Which head unit & where to buy?

[Pr0d1gy 10+ year member]

Well, I have finally put all the pieces of my system together & done it sooner than I though thanks to the likes of jntar, lostsoul, & digital b. Here is what I have so far:

OZ ME180CS comps - Diamond Audio D3 300.4 bridged to 2x200w @4ohms

Stereo Integrity 12" Magnum D2 (in a sealed 1.3^3ft box) - Elemental Designs Nine.1 running at 1ohm = 1100w

Future possibilities:

I may add another 8 or 10" to my rear hatch for added punch. Another choice would be to add a nice set of 6.5" mids to the rear seat speaker locations. I could probably do both off a decent 3 channel amp, but I'm not sure what the best end setup would be.

Obviously, the reason I am putting all this info here is I need to make the right decision on my HU. I drive a 1998 TransAm and spend a ton of time in my car doing outside sales, including sitting & waiting for appointments from time to time. Obviously, I would like to pick a setup that could work with all this gear & maximize the overall potential of my mobile entertainment system.

Now, with my ability to cut costs through the good traders on this forum, I have left myself a nice wad of money to get the proper setup going in my dash. Obviously, working out my car would make built in navigation a useful feature. I would like either i-Pod or hard drive capabilities. Having an indash would be nice, but I do not want to sacrifice SQ to do it. With that in mind, here is what I have been tossing around:

Clarion DRZ9255

Pioneer Elite 880

Eclipse AVIC-Z1 (double DIN will not fit my car though without some serious cutting)

Alpine H701 + (insert appropriate head unit here)

(Insert appropriate in dash here) + Rockford 3Sixty.2

CDA-7949/PXA-H600 combo or some variant

I would like to have the most upgradeablity possible, and have all the features I want....but also I would like to know what features I maybe should consider in addition to the few that I am looking for as well. I could spend up to $2500, but I would obviously rather keep it under a grand if possible.

Please make any suggestions you feel would be appropriate as I do not know a whole lot about what the new head units can do. I have been out of the game for a good 10+ years, so I need a lot of help. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, for the love of all that is useful, do not //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif come into this with your brand biases //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif or other BS. I need facts, not internet board marketing hype. Thanks folks. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

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[Scroder2 10+ year member]

I just bought/installed the Pioneer 880 and it is one of the sharpest looking decks I have seen in a while. THere are so many adjustments on it you could spend all day on it--also the Ipod interface is awesome for it. I think you'd like it

Dave

 

[Pr0d1gy 10+ year member]

bump, anyone else?

 

[DjiNN 10+ year member]

i think the pioneer would be a better choice if you want sound quality without hassal .. one person on this forum said he had to push 3 different buttons to get the the menu screen in the alpine 9856 deck .. my pioneer is a one button job to get to the menu screen. A lot of people are saying Alpine's quality isnt that great this yr.

 

[Pr0d1gy 10+ year member]

I'm not really looking at new Alpines due to the BLUE? chiklet buttons & lack of quality control. The models I have been looking into are:

7863 7969 7854 7909 7919