Who honestly makes the best head Unit? I want one that does just about everything. I do not know squat about aftermarket radios. DoubleDin receivers are kinda cool because you can get cassette players built in along with CD. I have lots of money invested on Books on tape, but then again, having a severe quality HU is a must. I'd like to spend under 300.00.
I have decided on infinity kappas for door speakers and sub.

I like the Alpine, pioneer, Blapunkt, and Eclipse stereos. I usually burn my music, MP3 is nice but not a must. Just good clean sound. Also a unit that will allow subwoofer control. I had no idea there where sooooo many options on the market. I have been out of touch with all of this for so long I cannot believe the leaps and bounds the manufactures have made. I just don't want to buy something and have someone say....hey you shouldv'e bought this model instead because it does this and this is really important. I know there are many things I am overlooking. Can anyone help?

 

Its really your own opinion to what you like the best. I recommend you just go to an audio place and listen to each head unit. It also depends on whether you are using the HU to push the speakers you already have, or if you're getting aftermarket speakers and amps. I see you do have a sub or are planning to get one, so have you replaced the speakers? A few of the important things to look for are outputs, CD signal-to-noise ratio, and FM sensitvity are a few I look for. I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong Anyways, that should help a little. Personally, I prefer the Pioneers, but its really up to you what you want. For under $300, that takes the Alpine outta the running I think. For $300, I would go with either Pioneer, Kenwood, or maybe Sony. Hope this helps

 

I'm partial to Pioneer as well. There are a bunch of great brands on the market... go play with them at your local Best Buy/Circuit City and figure out what's going to be best for you.

RP

 

I agree with what they said, however I'm partial to Kenwood. I've had nothing but good luck, and the MASK feature gets everyone talking... Just remember whatever you get, someone is going to say, "Oh, you should've got brand X"...

 

I am going to not have an amp on my infinity Kappa door speakers....I have them, just got em..just don't want to install them just yet. I want to do everything at once. Still looking for a Head unit and amp to drive the woofer.


I have been to six different stores. Car Toys, Best buy, Circuit City, Fryes, Ultimate Electronics. I have walked away feeling more and more confused.

Best prices I have found is at www.etronics.com. I got the Kappas there for 85.00 a pair and Ultimate Electronics wanted 149.00 for them. They also have an ALpine Alpine CDA-7995 XM Ready In-Dash CD Player/Ai-ChangerController for 359 and most of the stores want close to 500.00 for it...Cool......I just don't know if it what I need....some HU require amps for the speakers some don't ......some do this some do that.......

I'll look at the pioneers....seems to be popular.

Jeff

 

Personal preferences.. Pioneer and Kenwood. These are the only ones I've owned or care to own.

Alrighty, here we go. If you're looking at SPECS as in quality.. pretty much ever CD Player on the market has a signal-to-noise ratio high enough to where it wouldn't make a difference if 1 is slightly lower than the other. If you're looking at FM sensitivity.. measured in dBf (decibel femtowatts).. the lower the rating the better the reception. You might find one head unit has a slightly higher wattage output than another but they're all usually in the same RMS rating.. remember.. those MOSFET45 and 50 watt ratings are PEAK not RMS. (RMS is the important rating)

A features run down... MP3 VERY VERY convenient. No switching CD's every few minutes to get the song you want. You could put a whole collection of your Books on Tape collection onto 1 MP3 CD. The built in equalizer functions (even though they're usually only 3 band) are pretty handy.. they offer a bit more flexibility to the sound setting over just Treble and Bass adjustments. The looks of the head unit are important too.. pick one that is appealing to you obviously. But also get one that is well designed.. I prefer convenience. In my opinion, I hate it when there are a crap load of buttons all over the thing to where you're having a wreck trying to find the right button.

I'm running out of ideas at the moment.. what is it that's getting you confused? What features do you have questions about? Have you narrowed your choices down any by visiting the stores?

I would also suggest looking at the manufacturers website for each model your considering. This will give you a run down of every feature and spec you want to know about that model. Best Buy and the like don't ever give any kind of features run down other than some BS sales pitch.

 

I to am in the market for a head unit and like you do not want to spend an arm and a leg. I have had Kenwood in the past and they seemed to perform fine I cuurently have a Sony Xplod in my boat but Sony has changed the faces and I do not really care fro the newer models. Right now I am leaning towards a panasonic it has most of the features I want which are a 3 sets of RCA for F,R,Sub and they are at 5 volts so that gices nice clean signal to the amp. Here is the model I am thinking about at a really good price.

http://www.salescoaudio.com/productV...productID=3530

Richard

WHILE YOUR HERE CHECK OUT MY GALLERY:
https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=2479

 

I'm old fashioned and like a dial for my volume control. I also don't want any flashy displays. Some look like I'd need to pull the book out everytime to figure out how to adjust the bass.
I like the Pioneers. I also just installed my first Alpine in my new Screw, and I do love it.
I guess any head unit that doesn't come in a blister pack from K-Mart is going to be decent. Personal taste in looks is probably a bigger factor than all the gee-whiz controls of the units these days.