new head unit

new head unit

im thinkin of replacing my head unit. what would be the best one for under 200$ that plays mp3s so far ive been lookin at hte pioneer 7600.

i have a no name brand. dual. and the screen went out and its bein replaced under warranty. in the mean time im using a jvc arsenal head unit i borrowed from my friend. and its a peice of shit. the no name one sounded AALLOOTTT better and it never skipped as the jvc skipped when i sneeze.

alpine cda 9827

x2

My review on this deck.
This is the deck that I got and I love it and would buy it again if it breaks. This deck is a must for mp3 lover. The reason why is because this deck loads up mp3 formated disc very quickly compared to other decks that I used and tested. mp3 load time is as quick as cd audio load time. And it dont take forever to skip to the next song on random mode either. Other decks take forever, like the panasonic deck that I had before. It took about 10sec to load up the first song when your start your car, and about 3-5sec to skip to the next song if its on random. That really kills the mood when you are listing to the music

It has a special thing called "media xpander" which enchance compressed data(mp3/wma) formated disc.

It has 3 pre-out: front, rear, and sub. I know you have a 4 channel amp or something and another amp for the sub. This would help you out a lot. Also it has 4v pre-out which gives you a really strong signal to your amp. And since you have all amps powering your speakers, you can turn off the internal amp built inside the deck to give out a stronger signal to your amps for better sound.

It has minimum EQ adjustment on the deck itself. Not as good as pioneer but enough to do the job. The EQ that alpine use is called "bass engine" it can fine tune your bass and your treble.


other than that, everything else is just icing on the cake.
I got this deck off ebay for about $200 brand new shipped.

how would u compare this deck to the pioneer 7600, i might also be lookin at the 8600 because i can get a deal on it for 250$.

I'm sure someone here has that deck. Personally I hve the alpine CDA-9827 and I love it. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all if you get it.

Is it the DEH-P7600MP or the DEQ-7600? I never used the 7600 but I used the P7600MP. I think the that the p7600mp is the newer 04 model one while the 7600 is the newer one.
I only played around with the buttons of the p7600mp at the store. I didnt have a disc at the time to check the mp3 load time. The p7600mp was a really nice deck, many many features to it. The thing that I like best about it is the ez-EQ that they have built into it. Its really not "easy" but you are able to adjust the function to your liking.

Im not sure about the older 7600 but the newer p7600mp has a lower pre-amp power. It was only 2v or around there. With a lowe volt, you have to ur up your gain higher to get more sound, which leads to lower sq. But I really doubt many people can tell the difference in sq with 2v vs 4 v preout.

I never used any of the 8600 decks. It looks like they are almost the same as the 7600s decks but with more flash graphics, and more ways to fine tone your sound. And it has a 4v preout.

The pioneer has more flashy graphics on it. If you want something more flashy get the pioneer, if you dont get the alpine. You cant go wrong with either.

its weird i have a no name deck now.. its www.dualav.com the xdm6800 and the sound quality on it is great. all my speakers sound great my subs sound great. now that its bein repolaced under warranty im usin my friends jvc arsenal series and everything about it is bad. the sound quality. it skips, the reception, doesnt eplay mp3s. i hate it.

Dual product sucks, they are flea market stuff, and same with best buy junk. If you like that, you might want to try raptor HU at kragen for about $60 for mp3 unit

i have a kenwood kdc something im not sure which model exactly but its an mp3/satelite radio/regular cd player and i love it.. sound is clear and it has many different filters and adjustments.

yea the dual isnt hte best...takes a hwile to load songs and hte lcd display went out....but i have my speakjers and subs hooked up to amps. and everything sounded better onm the dual then on the jvc. i bought it back when my knowledge of car audio was little.

If you do replace your stock one, I am looking to buy a stock CD player/Radio from a 03= Corolla. Let me know.