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That's for the internal amp. All internal amps are crappy.
What makes it better in my opinion is the built-in equalizer and the auto-time alignment.
All the manuals for various units are downloadable. So, find ones you like, read the manuals and decide.
If, however, you're not going to use external amps and you don't have good speakers there's probably no good reason to spend on the Pioneer: you probably won't notice any difference.
In general internal amps are crappy, but 1% is really not bad . But if you want true clean power (for discriminating listeners) then yes go with an external amp, it all depends how much money you want to pour into your car and then take the chance that some other person likes your setup and decides to take it, not for me. Make sure you hide it well, I've been on the end of being stolen, no fun let me tell you, damage to the car and the rage !!!
Now I have a Blaupunkt from the 90ies,I like the original look , the good sound and how they fit the center console.
before I got a Pioneer , really a good sound, evenwith original 10 speakers .
There are no visible signs of my install. From outside the car - even if I were to remove the cargo cover - you see nothing but stock speaker grills. Even once inside I would be that even 928-savvy folks won't find the amps or even notice the subtle signs that the speakers are not stock...unless they've seen my posts with pictures.
I noticed a few H/U with no CD when looking around a few days ago...my days as a non-streaming luddite are limited, I guess.
All I want is a top tier- CD/HD radio unit..don't require pandora or amazon or gps or any other stinkun thang. I have a Kenwood HD unit now, works well and the adjustable LED can line up fairly well with dashlights at night. Clean sound paired with Hans' speakers and a modest amp.
I know, that adds about as much value as the immediately preceding post. ;-)
Another endorsement of Hans' speakers, at least.
The car audio chick likes the kenwood 998 better than the pioneer.
Problem is with the new head units is there are hardly any buttons on the front for tuning and preset selection.
Somehow now there is an easier high tech way to tune or select presets? Or people nowadays don't surf radio stations anymore?
Completely agree. Luckily, there's a bunch of new models coming out with buttons back on the face. Tactile feedback is important. All the touchscreens are irritating as hell in new cars. Lately it feels as if all the car designers skipped their classes on interface design.
I've been using one (a JVC) in the '87.. its nice having hard buttons for changing source, track, folder, radio presets, random on/off/all, and more, plus it reads the ipod so I can play podcasts etc. through it and see titles on the radio display.
My next car audio purchase is probably a Pioneer MVH-X560BT, although I might have to remove the volume **** for prep and paint in satin black.
I actually don't mind the touch screen double-DIN interfaces, but they still need to go back to school on interface design. I have a double-DIN Alpine in my H3 which I like a lot, except some serious WTF choices in how you access tracks on a connected iPod. To be honest though, my head units are now primarily just pipes for my phone to play through, with the occasional OTA radio choice if there's a sporting event or something I want to hear. That Alpine doesn't even have a CD player, which is fine with me.
However, I'm not ready to hack apart the center console on the shark just yet, and I ordered a DEH-80PRS already. Not for the CD though...Bluetooth and good audio components (and a decent price) are what sold me. And it doesn't look too out of place as well...
Originally Posted by Hilton
Completely agree. Luckily, there's a bunch of new models coming out with buttons back on the face. Tactile feedback is important. All the touchscreens are irritating as hell in new cars. Lately it feels as if all the car designers skipped their classes on interface design.
I've been using one (a JVC) in the '87.. its nice having hard buttons for changing source, track, folder, radio presets, random on/off/all, and more, plus it reads the ipod so I can play podcasts etc. through it and see titles on the radio display.
My next car audio purchase is probably a Pioneer MVH-X560BT, although I might have to remove the volume **** for prep and paint in satin black.
Put a now older JVC Cameleon single din touch screen in my old rover. It sounded great and decoded surround 5.1. Bluetoothed for song play and phone from my iPhone well. Also did backup camera. Only gig was had to go two screens deep to select radio presets, it let you change them with a swipe gesture, but you had to go thru the presets in order. Didn't miss the buttons much because of the gestures. Make a circle with your finger to run the voluem up and down. The only button was on a corner for on/off/mute.
Considering putting one in the GTS. Did the graphics of a Porsche logo for the cameleon for Tony, maybe he can chime in with his impressions of the cameleon.
Kinda hoping someone comes out with a single din CarPlay unit.
FYI, I just purchased one of Han's originally recommended head units, a Nakamichi MB-VI. I found it as new stock at woofersetc.com. Price was $299 including shippping. Their website shows that have 8 or so left. I went with it mainly to be more sympatico with the orginal units that would have come with the car in the 80's.
As an update to the original post, there is a new option worth considering. The Kenwood Excelon KDC-X998 appears to be a well outfitted head unit, with an internal HD-radio tuner. It will not have as good an overall audio section as the Pioneer DEH-80PRS from digital sources, but may be a better option for those who mostly listen to radio. More info can be found here:
I will try and order one for testing, but initial impression from reading everything is that this is a good "bargain" unit available online for around $225.
11-14-2014, 09:23 AM
