Looking for a new head unit, audio advice, etc.

Discussion in 'Modifications & DIY how-to' started by Alex, Apr 24, 2006.

  1. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    I'm in the process of thinking of plans for the summer and general ride enhancements. I am looking at audio right now, any idea on to what head unit I should look into?

    Basically, I am looking for something with 7+ band eq, I currently have a clarion which is great; however, it only has a 3 band eq and I want more out of my system.Front speakers are Infinity 65.5cs, rears are 42.5i, sub is an image dynamics 10 v2, amps are JBL 300.1 and JBL 80x4. Unfortunatly, the infinity's dont really pull as much mid bass as I would like to hear. However, I am looking to a new HU first to play around with the current setup even more. Its either that or an external eq. Of course, if I carried it even further, I would be looking at a new headunit, rainbow speakers for your fronts, and a good 100x2 front amp.

    Cheers,
     
  2. GTscoob

    GTscoob Black is Beautiful

    I'm a big Alpine HU whore. If you get one with Bass Engine Pro it has all the bells and whistles to keep you busy all day long tuning it. It's only got a 5 band EQ but it sounds really good. The newer ones allow you to set up the equalizer, crossover, and time delay settings online, then burn them to a CD to upload onto the HU (it's called I-personalize if you check it out on their site).

    Eclipse head units have always been top notch as far as SQ tuning goes. They're all just too busy looking for me.

    Have you looked into getting an aftermarket equalizer to run between your head unit and amps? I know a couple companies make DIN sized equalizers.
     
  3. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    I havent done much research yet on single din EQ's but its on my list.
     
  4. bigb996

    bigb996 teh Wannabe Mod

    get the alpine 9855 head unit....its got everything for eq, as well as time correction to make the sound better for the driver. Could always do a double din though im very satisfied with mine although it has to have a seperate audio unit to do the extra audio settings.
     
  5. jt money

    jt money 350hp mmm mmm Good! Supporting Member

    in dash i would sugest the
    Kenwood KGC-9044
    http://www.crutchfield.com/S-UkX6RsTLc14/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=113KGC9044


    BZE4P Blitz indash 4 band parametric eq
    http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/product.php?productid=5171

    or if you can find one the coustic rta 33
    these arent made any more but they had a 1/3 octave eq in dash and was a very nice unit back in the day. the problem was there was a 2k price tag on it. you can get them now for less than 300 if you can find them.

    my personal sugestion though is the AudioControl EQX Pre-Amp Equalizer/Crossover
    http://www.uscaraudio.com/cgi-bin/usstore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=EQL
     
  6. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Wow, sweet jesus, that kenwood is impressive.
     
  7. Trey

    Trey Active Member

    The Alpine 5-band eq also uses a 3-way 24db crossover. They sound great. I'd opt for the newer ones that are HD-Radio compatible. It's free radio anyway, might as well enjoy digital CD quality from the local radio stations. All of them are already broadcasting it.
     
  8. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    What I dislike about alpine is that they require an adapter to use an aux input.
     
  9. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    I still think that your current speakers will sound excellent with some dynamat; improving the mid-bass is exactly what it does best. You'll be surprised!
     
  10. Trey

    Trey Active Member


    No not really. you know that pic I toss around with the TV in the Sti. The head unit already has an aux inut. They all do. If you want to connect an iPod you have to buy a $30 cable (new headunits). My headunit which is older did require the $99 iPod adapter but that has been discontinued.

    I suggest you go to Alpine's website and look at an owners manual in pdf format. Read up on the aux input.
     
  11. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    I was just browsing their accessories and saw the aux input cable was not rca to mini jack rather, something else to rca. Then you had to get the rca to mini jack.
     
  12. GTscoob

    GTscoob Black is Beautiful

    Thats probably the Ai-net connector. It's a proprietary connector Alpine uses to connect all of their accessories (CD changers, DVD changers, Ipod, and I think some amp controls with their amps). The aux input doesnt cost much and then you can wire it up wherever you'd like, like your glovebox or something.
     
  13. Alex_ATL

    Alex_ATL Member

    you could always consider my pioneer if you can stomach the colors

    6.5v preouts, 13band equalizer, all the time correction and 3 way crossover netowrk and junk you need :)
     
  14. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    i freakin' love my Kenwood. Has to be an Excelon, though. the way you can control the sub is just sick. i'll show you my set-up when we meet up with the camera. plays my ipod, too. go check out the factory store at 85 & 285. i got mine for like $220 i think.
     
  15. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    More importantly though, I am looking for a smaller 4 channel amp that does around 100 x 4. This way I can get the 80-90 to the fronts that they want, and I can cut the power to the rear down to 45-50 like they want. This will help improve the sound overall tremendously. Size is a concern, I would like it to fit under the front seat (pass.); however, if its not going to happen, I really see no problem in building an amp board and moving it to the trunk. This just makes the trunk even more useless unfortunately.
     
  16. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    You know, is there really any reason to even HAVE rear speakers? Might be better off with a 2-channel amp, or maybe if you get a 4x100 bridge 2 channels and use for the sub.
     
  17. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    I could, the sub needs around 300, not much more or less. I mean, the box isnt ported so it could handle over 300, but 300 is its optimal efficiency range. I did consider that, and just pull the rears and sell them. We'll see what happens, it all depends really where I can get deals. I dont care much for new vs used, warranties would be nice.
     
  18. bigb996

    bigb996 teh Wannabe Mod

    i would do a rockford 4 channel, or infinity 4 channel alex. they will put like 115x4 so you get that power you want. As far as radios go, pioneer makes a good radio however, they are not as user friendly imo. The kenwood series is very good as i just sold mine to get the alpine doube din. The kenwood 532u has a usb port on it if thats something you might be interested in. Some even have built in g metters and hp estimaters(if thats a word).
     
  19. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Interesting info brian.
     
  20. Trey

    Trey Active Member

    I'm using a PPI 50x 4 amp in three channel mode. Channels 1+2 are running stereo for the fronts and channels 3+4 are bridge mono to the DVC 6 ohm sub. It sounds great.

    Also, that plug you saw on the Alpine site costs $15 retail.


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2006
  21. sti4u2nv

    sti4u2nv Member

    I believe pioneer has one of if not the best fm tuners on the market. I find that the built in antenna we have limits the reception, so the tuner was a huge factor for me. Of course if you don't listen to the radio much, that isn't an issue for you. I have this HU

    http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_4039_152014395,00.html

    It was also the highest powered tuner I could find. 60W peak per channel is really good if you don't end up with a separate amp.
     
  22. canadajase

    canadajase New Member

    The DEH-P80MP deck is a really nice lots of features and clean sound. I think that the alpine uses a Burr Brown Dac tho. So if you want super good sound quality the alpine would be the best bet. But your in a car are you really going to hear the perfection of the 2.. probably not.
     

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