Pioneer x Kenwood x Alpine
 

Dears,

I'm trying to choose the best NAV option for my 370z. The three options I have are:

1st) Alpine W505/P1 (the attractive feature on this one is the WVGA screen with 1.15 million pixels display)
2nd) Pioneer Z110BT (easy access and beautiful screen with Garmin GPS engine)
3rd) Kenwood DNX9960

What do you think that is the best option in terms of sound and video quality/price?

Thanks!

I would go with the alpine for a first choice and the kenwood as second. I like alpine and there audio and picture quality and I trust them, and everyone is using kenwood right now.

Yeah... I love Alpine as well... what about a 12" subwoofer (solo baric) + a rockford fosgate amplifier pushing it? Any ideas about a high quality sound project?

Also, is there too much difference between the Alpine W505 and the W505/P1?

Thanks!

Yeah, the P1 is the nav unit, which accounts for the price difference.

1) love alpine things however the only reason i would not get this unit is bc of the 2v pre-amp out.
2) again love pioneer but as far as traffic data this unit uses msn direct which will be discontinued in 2010 and not to mention poor coverage. But if your area is covered by all means
3) I am going to get the kenwood. 5v pre amp out, built in nave traffic module with lifetime membership.

Alpine is not the company it once was, stay awy, they focused their products around the ipod market and have steered away from SQ. Id go with pioneer or kenwood in that order. I like that the pioneer is all voice activated. Im also not a fan of teh alpine navigation not being integrated and having to be docked

ok thanks a lot guys... any suggestion for the amp + sw?

what are your budget and goals for the subwoofer, its unrealistic to make a recommendation without them

Well, I would say that I would not like to spend more than $2,200 for everything. I'm thinking about the Pioneer Z110BT with a JL 12" sub factory-enclosure (CVS112RG-W6v2), powered by a RF P700-1bd. The mid size and tweeters I'm not sure which could be the best option. Any ideas?

I agree X10……

^^^ And when you seek car audio advise……….look at what the person (who is giving the advice) has owned, what they are driving and the type of stereo they own now!! Just saying……..

I have owned pioneer and alpine and I literally wrote a thread up on how bad pioneer has become with there quality. Alpine is not just sticking with ipod integration they have plenty of great head units and products out there. Also it depends on which alpine head unit you buy weather or not it has built in nav or not.

Thread
DONE With Pioneer

For me when you have to worry about winning noise and how to fix it with a brand new head unit that is not right even if you installed the head unit properly.

You would never have to worry about noise if you installed it properly. The onlyway you would get that noise is hot swapping the unit or not using a better ground ( as recommended in the owners manual) Ive installed 20 -30 pioneer head units and never had a problem. Same goes with kenwood and Pioneer

I won't argue mike I know it was installed righ and never hit swapped wires. That's nit all that is wrong with them the CDs stop ejecting displys fails excetra.

I agree with you speedfreak………..and if someone is going to bash Pioneer, at least have the intelligence to use spell check……just saying

Your gonna eventually have issues with head units no matter what brand. Big just likes to bash pioneer. I actually have an alpine in my vehicle right now but the fact is Pioneer is on top of the market with the double din( Z110BT) and single din (DEX-P99RS) head units. There is no single din out that can comapre to the P99

I agree with you speedfreak………..if he would only bash Pioneer with a minimum level of intelligence, some people might actually believe his useless opinion!

So just because I have installed and had to trouble shoot pioneer head units makes my opinion useless. I think you need to re think your argument.

I voice my opinion because I have seen how their products fail.

Guys,

Finally I got my NAV system. I went with a Pioneer due to some issues with the Alpine. The integration with the iPod/iPhone is poor and it takes a lot to get a response from those devices. The necessity to buy a navigation module is also something I don't like since the P1 has not been reviewed in a positive manner. On the other hand, the Kenwood looks complicated to handle and also the scrolling feature have delays that I also evaluated as significantly cons. Pioneer has a good quality, built-in navigation with a nice interface and fair price.

Thanks for your advices!

Now, I've been looking also for a subwoofer (probably a JL 12W6V2) powered by a JL 500/1v. Please, I need some advices on the midbass/tweeters kit and the amp to power up those woofers. Do you think that replacing the subwoofer by a 6" on the doors could save me space and still keep a good power/quality? I'm looking for SQ and not SPL.

