Need help picking head unit

[stich626]

Originally Posted by dmnall

Yeah I can understand where you are coming from, however, I was told by local Car Audio *Lombards Auto Sounds in Goleta, CA*, would primarily carry Eclipse and Clarion, however, as of the past 5 - 6 years, they have been carrying Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer. I asked them what happened to Clarion and was told their quality went downhill and they are FUGLY.. I did not believe it until I hit up a Frys Electronics and Damn they are FUGLY. From what I have heard that since the whole Jensen, Clarions high end has had some reliability problems but considering my last Clarion system was a 2000 maybe 2001 and that was when they were at their best in my opinion. Even they were not ugly but actually great looking. I would agree about buying any stereo from Walmart and Best Buy, even considering Kenwood and Alpine from there are not going to be the quality like buying from an actual Car Stereo company.

As for low end car audio, I would not discount JVC, Kenwood, Alpine and Pioneer. I would avoid Boss and other in house brands. Now Planet Audio is supposed to be good, however, their amps, I would avoid as I have seen they get a bit too hot when being ran.

Now as for my opinion on Alpine though, Alpine CDA-9887 with KTX 100 EQ *imprint*, KCE422i *iPod cable that I am not using*, kca-400BT with kwe-460e *cable to hook up the bt to the deck*, kce-433iv *ipod cable from bt*, I got the entire package for $ 200 shipped. The Imprint is what really made this sound amazing. Which when I go to swap my 68s cab to my 71 AC cab, I am thinking Alpine as well, whether I pick up another 9887 or a newer model, I can still use the Microphone and Software to use the imprint!

HTH,
Charlie

wow over the last 5 years a shop drop'n the high end gear and selling the lower stuff,
that not have anything to do with the economy,right?????
alpine/kenwood/pioneer all have low end and mid high end..
pick one you like and go..
I have a banana box of alpines I've pulled to install another unit for friends because the alpine was dead..
take that for what it's worth, I got a box of sony's too.

[dmnall]

Originally Posted by stich626

wow over the last 5 years a shop drop'n the high end gear and selling the lower stuff,
that not have anything to do with the economy,right?????
alpine/kenwood/pioneer all have low end and mid high end..
pick one you like and go..
I have a banana box of alpines I've pulled to install another unit for friends because the alpine was dead..
take that for what it's worth, I got a box of sony's too.

I would not say it was due to the economy but it could be, however, they are still getting the outrageous prices for their installs! When I originally went in wanting to get an alarm *crimeguard*, Kenwood Excelon 445, Speakers, Sub, Box and an Amp, this shop wanted $ 8K for everything including Install. The owner still recommends Alpine over Kenwood and Pioneer. As of this weekend, he is back to carrying Clarion *just one deck* and he states the quality is about as par to Kenwoods which is saying a lot compared to his opinion on the whole Kenwood Excelon series which he was stating they have been having a lot of doa units. Ofcourse Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer have low to high end and it all depends on what each person wants.

I know there are bad units between all of the companies including Clarion. If Clarion would come back to making actually making their same quality as they were building 10 years ago, there would be no comparison, I would be running Clarion again. As for my preference, the Imprint from Alpine, I am really happy with. SQ is what I am after and if Clarion can beat an Alpine Imprint SQ, or even Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC, Planet Audio or anyone, my money would be there!

Cheers,
Charlie

[dan42]

Originally Posted by dmnall

I would not say it was due to the economy but it could be, however, they are still getting the outrageous prices for their installs! When I originally went in wanting to get an alarm *crimeguard*, Kenwood Excelon 445, Speakers, Sub, Box and an Amp, this shop wanted $ 8K for everything including Install. The owner still recommends Alpine over Kenwood and Pioneer. As of this weekend, he is back to carrying Clarion *just one deck* and he states the quality is about as par to Kenwoods which is saying a lot compared to his opinion on the whole Kenwood Excelon series which he was stating they have been having a lot of doa units. Ofcourse Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer have low to high end and it all depends on what each person wants.

I would shop around for an audio store besides Lombard's - IMO they are the highest price store on the planet. They seem to know what they are doing, but compare their prices with somewhere else. At least that's the case with their store in Santa Maria.

[corbinc]

Random insight on the subject.. I have concluded that of all products listed above the highest quality deck for your system would be a Pioneer.

I believe Pioneer utilizes much more bench testing with their equipment before shipping resulting in a much less defective products. As stated above they are also very user friendly, and have some of the widest frequency tuning ranges of all other decks.

Alpine is fantastic. Most of the new features you see on hu's today were on an alpine first (time correction, solid state drive OS, ect..) Their lowest end deck will cost you about the same as a mid range Pioneer(which is better).

Eclipse has lost a majority of their contracts for prefabricated radios to Pioneer and Sony and have really deteriorated in quality. Aesthetically they always looked the nicest to me, and they were used in major stereo comps because of their high output to amplification. I don't even know of a store here in Denver that installs eclipse, Car Toys/Quality Auto Sound?

I have installed more Kenwoods than any other deck, it is what is in my vehicle right now. I think they have very bland sound quality relying mainly on preset frequency ranges. Not nearly enough options can be troublesome when trying to eliminate reverberations from exhaust/engine/road noise. Kenwoods time correction is also the pits.

