Stereo Head Unit Poll

a lot of the CURRENT alpine receivers are known to sound pretty bad in comparison.

 

if you are solely looking for pre-out voltage
eclipse FTW! they do have models out there w/ 8v pre-outs

 

put me dowm for Kenwood... but you really cant go wrong with any of them

 

ECLIPSE AVN-726 nothing even comes close to comparing!!

 

Pioneer has dropped the Premier line and I always had good luck with their units in my vehicles over the years. The deck that everyone has been talking about over at the DiyMobileAudio forum is the Pioneer DEX-P99RS but at a cost of $1,200 it will not fit into most peoples budget and most people will not need all the features the unit provides. It is also a dead head (no internal amp) so and external amp is required for your speakers. This is a great deck if you were going to run a set of component speakers active (not using the crossover for the speakers).

When I was choosing a head unit when I purchased my 2008 Tacoma DC I looked at Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer. I was looking at the top of the line head units. I cannot remember the model numbers but I believe the Alpine I was looking at was the CDA 9887 and there was a limiting tuning capability that required the additional Imprint kit (additional cost). The Kenwood was difficult to navigate through the different menu screens and I have never been a big fan of Kenwood. A function I was looking for in my head unit was being able to control the crossover points for my speakers and subs. The head unit I went with was the Eclipse CD7200 MKII. It was dead head unit (which I like) and it allowed me to control the crossover points via the head unit. It also has 8 volt pre outs. The only two negative things about the deck is: The display screen sucks and the I do not like the control button in the center of the volume knob (feels cheap and like it is going to break). Unfortunately, Eclipse no longer makes single din head units. Most would say that head units like the Eclipse CD7200 MKII and Pioneer DEX-P99RS are for the person that are going to run an active system with their speakers.

If I were you I would find a local stereo shop (Al and Eds carry all three brands you mentioned) and look each head unit over and navigate through the menus if the units are on a display board. Ask yourself, what functions and options are you looking for in a head unit and go from there. Good luck.

My system:
Head unit: Eclipse CD7200 MKII
Amp: JL Audio HD 900/5
Ft speakers: HAT Clarus C61-2
Rr speakers: HAT Clarus C51-2 (midbass driver only)
Sub: JL audio 13TW5-3

 

Sad thing is I wish i could that! I wish i could go window shopping for a head unit but unfortunately I live on an island in Alaska where the biggest audio retail store is Walmart...and we all know the quality of gear they sell. Its hard to touch and feel all the options via www but its what I have to do at the moment. Oh well..such is life in small towns with no options. lol