I am in the processes of putting a new system in my car and I just need a HU now to finish things out. The main features I want are good sound quality and playback from my iPhone or USB Drive. I am currently only looking at single din units because I dont watch DVD's or need nav, but if a double din would fit my needs better, I have not problem going with one.

I had bought the Clarion VZ309 because I thought the large screen would be good for iPod searching, but the head unit turned out the be complete junk. Very laggy all around and awful audio settings and would not charge my iPhone.

The decks I have been looking at are in the $200 - $300 range. These are all prices from crutchfield, so they are approximate:

Sony CDX-GT730UI - $199
Pioneer Premier DEH-P510UB - $229
Kenwood Excelon KDC-X693 - $209
Alpine 9886 - $269
Eclipse CD5030 - $299

I had played with all except the Eclipse unit and the iPod controls seem pretty good. Looking at the Eclipse, it has a lot more advanced audio features: Auto EQ and Time Alignment with a mic, 5 volt pre outs and a 7 band PEQ.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

Get an Alpine if you need all the gadgetry and you care somewhat for sound quality.

Not sure if you care for playing CDs at all but if not I'd suggest the iDA-X305. BTW, the 9886 supposedly does not support music playback directly from the iPhone.

 

I have been looking at the Alpines, but I am somewhat confused by the audio features they have, it seems like they are somewhat limited if you do not get the imprint audio processor. From reading the website it looks like it only has treble and bass adjustments

 

iDA=X305

Sound Tuning

* Subwoofer Level: Subwoofer Level Adjustment
* High Pass Filter: High Pass Filter Adjustment
* Bass Center Frequency: Bass Center Frequency Adjustment
* Bass Width: Bass Width Q Adjustment
* Bass Level: Bass Level Adjustment
* Treble Center Frequency: Treble Center Frequency Adjustment
* Treble Level: Treble Level Adjustment
* Loudness: Loudness Feature
* MediaXpander: MediaXpander Ready (PXA-H100 Required)
* Time Correction: Time Correction 6 Channel Time Correction Ready (PXA-H100 Required)
* Equalizer: Equalizer 5 Band Graphic / 7 Band Parametric Equalizer Ready (PXA-H100 Required)
* Crossover: Crossover Ready (PXA-H100 Required)
* IMPRINT: IMPRINT Sound System Ready (PXA-H100 Required)

 

I have the Alpine IDA-x100 (I think now it's x300...)

Works great with ipod and I bought an aux cable so I can play songs from my phone (pandora).