Ok, audio gurus. I got a question. What should I go with for my head unit? Nakamichi CD700II or Clarion ProAudio DRZ9255?

Thanks in advance,
JasZ

 

Well, I'm not really a Guru but I did do quite a bit of research a while back when I was upgrading my HU in the Z31. As you can see in my sig I ended up going with the Eclipse but it was actually my 2nd choice.

Nakamichi makes extremely high quality and highly rated components. The down side is that if you have an issue and are in need of repair the unit has to be pulled and shipped off to Japan. Or at least thats what I was told at the time I purchased the Eclipse.

I've always considered Clarion as the high side of the middle market (better than most, but not as good as Nak or even Eclipse).

You didn't mention Eclipse as a choise but I think their worth looking at. I also think they have some new systems being released in the US soon that will blow your socks off. Also, unlike Nak, Eclipse has US based support for repair & technical issues.

Just my .02

 

Eclipse is good, and normally I might agree, but the 9255 from Clarion sports those Burr-Brown DACs. Eclipse has no such offering.

 

The CD700 always was considered one of the best SQ HUs out there. I'm sure the 700 series 2 is just as good. I've always been a big supporter of Nak (have several HUs from them dating back to the original 700 ~ the TD700). When I bought by latest HU I highly considered the 700 -2 but went with an Eclipse 8053 instead (just to change things up a little). I really love the new Clarion Pro Audio stuff as well but for SQ I'd take the Nak.