You should do a follow-up post (with photos) about your experiences with Pioneer after it’s up and running!

Hi Wicked,

For sure I'll post some videos or pics as soon as I get the unit in place. I'm still waiting for designing the midbass and subwoofer so I should leave the car to get everything installed together. I didn't even received the NAV unit so far since I placed the order with Sonic Electronics yesterday.

Thanks for your interesting.

It will help the 370Z owners who have been misguided and misinformed about the quality of Pioneer head units. Having a forum member who actually owns a 370Z and has a new Pioneer head unit installed can honestly validated it's pros and cons. I am interested in your review……good or bad!!

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...tml#post500155
Have had mine for almost a month now and love it, ran into one issue with a wire/solder not holding, quick fix and like new. I am not running a bunch of add ons (rear view camera, XM, etc.) but GPS is good when I use it, love using my USB drive for music (have not tested iPod setup). My friend runs the Z110 in his Civic Si with aftermarket amp, speakers, subwoofer, etc. and it works fantastically, and I know JB-370z likes his a lot (member on this forum who helped install mine).

The unit will get even better later this month or next when the Z120 comes out, the Z110 & Z120 use the same hardware but different software. The Z110 will be able to purchase the software upgrade if you want to get all the new features. :D

Actually I've already had a chance to handle the Z110 in a 370z and I'm pretty sure that's the best way to go. About quality, I would say that Alpine W505 is awesome complying with all the technical requirements in regards to SQ. The screen is pretty clear, with an amazing resolution and takes less than 10 seconds to boot up completely. The main cons are:
1st) The navigation is not integrated so you need to get a P1 or the other module available and those nav modules have been reviewed as a crap device, taking too long to get a route, presenting wrong directions etc.
2nd) The iPod/iPhone integration for me is a must and it should work as fast as possible since I'm a heavy user on these Apple toys. The W505 takes too long to get a response from the Apple's and some bugs like scrolling down a list is also cumbersome. The price is fair but when you add the nav module it goes near the $900 (exactly what I paid for my Z110) so that was my second option.
The Kenwood 9960 is nice. Garmin built-in with a nice interface but takes some time (10-15 seconds) to boot up and for me this is an inconvenient since I don't drive long ways in a daily-basis needing something fast! The features are kinda complicated to figure out and to handle when driving, requiring some practice to get used to it. This unit is expensive and can get around $1,400.
Last and final option is the gorgeous Avic Z110BT. Voice command works pretty well, the desktop looks like Windows and is very customizable having the NAVTEQ already integrated and MSN ready with lots of POIs available, the SD Card option is another thing that I take in consideration (Alpine doesn't have it) and the bluetooth works as expected. The price is about $900 - $1,000 which is for me the best option in terms of cost/benefits.

I will upgrade my overall system to a JL Subwoofer 12W6V2 and a Focal 6.5" Polyglass 165 kit so it should be take a month to get ready powered by JL Audio 600HD 4-channel and 500/1v2. I'll post videos as soon as I finish it.

Thanks!

Sounds like an installation error……maybe you should find a good installer!

Hmm reminds me of a guy that got banned here a while back that kept saying " just saying"

Either way I am a good installer so no reason to try to argue with you.

:icon18: :bowrofl:

Never had issues with anything pioneer here! Just sayin...

I’m looking forward to “rockhounds” opinion after it’s installed by a good installer! Just sayin….

Ya reminds me of that old guy we had always stood up for pioneer. Hmm :nutswinger:

bigaudiofanat... I have to tell you that I'm a fan of Alpine and I almost bought the W505... but you have to agree that the iPod/iPhone integration is lacking some upgrade to be more effective.

The old guy who drives an old Civic?

^^ What a minute…..you drive an old Civic!

Alpine had a good single din unit until the DEX-P99rs was released!

Having to dock a nav is a pain in the *ss!! and I agree with you about the iPod/iPhone integration.

Audio system installed today guys. It's beating up... the Focals are incredible and I'm happy with the 12W6v2 but the enclosure could be a little bit better in my opinion. I've noticed also that when I'm not listening music, there is a small background noise like "shhhhh" that I'm not sure whether is normal or not. I took the car to bestbuy but I don't know if that was the best option.

What don't you like about the enclosure?

The enclosure is small for this sub and I think a ported one would get better results for the W6v2. But even though it's doing a great job.