whats a good head unit

midnighthunder89 · Post by **midnighthunder89** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:05 pm

any suggestions on a new head unit for the safari? also does anyone think that this will help the awful sound in the car or do i need new speakers all around? :-k

ds99 · Post by **ds99** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:21 pm

New speakers are always a good thing.
After a few years the stock ones just turn to junk.
I personally like the Sony head units, they are clear and have a sturdy construction on the cd drive.
I've also used Pioneer head units, but the volume level seems lower even though the rating per channel is the same as the Sony (52wx4)

TechSys · Post by **TechSys** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:31 pm

Budget?

I'll be installing a JVC kd-AVX1 which is in the Beretta right now. Haven't had any problems with it since I bought it in Feb. 2006 and I've been pretty darn hard on it.

It's a little on the expensive side, but for a van it'd be put to good use with the rearview camera capability.

Also, change out the speakers. You'll notice a pretty good differance (better) in sound just by doing that.

Just my .02

skippy · Post by **skippy** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:09 pm

Depending on what you like for sound & durability . for about $150 to $200 dollars you can get a kenwood or alpine indash cd headunit . personally i like kenwood for great sound adjument capabilities . alpine has a bass boost feature which alot of people like . but both types are well worth the money in my opinion.
speakers are allways a best bet to replace , stock speakers unless you have like a bose factory system , are basicly junk . so anything you put in is gonna be better than stock.

i have a kenwood cd headunit & kenwood 6x9 three ways in the dash & kenwood 5 1/4 inch 2 ways in the back doors & stock speakers in the pillars . I do need a little more bass in the back of the van cuz the back speakers are so small . but i;m thinking a bazooka tube in the back will take care of that problem .

this is just my opinion mind you , i'm sure others will have thiers .

brianj · Post by **brianj** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 6:23 pm

you asked for the best. The best I have ever seen, had, or heard was a pioneer premier p1r. As I recall it was dry, meaning you have to run amps.

I was pretty happy with every alpine I've owned, and probably would buy another.

I had a blaupunkt casablanca, and it had outstanding tuner capabilites (I had shaved the antenna and used a cable antenna tucked in the headliner, and it was awsome)

Currently I am running a lanzaar in the camaro, it's junk. I have an aiwa in the boat, and really like it. It has a nice eq and h-bass settings. Best of all it has an aux input for the ipod.

the van is pure stock, eventually I plan to replace the speakers, and possibly add a sub with amp. I will probably keep the factory head for awile at least.

bri

astrosafari · Post by **astrosafari** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:03 am

Alpime all the way....

trybe13 · Post by **trybe13** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:55 pm

midnighthunder89 wrote:any suggestions on a new head unit for the safari? also does anyone think that this will help the awful sound in the car or do i need new speakers all around? :-k

The only way to answer your question about the head unit is to give a price range of how much you are willing to spend. Any h/u in the 5-800 dollar range is going to be better than anything you can get for 1-200 dollars.
And as stated previously the best way to have better sound on a budget is to go with aftermarket speakers. I would be willing to almost guarantee that any name brand speaker in the 100 dollar price range is going to sound better than stock.

midnighthunder89 · Post by **midnighthunder89** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:48 pm

ummm price thats something i think about i just want the best one for the money...i dont want the screen that flips out or anything but something i could plug ipod into would be nice.

brianj · Post by **brianj** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:55 pm

that being said, the alpine is the way to go if you want to control the ipod. The Aiwa is the way to go for price. I gave something like $120.00 for mine about 2 years ago. I am unsure of other reputable brands that have front inputs.

My Lanzaar has a front input, but it is junk. I am pretty sure dual has front inputs as well, but would not consider that a reputable brand.

bri

midnighthunder89 · Post by **midnighthunder89** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:57 pm

anyone know anything about this unit...JVC KD-HDR1

brianj · Post by **brianj** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:15 pm

This looks like this is the cheapest place around. Not a bad price
http://www.hotbuyselectronics.com/item_ ... _id=112724
It seems you will need an additional adapter for the aux input though. I found it for about 35.00.

I am not familiar with HD radio, as we're pretty radio sucky around here. (unless you're an am junky and are familiar with wowo from back in the day) but it sounds like a cool feature, I would just worry that the FM tuning capabilites would suffer due to the added bonus of HD.

bri

TechSys · Post by **TechSys** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:10 pm

That's not a bad price for that unit at all.

The Pros:

2 pairs of preouts
1 subwoofer preout
MP3/WMA Compatible with ID3/WMA Tag
HD radio.

The cons:

Doesn't list preout voltage, probably 2volt. Nope, jsut checked the user manual, it's 2.5volt
Subwoofer output is 2.0volt

The cons are not a bad thing, but I like 5volt at minimum. that's probably just my opinion though. Hell, I'd probably get this one if I didnt have the one I got already.

midnighthunder89 · Post by **midnighthunder89** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:31 pm

i dont really know anything about them i just went to crutchfields and looked at some and the reviews and it seamed like most liked it what are the preouts for why do you prefer 5 volt.

TechSys · Post by **TechSys** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 3:30 am

The higher the RCA output of the headunit, the less you have to turn up the input gain on the amplifier. Makes it a little easier to match the input of the amplifier to the output of the headunit.

A lot of SQ (sound quality) competitors like having the higher RCA outputs. Suppsoedly it gives cleaner sound. It also helps to reduce the amount of noise in the system.

2volt outputs are not bad. As a matter of fact, most headunits are 2volt.

I prefer highout outputs so I don't have to turn the input gain up so much. A 2volt input to the amplifier will probably make the amplifer input gain have to go about halfway up to reach full potential. 5volt, I barely have to crack open the input gain.

Jared · Post by **Jared** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:44 am

Sorry for dragging up an old thread here, but I wanted to pass along a tip that saved me a TON of $$:

If you like Kenwood equipment, I know of a dealer that offers wholesale pricing. I happen to be local to this dealer (San Diego, CA), and have been a regular walk-in customer for some time. I do NOT have any affiliation with them; I am just smitten by the pricing they offer. For the record, I suggest only NEW equipment, NOT refurbished (due to warranty - you get 1 yr on new and only 30 days on refurbs).

http://www.salectronics.com

This post is not intended as an advertisement, but as a tip to save some of you folks some real $$. If an admin or moderator sees this post as an advertisement, please feel free to delete it.

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whats a good head unit

whats a good head unit

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