Clarion

Serendipity

Anybody here have experience with Clarion head units? How is the sound quality? How do they compare to other brands like Alpine, Kenwood, JVC, etc.?

Jstas

I haven't heard anything recent but Clarion was pretty good stuff for a while. The entry level stuff was often compared to the bottom line Pioneer Premier and old Sony Mobil ES at the time. I got to play with one around '04 and I was still quite impressed especially for the price. They don't have the market saturation here that they used to anymore though. But Clarion always was a decent brand.

I had Clarion 6x8" plates in my Taurus and I really liked them. I liked the signal processors I had from them too and the few people I knew with Clarion decks raved about them. The pop out DVD screen head units they had were very nice too. Now though, I don't know. Not many local places carry them.

MacLeod

Not going to be a sound quality difference other than their different tuning features (crossovers, EQ's and such).

Other than that, they make very solid pieces. Well built and free of noise and they usually offer plenty of features and look pretty sharp too.

Serendipity

Thanks, I will do some research on Clarion then...

Jstas

This head unit they have had in the lineup for a while. Not this exact model but similar models. The top-of-the-line stuff they have has always been something to drool over. They are not a U.S. company though and we don't get the absolute top line models. We used to but not anymore. The top end models always ranked up there with Denon, Nakamichi, Alpine and so on. But this is one of those models that competes on that level.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2008/audio/source_units/cd/DRZ9255/us-en-product-pf_1172385113235.html



But it's like $1400-$1500 and probably worth every penny. Good luck finding someone that carries it though.

Jstas

Yeah, Clarion is Japanese.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/company/profile/overview2/index.html

Jstas

Oh and yeah, Clarion has a DRZ9255 model like the one about but they also have a Special Edition with fancier specs and a price tag pretty close to $2K if not just over.

But it compares with the fancypants Denon headunit the Polk Audio guys have hooked up in the sound room that we got to see the SR's whomp on the 801's in.

Jstas

I spoke too soon! Wanted to see if I could find it easily and that headunit above is available at OnlineCarStereo for $899.00! They are likely not an authorized dealer which is why the price is so low but that is the headunit at about a 30% discount from MSRP.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17445

Serendipity

Wow that looks like a nice head unit!!

KevinLWhitaker

I have had this unit:



for almost 5 years and in several different vehicles. The sq is excellent but as Mac said, once you get into the mid to upper range of all the major brands that will be true of all head units. I really like having a parametric eq and most importantly time alignment. I doubt I could use a head unit without TA in the future. I was able to demo this unit before purchasing so I had the advantage of knowing its capabilities. I recommend Clarion equipment but would also advise that you ensure you get a unit with the features you need.