Please vote on the the head unit of your choice

 

Alpine CDA-7998!

 

eXcelon by Kenwood, of course!
My signature says it all.

 

Alpine CDA-7998 for me too!

 

I love my Pioneer Premier DEH-P840MP...it has it all !

 

Dear god I'd choose none of those really.

Personally I like:
Clarion Pro
Eclipse
Nakamichi

On the cheaper side,
Kenwood Excelon
Alpine

 

Dear God, aren't we finicky...geesh ! LOL!

 

lol - well we could also argue that both Kenwood and Alpine make more expensive stuff then the rest if you look at their highest priced HUs which completely contridicts my 'cheaper' side statement. The most expenisve Nak HU runs $1400 where both Kenwood & Alpine have HUs over $2k. I'm an SQ guy and I'll always go to that first regardless of features. I find that the Clarion Pro line, all Nakamichi & all Eclipse HUs are the cleanest HUs out there. Kenwood & Alpine are not far behind and even the top of the line alpines sound awesome but the rest of their stuff (maybe I should say crap) sound horrible at best.

 

BUT ! The marginal difference you get in overall SOund Quality of a $2k ALpine head unit, versus a $500 Pioneer Premier, is VERY minimal. I have a good ear for SQ, and I used to compete in IASCA and USAC, and those expensive head units are for the purists and people going for "Show points". THe bottomline is that they really don't sound that much better...

 

I have close to $3k invested in a stereo system, and you call that "cheap".
The SQ is supurb!
I have improved the stock stereo by leaps and bounds. Of course the reasons I didn't pay extra for the stock Bose system was because I always replace the stereo.

The small space in the cockpit of the Z does not need a 2000 watt system to enjoy the music. I'll stick with my eXcelon, thank you very much.

 

I agree...not many people are going to spend as much for a head unit as what their amps and speakers totalled together will cost. These $2k+ head units are only for show cars, and for people that don't know what to do with their money...

 

You guys have all proven my point. Even if the gains are even slightly marginally (which they may be) the fact there the HUs are better make the case that much more one sided. The original question asked was 'what's the best HU'. Not 'what's close to being the best but not quite the best'. I never stated there wasn't good reason to choose other brands but I'd go with the 3 I listed as some of the best HUs out there (brand and line specific). I run a $350 HU and in no way would I recommend spending over $1k for a HU unless someone is going A/V or is a purist.

Am I the only one here who can differentiate between brand loyalism and the truth? From the arguements being made it appears so. In no way is the best Kenwood HU going to match an Eclipse (just for a example) in being the best HU unless you get into subjective opinions about styling because performance and sound quality wise it will never happen. Likewise, no Nakamichi HU is going to run with any A/V, MP3, DVD, whatnot HU because Nak doesn't even make a HU for that. ****, even in styling I'll say Naks looses to virtually all HUs because their HUs are very very plain. Yes it's very subjective to ones tastes but I'll even step up and argue that one.

To finish up and to hopefully take my last stab at the beaten horse, most HUs today are good and beat just about everything from 5 years ago but that doesn't make them the best. When you get down to it one would have to quantatively state what the measures are to base the 'best' off of but I know without a doubt very few HUs are going to run with the 3 I listed (brand and line specific) for SQ. Eclispe and Clairon Pro I put in there for those wanting all the features, bells & wistles, & misc garbage that seems to guide sales today and Nak is there for the all out purist who still can't rationalize why someone needs to watch DVDs in their car.

And for those that will ask, I currently have three HUs in 6 of my cars; a Nakamichi CD45Z in my 350Z, a Kenwood CD player (@$120 in cost) in my daily driver 95 Honda Civic, and a Pioneer cd player in my 84 Rabbit. You'll notice that 2/3 of my HUs are not even what I consider to be good HUs yet I still love them.

 

I love it. I never imagined that my first post on this site would cause such a stir! This is great. That last reply was great, you summed up everyones complaints and opinions in one simple way. There is no better or worse for personal opinions. I simply wanted to use this poll to help me determine which head unit i will put in my touring model which arrives in LA in 2 weeks. Thank you all for your responses, this site KICKS ***!!!!!

 

Wow, you spent $3k on kenwood equipment! No offense, but if there are alot better stereo equipment then kenwood at a mujch better price. Unless I got sponsored by them, I would stay away from their speakers and subs. Although I heard the HUs are quite good.

 

I'm not sure of that, I am seriously considering the Clarion VRX935VD. Consider the benefits:

1. It's a little more than most head units (CD, MP3CD, DVD audio + video). That's pretty much all-in-one as far as car entertainment goes. It also has extra inputs, say...for the X-Box

2. Powered down, it looks like a normal shitty head unit since the display goes back inside. No one would think to break my windows and steal it unless they really, really knew what it is, which is hard with my tint. Incognito!

3. It leaves me the factory NAV thing (empty), which I currently use to hold my wallet and phone while I race.

4. I can get it (sans install) for $1300, which is a pretty good deal as I see it.

 

I agree, this Head Unit is awesome!

 

It wasn't posted, but Eclipse is usually the best.

 

Try reading the post again. I posted Eclipse twice.

 

Clarion Pro Audio DRX935VHD

 

I have had 2 eclipse's in the padt 6 years, just installed the 5441 in the Z. They are some of the best around. Now I am waiting for my Focal Utobia 165 W3 3way set to come in and the car will be off to the shop for the install.