Poll:Do you guys think that aftermarket "decks" are cool looking?

I have, excuse me, HAD one. Good up to about 25% volume, then it's the same old factory junk!

 

thankyou sir

 

In my opinion most of them do not look too bad. A nice clean touch screen double din always looks better and single/1.5 Dins tend to look pretty tacky when they are in double din openings. But the level of user-friendliness ranges from garbage to adequate. My Alpines were not too bad but I had a Pioneer with the rotory commander interface, sort of like the aftermarket head unit's version of BMW's i-drive. It amounted to me not being able to safely adjust anything unless I used the remote. To even get out of a given songlist on my ipod and go into another involved toggling back and fourth 5 or 6 times and hitting a button or two.I also second what someone else said about the frustrating lack of scan buttons in the aftermarket.I now have a Pioneer 2400 BT double din. I actually probably could have lived without a touch screen DVD if there was a good double din CD-only player out there that suited my needs. But there are none. I am actually a big fan of buttons. When there are lots of big fat buttons I can teach myself to operate the radio by feel without ever actually looking at it. With these #$%# touch screens you cannot really do that. It is like the aftermarket gave up on userfriendliness long ago and assumes everybody will use the remote or has steering wheel controls to hook up to. The radio face plate is there just for style now, not function.

 

Im not understanding whats wrong with the factory deck... 6yrs old and I can see the rear view vibrate when its cranked up.

 

There is a huge amount of bass drop off, distortion and generally crappy sound quality. Shaking the rear view mirror doesn't mean you're getting good sound You would get it if you ever listened to a well built system, and then got back in your stocker.

 

Heman: I am currently looking into buying the Pioneer 24ooBT. I am curious... do you have a tacoma 07 (or close)? I am interested to see how it looks intalled.

 

You couldn't get a decent stock set-up until 2012... nav/BT/Ipod/back-up camera etc... You could on a 4runner or a tundra...

I like my voice activated Kenwood double din, DNX9860HD and get many compliments on it. Crutchfield was great and the system came with a factory two year warranty. Garmin navigation is the most accurate...looks like it came with the truck... Ipod connectors in glove and center console... sirius ant. ran thru headliner and looks like OEM... microphone under rear view mirror... looks OEM. I'm going to get the back-up camera accessory soon. I think OEM is the way to go if you're getting a 2012.

 

As of Monday,there will not be one piece of my 2012 stock system left. Same junk speakers I took out of my '08 FJ.

 

I was always completely satisfied with my factory unit. I have very sensitive hearing and can generally pick up on distortion or poor sound quality better than the average person, I always thought it died very well for the type of music I like.

Honestly, almost every fully aftermarket set up I've ever seen has way too much bass to be enjoyable. I don't need my truck to shake and vibrate and thud with every kick of the double bass....

I upgraded my headunit because I got a best buy giftcard and it was the only thing I could think of. Sound is a little better.

 

Clarity vs loudness. The stock tacoma system (Non-JBL) is horrible hands down. The JBL is a major upgrade but still isn't very clear when at high volume. Aftermarket systems allow you to get the best of both worlds. I have a grip of bass if I need it and doesn't drown out my mids and highs at all. If I shut off my subwoofer my aftermarket mids and highs produce more deeper/cleaner/and tighter bass notes then the entire JBL system with its 8inch sub.

I had the stock JBL, yes it would shake the rear view mirror. But it isn't clear at all. Have someone sitting in the rear seats, they can't even hear the damn rear speakers.

The stock system has no high range at all, mids are 'decent' and the lows are just not there. For most of my buddies the stock stereo (JBL) was very nice sounding to them. Once they heard what a real system should sound like, they all agreed the JBL was garbage. Some people have never heard a proper sound system, other just don't care. My parents think their stock Tacoma speakers sound great. Even tho I pointed out on my Dad's truck his two front speakers are blown, he still enjoys the way it sounds. Had him sitting in my truck and its 'too loud' for him at 50% volume.

So if it sounds good to you, rock it till it dies!

 

I wish some manufacture would make good looking decks like the old school Nakamichi TD 300.

http://www.mmjp.or.jp/GRAVITON/nakamichi/gallery/nakamichi/mobile/cassette_player/document_TD.html

Or my second favorite the Soundstream TC 308

http://www.inpulse.co.jp/product/caraudio/used/user/product/soundstream/tc-308_01/index.htm

Or my third favorite the Nakamichi CD 35z

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/pors...ted/629587-fs-nakamichi-cd-35z-head-unit.html


The head units now days look like the bastard child of a space alien and a pile of crap. Case in point: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_25292_Planet-Audio-P9685B.html

The old stuff just looked more elegant and classy!

 

I think my new Kenwood is elegant and classy. Much more so than those '80s tape decks.

 

Your Kenwood does look better than any new style head unit that I have seen. Still like the 80's decks more!

 

Yeah I miss my Eclipse head units from the 90's. Used them until they stopped working. Then the MP3 play capability came around...

 

What so great about the nakamichi? I always hear about them and all. Nothing against them.

 

Nakamichi back in the day built the abosulte best cassette decks made. Everything else was top of the line too. Everything they made was classy, simple and great sounding!

Their main drawback was their stuff was made in Japan and the Japanese economy was booming so everything was very expensive.

The so called Nakamichi now is not the same company.

 

When you get a head unit that's nice such as 920 from alpine it is sure clean. I'm in love with mine.

 

Don't have one, would like one with sexy navi and blootooth

 

ive got a double din in my truck. touchscreen is nice and all but doesnt fit like oem, is a theft target (ive been lucky so far), and only holds one CD.

i have ipod control now and can play dvds and GPS though so the benefits outweigh the negatives.

 

yes