new headunit

[00mustang 0]

Alright dont have much cash but what are some of the best headunits out there that are around $200. Please tell me why it would be a good choice.

[fuzzyping 0]

There are plenty of great Pioneer and Alpine HU's under $200. What features are you looking for?

[dopey 0]

I can only give general advice on HU's...not much experience with the latest/greatest.

Kenwood, Alpine, Panasonic, Clarion, and Eclipse, are generally regarded as the best performers without getting all crazy on Nakimichi or Denon.

EDIT: I knew I was forgetting one......Pioneer. Loved the sound of the ones I've heard.

JVC imVho is the best "cheap" brand...Your dollar will go further with JVC, though they do have some outstanding stuff. Sony is ok...not good, but ok...Sony has some interesting features...I explain more below.

Internal amp power is not truthful...50x4 will NEVER happen *cleanly*. Don't even pay attention to this spec. You should be more concerned with "pre-outs". You want 3 sets, with at least 2v/ea.

Internal crossovers/EQ's/and other sound enhancements allow you to more acurately "shape" your sound, but they are expensive. If you want all the bells and whistles, a HU from a year or two ago should be 75%-50% of new MSRP. Of course, this varies with original MSRP, and availability. You do NOT need the latest/greatest "EQ+S.U.B.systemQ" BS on a deck to make it great. Stick with the mentioned brands and EVERY HU will sound great.

If you download a lot of music, MP3 playback is probably something you want to look into. Along the same lines, a large number of Sony decks have USB ports on the front. Many offerings from other brands have USB's on the back.

You'll also need an adapter to hook it up to your car, until you get another amp for the front speakers. It's only $20, so that's not a big deal...

You don't have the Mach audio system do you? If you do, you may want to buy all of the components you can, then install them at once, because you can't just changeout the factory HU...well you CAN, but it's a ROYAL PITA. Much easier to wait until you've accumulated the pieces, and do all the work at once.

So if you have the Mach system, just add an amp and subs, if not throw a new HU in there too.

g/l

Edited July 19, 2007 by dopey

[TheNewSon 0]

All I will say is that I have a Clarion, and I wouldn't buy another one. It's a solid unit, but I just haven't been impressed overall with the feature set it has. Plus they all have very weak internal amps.

-C

[lakaiguy 0]

Kenwood X591

Pioneer DEH-690UB

[Breakjunki 0]

look into JVC for 200 or under they havea few models that have 3 sets of preamps, burr brown, 24 dac, ipod conections, and alot of good feature. Also any of the higher pioneer, the 6900 and above.

[fuzzyping 0]

Kenwood X591

Pioneer DEH-690UB

If you don't need the USB support, stick with the 590UB or 5900iB and save some dollars.