tb1198

potential HU

I am still a noob when it comes to car audio related stuff, so I figured I would see if any of you guys can help.

I already have an old Pioneer CD player in my car, and I figured that sticking with the brand would make installation easier. I am planning on also installing an amp/subs.

Bottom line, is this good? Anyone know anything better (similar price range)?

01tibby

with any reciever the question of "is it good?" is dependent almost completely upon whether or not it has the features you are looking for. what do you plan to do with your system? whats wrong with your current hu?

as far as brand, it is good. wink1.gif

tb1198

my current HU no longer plays cds. When it does play cds, the sound is horrible. There is an intermittent "electronic fart" type noise, usually associated with the bass in any given song. See, I had a bad experience with a pothole and a full coke can (d@mn cupholder placement). A guy I know says that it sounds like the internal amplifier is screwed up.

so I need a new HU smile.gif

I like that the potential new one plays MP3/WMA files and I *think* that the "subwoofer crossover" is a good idea, but that could be all marketing (the info on the page).

Double_A

DUde, iv tried a few brands now and i can say that eclipse is by far the best. They sound awesome. Mine has all the features the one your looking at has. SO b4 you make your decision please check them out, you wont be dissapointed.

tibbytib

You should also look at Alpine. They make some of the best car audio equipment on the market. Before I bought a new HU, I went to Soundtrack and tested about 8 different HU's. I tested Pioneer, sony, clarion, RF, and JVC, and Alpine was by far the clearest and most refined sound. I actually could pick out instruments on the Alpine that I couldn't even hear with the other HU's. AND...it was a medium priced Alpine unit against higher end units of those other brands. It was the 9807 and now it happily resides in my dash! fing02.gif

spiceflow

Yes, that is a good choice. You can also look at similarly priced Alpine and Eclipse units. Panasonic also makes one in the same price range that is good, I forget the exact model number.

'treezy

Two of the best HU's for under 250 dollars are the Alpine CDA 9843 (or 9847) and the low-end Eclipse Hu's. (can't remember numbers).

If you are getting a Hu with mp3/wma capabilities and your current Hu does not have these options then your installation will not be plug n' play you will have to disconnenct all wires because the plug will be different (I upgraded my Alpine Hu to allow mp3's to play).

I would suggest the Alpine above, it's satellite/wma/mp3 ready and has all the options you'll need. Only thing I don't like about it is that you can only press the >> button to scan the radio instead of turning the knob one frequency at a time. But I never listen to the radio anyway...now that I have mp3.

I guarantee you you you will enjoy an mp3 Hu. They hold SOOOOOO much music on one CD. I love it. So much easier and nicer for road trips/long drives.

Only thing better than the Alpine CDA 9847 ($211.93) is a DVD player with touch screen navigation/controls. But that's 4x as much.

01tibby

ive always been a panasonic guy. cool.gif

supercow

that hu is nice, my brother has it and I'm actually the one that picked out for him. He picked it up and we installed it, all for < 200 dollars. smile.gif

tb1198

to clarify, is the "Alpine CDA-9847" similar to the alpine 9807?
I can't find a new alpine 9807 anywhere

tibby01-> any particular reason???

supercow-> which HU? the pioneer, alpine, or eclipse?