cd receivers

Airplay355

my stock radio in my subaru legacy died so i want to replace it but i dont know anything about car audio, im an HT guy and i feel lost in this forum. what are some nice *cheap* cd receivers that will sound nice with the stock speakers or any speakers i decide to upgrade to. i dont even know where to look other then best buy and CC. someone help a newbie

JDOGG

www.crutchfield.com
www.ikesound.com
Ikesound has really cheap prices, but if you order from crutchfield they give a wiring harness to install it yourself, for your specific vehicle.

PoweredByDodge

alpine 9807 is a nice midlevel deck in the 170 buck range that has some good features but is still simple and is a good idea for a "just replacing the radio" install.

Jstas

Well, do you want MP3 playback capability?

What qualifies as cheap?

Do you actually plan to upgrade or are you just looking for a replacement?

And PBD, that Alpine is more like 280 not 180 unless you get it from a discounter. The 9803 or 9805 would be closer to the 180 dollar price. Any one of those Alpines is a good choice though.

There is also the Clarion DB336MP head unit for 200 which plays MP3's. The DXZ735MP is 220 and has a few more features than the DB336MP.

There are a few from Kenwood. There is the KDC-322, KDC-422, KDC-3022, KDC-4022 and a few MP3 players too. They are the KDC-MP222 and the KDC-MPV622 and all are 200 dollars or less retail. I would highly recommend the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X469 or Kenwood KDC-MP522 or Kenwood Excelon KDC-X569 for between 230-300 dollars. They are very nice units with lots of room for upgrades like amps and subs and just solid, well-performing units overall.


There is also the Pioneer DEH-2500, DEH-3500 and DEH-P4500MP (MP3 player) all for less than 200 bucks and very nice units also.

Personally, I'd go with the Kenwoods as my first choice with the Alpines or Pioneers as my secondary choices. But if you can give more info about what your plans are, that would help alot.

Systems

Honestly, as long as you stick to Pioneer, Kenwood, Clarion or Alpine you really cant go wrong no matter which model you pick. They are all very good quality units and have good features. When it comes to the major name brands, I believe its just a matter of which looks coolest. They all are basicaly priced the same for the features. Id say go to Circuit City and find the one that looks the sharpest and in your price range and snag it. Unless youre building a high end system and need a lot of specific features, you wont go wrong.

Airplay355

id say cheap would be under $200 and i would atleast like the ability to play cd-r and rw, mp3 would be a nice bonus though. ill check out these units, but what about as far as the wattage goes? i know about stereo and ht receivers but i have no idea about the watts in a cd receiver...

Airplay355

http://www.etronics.com/product.asp?stk_code=kenkdcmp222


hows this one?

Jstas

Wattage in a head unit is really the same across teh spectrum. Most say anywhere from 35-60 watts per channel peak but RMS values are really 15-22 watts. So don't even bother with that. They are all the same. You can only fit so much in that tiny chassis. If you want serious wattage, you will need to get an external amplifier.

As far as the one you questioned, I believe that that was one of my suggestions. It's a nice unit that has a ton of options. Should be good for you.

I'm way too tired and anebriated (celebrating absolutly nothing Vinnie! ) to go into major detail. I will see what I am up for tomorrow. If I make it to work on time!

PoweredByDodge

Originally posted by Jstas
And PBD, that Alpine is more like 280 not 180 unless you get it from a discounter. The 9803 or 9805 would be closer to the 180 dollar price. Any one of those Alpines is a good choice though.

*flips open crotchfield book*

... i'll be damned.

well... its cuz i had the model # wrong.

thought the '07 was the 2nd rung bottom... but that's the '03 as u stated. for some reason i thought it went '05 / '07 / '11 / '13 / '15... seems i just forgot two other models -- woopsies.

the price was a guess based on "well their cheapest one is prolly 150, next cheapest is prolly 170 or so".

damn... that '03 looks like dog ****... wait.. that's actually better than my first deck was... i'll shut up now.

well i know is heresy but does anyone wanna look at panasonic?

stictly talkin practicality here -- if u're gonna keep the speakers u got, and u're jsut lookin for a solid deck that's gonna play mp3 / cd / cdrw / wma and whatever, and be cheap, and sound decent... then look at this one.... http://www.sounddomain.com/shop/item.pl?sku=PANCQDF583U

-25 x 4 rms power to your stereo speakers.
-a "tight" or a "Wide" setting for the bass boost... the tight setting is actually a pretty good sounding setting.
-plays mp3/wma/cd/cdr/cdrw
-2 yr warranty
-$159 and comes with the dash kit and wiring harness for FREE while its on special so u save like 30 bucks right there on top of it being a cheap deck.

i've got this one in the cadillac... i'm pleased with it actually... if we had some higher power speakers and larger amps i'd be even happier, but all things being equal, i think it performs as well as a cheap alpine/kenwood/ or pioneer would... but gives a few more features with a little price break.

if u end up going with anything else, then imma have to agree to go with kenwood... KW has been making the best "less expensive" decks when butted head to head with similarly priced stuff from other manufacturers. they use the same laser as alpine, and i never noticed a difference in RCA preout audio quality between the companies. pioneer however never quite lived up to my hopes for audio reproduction quality. they've got a ton of kick **** features and **** that i totally wish i had, but just basing it on the quality of signal shot outa the RCA outs... pioneer always held a bronze medal in that.