Sony and just about every other brand is basically just Sony. They will last a long time if you take care of it, but likely have basic features. Its what we put in a persons car if they live in an area with heavy auto theft because the insurance actually gives you more than what a sony costs.

15ys MECP

[dmnall]

Originally Posted by dan42

I would shop around for an audio store besides Lombard's - IMO they are the highest price store on the planet. They seem to know what they are doing, but compare their prices with somewhere else. At least that's the case with their store in Santa Maria.

Hey Dan,
Which is why I did the install myself for both the alarm and the system *which subsequently the prices on everything was still around $ 1500 less then what Lombards in Goleta was charging *the SM store used to be owned by the same owner as the Goleta, however, he sold it because the SM store was costing him more money then it was worth lol* but still $ 8K which they were charging $ 2100 - 2500 for everything but the install was the rest. I picked up the same alarm for $ 40 from Frys, had to buy 3x 5 pin relays for the install *crimeguard 350i5* as I did not need remote start, just keyless and I wanted some kind of security.

Then I did the stereo system the way I wanted it with out having to be told, that no rear speakers were required, but it was not too bad of an install for either the alarm or stereo, just had to have a lot of patience, test light and a volt meter for the alarm system lol. Total was around $ 700 for stereo and alarm install as well as the install was just a few days total for doing my first install. How is your 67 coming along?

HTH,
Charlie

[dan42]

Originally Posted by dmnall

Hey Dan,
Which is why I did the install myself for both the alarm and the system *which subsequently the prices on everything was still around $ 1500 less then what Lombards in Goleta was charging *the SM store used to be owned by the same owner as the Goleta, however, he sold it because the SM store was costing him more money then it was worth lol* but still $ 8K which they were charging $ 2100 - 2500 for everything but the install was the rest. I picked up the same alarm for $ 40 from Frys, had to buy 3x 5 pin relays for the install *crimeguard 350i5* as I did not need remote start, just keyless and I wanted some kind of security.

Then I did the stereo system the way I wanted it with out having to be told, that no rear speakers were required, but it was not too bad of an install for either the alarm or stereo, just had to have a lot of patience, test light and a volt meter for the alarm system lol. Total was around $ 700 for stereo and alarm install as well as the install was just a few days total for doing my first install. How is your 67 coming along?

HTH,
Charlie

Cool that you got exactly what you wanted - I did most of mine, but I'm having problems with interference from the motor, I think it's the HEI. I have a Retrosound in it right now, but the zip drive doesn't work properly, and it really doesn't sound that great, having to battle with my flomasters (even with an amp). I will probably cut the dash when the time comes, it gives you a lot more options. I wish there was a decent car stereo retailer/installer up here; we have that Lombard's, and one on North Broadway called Atlas, but they are hit or miss. Your story re-inspires me, though.

[dmnall]

Originally Posted by dan42

Cool that you got exactly what you wanted - I did most of mine, but I'm having problems with interference from the motor, I think it's the HEI. I have a Retrosound in it right now, but the zip drive doesn't work properly, and it really doesn't sound that great, having to battle with my flomasters (even with an amp). I will probably cut the dash when the time comes, it gives you a lot more options. I wish there was a decent car stereo retailer/installer up here; we have that Lombard's, and one on North Broadway called Atlas, but they are hit or miss. Your story re-inspires me, though.

Hey Dan,
If you take your time, it really is not that hard to install and after the install in my 94, I have learned enough to just do it myself from now on because why pay someone when it is really not that hard. What is nice is if you do not want to wait for stereo equipment to come in, is just go down to either of the Stereo shops and buy the equipment directly from them, you will pay more then buying online, however, you get it that same day. The hardest part I had to learn was mounting two amps in the 94 because multiple amps need a distribution block but other then that, it is relatively easy. As for cutting the dash to fit in newer stereos *seems like Taboo around here*, however, I am for it because there are soo many more options for quality head units. I am debating a full on Navi set up in my 68, but then again, I prefer single din stereos. I am going to cut the dash on my ac cab to mount head unit in, I did it on my 68 cab and since I am swapping over, I say why not, however, I am going to add a mono amp for the sub and upgrade to component speakers instead of the eclipse 6.5 inch speakers. As well as upgrade from Clarion 6 disc changer and cassette head unit, to an Alpine *more like a cda-117, 9887 or ida-305sbt*, an alpine mono amp and a set of the component alpine reference 6.5 speakers as well as a custom box with a 12 inch sub.

HTH,
Charlie

[corbinc]

If anyone is putting speakers in their 88-98 truck these are by far the best quality speaker you can buy. Furthermore, they fit very nicely into the factory hole without having to cut into the heating duct or make any dash modifications.

http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/746.aspx

12-80 watt range, copolymer cones

They are extremely crisp, the only other 4 x 6 I have heard with similar quality is made by MB Quart.

[81ShrtBox]

Originally Posted by corbinc

If anyone is putting speakers in their 88-98 truck these are by far the best quality speaker you can buy. Furthermore, they fit very nicely into the factory hole without having to cut into the heating duct or make any dash modifications.

http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/746.aspx

12-80 watt range, copolymer cones

They are extremely crisp, the only other 4 x 6 I have heard with similar quality is made by MB Quart.

I had Pheonix Gold speakers in my 93" Burban the 4x6 in the dash would have you squinting they were so loud and I cut the rear doors and installed 8" 3-way full range speakers