voltage

Thanks, btw what are the first two, and what kind of numbers or ratios do I want, high/low? I have already read a little about preout voltage.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

look at thd, s/n ratio, and preout voltage

Honestly, you could ignore those for the most part. Just about any HU on the market should have reasonable THD and SNR specs, which would make any minute differences between two HU's inconsequential. And preout voltage doesn't inherently make one deck better than another.

Main things to look for, IMO, are features. What features do you need? Internal crossover? Equalizer? Does it have enough sets of preamp outputs for you? Etc etc.

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

u want high s/n ratio, low thd, at least 5v preouts, and another one that i forgot to list but not necessary if u dont listen to radio is fm sensitivity, higher dbf the better.

 

[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

u want high s/n ratio, low thd, at least 5v preouts, and another one that i forgot to list but not necessary if u dont listen to radio is fm sensitivity, higher dbf the better.

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Preout voltage means nothing, it only comes into play when setting your gain. No preout voltage is better than another.

 

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

I was totally set on the JVC KD-AVX1, the new one with a 3" screen built in, but after reading some posts on here about it I am thinking it is more show than go. Someone on another posts was talking bout how it only had a 2V preout for the subs, but i dont know if that is really a big deal for me since I am not trying to setup a Competition stereo system. I just want a good/quality stereo setup.

As far as options that I need I dont have a clue besides enough preouts for 2 amps and ability to control a CD changer. Do I need/want to be able to control the Xover. Do some HU's come with a more elaborate EQ than just bass, treble, Left, Right, Front, Rear?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I was totally set on the JVC KD-AVX1, the new one with a 3" screen built in, but after reading some posts on here about it I am thinking it is more show than go. Someone on another posts was talking bout how it only had a 2V preout for the subs, but i dont know if that is really a big deal for me since I am not trying to setup a Competition stereo system. I just want a good/quality stereo setup.

2V is fine. Not a big deal at all.

As far as options that I need I dont have a clue besides enough preouts for 2 amps and ability to control a CD changer. Do I need/want to be able to control the Xover.

That's up to you. If your amplifiers have adequate crossovers for you, then you don't need to have them in your HU.

Do some HU's come with a more elaborate EQ than just bass, treble, Left, Right, Front, Rear?

Yes. They range from a 3 band parametric equalizer to a 13 band graphic.

 

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

ok, after looking at the different options avialible and deciding which ones I want, I have narrowed the list to two. Hopefully they are good HU's and I wont get ragged on for picking them. Alpine's 9860 and Kenwood Ez700sr. The only technical differences between them are the Price and that the Alpine will play DVDs. The alpine can be bought for $400-450, and the Kenwood goes for $220-350 depending on the store. My question is whether the alpine is going to have better SQ. I know SQ is subjective, but i dont have the oppurtunity to listen to them before I buy one so any help would be appreciative. Thanks

 

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

I have done some searching on here and on the web and I cant find any reliable info anywhere about either one of these decks. There is very little about the 9860 and nothing about the ez700sr on here, and I dont really consider crutchfield reviews reliable. Almost every review I read on there is how great some product, but nothing in detail and harldy ever anything negative. Anyone got any knowledge of these two.

 

[NonEvo 10+ year member]

I decided to purchase a Kenwood x889 instead of the other two. I got it for $270 shipped which seemed like one hell of a deal from a reputable power seller on ebay. Only 12 negative feedbacks in the past year with over 10,000 transactions.

I decided to go with the x889 because the alpine 9860 does not fit my car for some reason, and the x889 is supposed to have alot better SQ than the 700sr for not a lot more money. I hope I like it.