Head Unit Recommendations

KrazyMofo24

My stereo was stolen and need to get it replaced. I wanted to know if there any that you guys recommend for sound quality I am not too interested in equalizers mainly want something with a DAC and has bluetooth.

custopper30

if it was a single din with a space underneath it, I would recommend getting a double din as they look like regular unit in a car.

KrazyMofo24

That's a good point. I just have room for a single din I'll just make sure to take off the face. What do you guys think of the Alpine CDE-147? http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/cde-147bt/

EricFromMich

Ive used two of the 147 so far and like them allot. I still thing the cda-117 is one of the best radios,with in price reason in a while.

KrazyMofo24

Thanks Eric I think I'm heading in the right direction. I need to make sure they have the burr brown dacs and still would prefer bluetooh since I use Spotify and would like for the phone to utilize the dacs.

custopper30

Alpine is a great brand, you wont be disappointed with them

WLDock

That Alpine is going to be hard to beat given its low price. I like the Pioneer decks: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/CD-Receivers particularly the DEH-80PRS for a budget SQ based system but its more money and has features that you may not be interested in. The DEH-X9500BHS seems more in line with what you are after in comparison to that Alpine...but one would have to do a side by side to know what will work.

Check out both decks if you can and pick the one that feels and sounds best to you.

KrazyMofo24

Thanks WLDock I have been doing some research this last couple hours and been reading about the DEH-80PRS. Also noticed a couple threads on here about it and it does appear to be the one I want to go with. The Alpine CDA-117 also looks like a good option but would really like the bluetooth. Amazon has the DEH-80PRS for about $260 with Prime shipping so most likely will be going with this one.

Thanks again for your guy's input.

WLDock

That's such a great deck for $260 you can't ask for more! Dual USB, SD/SDHC Memory Slot, 24 Bit Burr-Brown DAC, beefed up power supply, Full DSP w/ L/R independent 16 Band EQ, Auto EQ, 3-way crossover, Time alignment, Pandora, Bluetooth, App mode, Detachable Face Security, Remote, etc


One would have to spend a TON($1,349 vs. $350 msrp) and jump up to their Stage 4 deck the DEX-P99RS to really get anything more.

I've used their older P9 combo, P800, P880 decks but plan to use a 80PRS myself when I do another system for my car. Just trying to get the HT together....I sold off all my great gear when I moved to buy new home stuff....but i need a car system BAD!

KrazyMofo24

I just ordered it today and I'm looking forward to hearing what it's going to sound like. I have been disappointed with the way my system sounds its mostly my fault for not getting it installed professionally. I suck with stuff like that my door panels need dynamat I get a lot of vibrations from the bass and I need to mount my tweeters to a better location just have the coaxial setup. The pioneer is replacing an Alpine cda-9851 and my speakers are sr5250s with an Alpine MRP amp I forget the model. Anyways I'm thinking this will be a big improvement and if it is Ill have faith in fixing my other issues otherwise just going to give up on car audio.

custopper30

Let us know how it works!

Ern Dog

I have the Pio DEH-80prs and it is Awesome. Guaranteed you'll love it. My favorite part is the auto eq feature and that it sounds great with my iphone because it by-passes the iphone dac and uses its internal ones.

KrazyMofo24

I installed it last night and so far it sounds great a big improvement. My next concern is fixing the bass in my car which is awful. A lot of rattling and maybe distortion? I'm not sure I just know its pretty bad to the point where I avoid bass heavy songs. I'm going to check the right door it's definitely worse on that side I may need to get a replacement woofer from Polk.

KrazyMofo24

After reading more about dynamat and watching some YouTube on before videos a lot of the rattling sounds like what I'm experiencing. I just ordered the door panel kit and plan on installing it this weekend. Definitely looking forward but worried about installing it. The pioneer has made a big difference enough to consider doing the dynamat. So far happy with the purchase.

txcoastal1

DSkip wrote: »

PS: Look out for a get-together soon at my place. I'll start a thread about it here soon.

I'm still going to crash it :razz:

KrazyMofo24

Thanks I'll keep an eye out its definitely been a long time. I'll check out the active crossover network I haven't really read what it does yet I think I need my speakers bi amped for it to work? If so I might run some additional wires the alpine is 4 channels I have it bridged right now. The jl w6 isn't being used right now because I need to repair the surround on it which ill do later but with the way the bass sounds right now a sub is the last thing I need.

WLDock

KrazyMofo24 wrote: »

After reading more about dynamat and watching some YouTube on before videos a lot of the rattling sounds like what I'm experiencing. I just ordered the door panel kit and plan on installing it this weekend. Definitely looking forward but worried about installing it. The pioneer has made a big difference enough to consider doing the dynamat. So far happy with the purchase.

If you really want to go at it...get a test disc with different test tone frequencies or frequency bands and play the tracks and listen to what vibrates in the car a what freqs. In my youth in building my first SQ focused system I did this very thing and used foam, matt material, polly fill, and duct tape to tame my old '86 Ford Escort GT. I had an Alpine deck, Boston Acoustics Pro Series components.Sub, and PPI amps! While it was not as effective as using the products that are available today, it made a difference because I targeted the areas that were the MOST excited by certain frequencies.

So armed with a test dics, modern dampening, time, patience, and elbow grease you can calm down the resonance in your car...the more time, money, and smarts you throw at it the better it will get. I have listened to some comp cars ages ago that were as quiet as a modern Lexus!

KrazyMofo24

Good idea WLDock I might end up doing that in the future. I installed the dynamat yesterday morning and it made a huge difference. I would say 90% of the vibrations/rattling is gone as in the majority of the songs that I listen even the ones that would give me trouble are now playable. I was playing around with the high pass filter last week before the dynamat and even at 200hz it would still have rattle/vibrate on certain songs. Now I have it at down to 63hz and I did notice when I turned it up to a high volume on a couple songs it did vibrate/rattle on some songs but the frequency of this happening is much much lower.

I am very pleased with the improvement I wish I done this years ago there is still some tweaking to do but I like how it's sounding now.

Dragolith

KrazyMofo24 wrote: »

That's a good point. I just have room for a single din I'll just make sure to take off the face. What do you guys think of the Alpine CDE-147? http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/cde-147bt/

I have a Alpine CDA-7863 and it has been going strong for 7 years, i have also owned kenwood, JVC & Pioneer premier and all those decks went bad within 3 years! So if i was you id go with a brand that is known to last which is Alpine, they might cost a lil more but the quality out weighs the price!