Best car decks!!

[rapter]

hey ok, i havent been super invloved in new car decks lately just cause im really happy with mine.
But last night my dad came over and we started to argue which decks for regular priced people lol can you buy?
like $300.00 or so.
which companies are the best?
i always thought that Alpine and Pioneer were on top.
and things like JVC, sony, and kenwood were crap.

have things changed? some input please. he bought the JVC KD-A805.
good, Bad?

 

[McBadass]

hey ok, i havent been super invloved in new car decks lately just cause im really happy with mine.
But last night my dad came over and we started to argue which decks for regular priced people lol can you buy?
like $300.00 or so.
which companies are the best?
i always thought that Alpine and Pioneer were on top.
and things like JVC, sony, and kenwood were crap.

have things changed? some input please. he bought the JVC KD-A805.
good, Bad?

I have an alpine, and its amazing. complete audio tuning, ipod compatibility, bluetooth, looks very nice, and has worked flawless for over a year. I paid $200

 

[widgit117]

My car has a huge DECK but it ain't bragging.
I have a Pioneer FH-P8000BT and I love it. Alittle complicated but offers a multitude of variables that you can change.

 

[1sty]

You have to define "best"
Do you mean best convenience features or best sound quality features.
The deck that has convenience features is never the best in terms of SQ.

For example, The Pioneer DEH-P880PRS is probably the best SQ head unit that is reasonably priced. Nothing else in my mind is even in the ballpark for the money.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/In-Dash/CD-Players/Premier/DEH-P800PRS

You will notice this deck does not have the really slick Ipod interface, or 12 zillion dancing lights that makes it looks like a Korean ***** house. But for SQ features, its the best.

For reliability, I would give the title to alpine seconded until recently by pioneer.
Eclispe also has a few nice SQ headunit.

Sony, Kenwood, and JVC are not really crap, they are more like a tier 2 level in terms of quality of parts used vs features.
They often have more features for less but are typically not as reliable or those features are exaggerated.

As for conviniece feature headunit...I dont know, my stock headunit is pretty damn good there so why even change it out.

 

[rapter]

^ oh yeah thats true, i guess nothing will be BEST BEST
but yeah makes sense, i will agree the JVC he bought has alot of features on it.
and he got it for $330.00 with 2 USB ports bluetooth and iphone usage and ipod as well.
and mp3 and the whole shabang.

but yeah my protege has a older pioneer model and it still sounds better than the JVC.
But he is a simple dude, so ya he doesnt need to complicate things, and agreed that alpine and pioneer tend to make things complex lol.

but the guy at the stupid visions store has convinced my dad that Alpine has gone down in quality and is no longer a top model system, they use cheap korean parts.
lol

 

[geomatics_tech]

Dont shop at Visions!!!!

I had my Alpine installed at Audio Concepts, everything they sell is good and I would recomend them for anyone in calgary.

 

[rapter]

Yeah i know a guy there, pretty good. I usually do this stuff. but don thave time, hey my dad said they do it for free, LOL to him you cant beat that LOL.

will see.

 

[widgit117]

Check out my Huge deck.....

 

[widgit117]

I have an alpine, and its amazing. complete audio tuning, ipod compatibility, bluetooth, looks very nice, and has worked flawless for over a year. I paid $200

BTW I would re-route that Ipod cord to the lower hole thing. Sorry the word escapes me at the moment. You can route the cable through the ashtray and you would be able to keep the Ipod in the lower thing. Keeping the cable at its present location will probably trip someone and you could end up with a broken Ipod.

Happy listening!

 

[hedlesschkn]

bought my HU about a year ago and did loads of reasearch to find it. i wanted something that did great with USB and had high voltage preamp outs for my amps. as far as im concerned the Alpine CDA-9884 is where its at!

 

[DrooandhisES]

Well, i used to be an alpine guy but Kenwood has come out with some interesting stuff. I had an Alpine CDA 9856, but with California law changing I wanted to get a bluetooth enable deck. Kenwood contracted parrot for their bluetooth units. I went ahead with a Kenwood KDCBT838U. It wasn't expensive, reads MP3s had built in bluetooth and and usb port for mp3 players.

 

[scrumdown]

My car has a huge DECK but it ain't bragging.
I have a Pioneer FH-P8000BT and I love it. Alittle complicated but offers a multitude of variables that you can change.

I was looking at that deck, what all do you like about it?

 

[blue06mazda6]

I've always like Sony for car decks.
I had a Kenwood that i got for the 6 about a month ago that i got because of being compatable for use with the Iphone.
I had it installed and did not like how hard it was to use and the display was not real bright.
So i ended up putting my old Sony in that I had laying around.

This past weekend i just got a CDX-GT630UO that is also Iphone compatable.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...gt630&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1216424781227

Also got the steering wheel control interface.
I'm planing on switching the decks this weekend.

 

[R-X-R]

if i get a deck can i still keep the cassatte player?

 

[widgit117]

I was looking at that deck, what all do you like about it?

I like the looks, the display, the USB port, the bluetooth, the single knob for everything, ease of installation, and so much more.
One sad thing: be very careful with your RCAs on this one. This has a pico fuse and once it blows then your RCAs won't be grounded properly.

 

[scrumdown]

So it mounted flush? The DVD unit i have now fits uncomfortably and i'm not really fond of it anymore. I need a good reason to buy this pioneer deck other than owning a iphone in a few months. Did you use an install kit?

 

[widgit117]

Well, it does sit flush but the one that I have is not a DVD unit. I thought it best not to be distracted while driving. I was thinking about a touch but for the same reason it didn't buy it. As to the iPhone, mine hooks up nicely through bluetooth but it is said that if you use the USB to hook up the call quality is bad. I did use the install kit from Crutchfield and I have to say that the design of it is scary. Not much holds it up.

 

[scrumdown]

I know it's not a DVD unit. I have a DVD unit now and I don't like it anymore..don't really get the use of it like it should get. I used the install kit from crutchfield but the unit is a weird size so it doesn't fit in the dash like I would prefer. Can the unit read songs from your iphone over bluetooth or do you have to use the USB strictly for that?

Basically i like the way this unit looks and it's features, I've found good reviews for it and i've got all pioneer speakers to work with. Just needed someone who has it to give me the ins and outs that you wont find on the product summary.