Which Headunit
 

Im looking for something with USB and i dont need nav, i need something i can use to upgrade the rest as in the subs amps and speakers so i need something thats powerful enough. any suggestions plz post links

crutchfield

amazon

JVC- JVC Mobile 2013
Kenwood- Kenwood - car entertainment
Pioneer- Car | Pioneer Electronics USA
Alpine- Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.
Clarion- Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

take your pick, they all offer something for everyone.

Amazon or sonic are two locations I would buy from.

I agree with all choices there except pioneer.

OP there have been threads made asking your same question.

Just curious, why not Pioneer?

Just take a look at precious conversations. I have had bad luck with them and so have customers as well as others. Others will say there are no problems with them but from what I have seen they don't last that long.

DDX370 or DDX470

Why not the ddx770 or ddx790?

no issues with my pioneers (4units and counting). been running them along side alpine and kenwoods, even jvc over the years. no issue. :)

not sure why Big keeps having issues with pioneers. check amazon for the reviews as well, not just based on one installer's comments.

Oh, man, here we go!!! lol
Take Kenchans advice, and do your own research. Trust the masses,Strength in numbers, read reviews before purchase.
Big, please, even a JVC before a pioneer?? ridiculous. MHO:shakes head:
Research on crutchfield, but better prices are easy to come by.

JVC recently bought out kenwood recently so yes they are a rock solid product. OP if you look at other threads previous owners have chimed in with their problems with pioneer. Hence partly why I am against them.

ahh i c yea i read through them, i really like the kenwood you recommended me and im solid on that so thanks for your inputs guys!

now speakers, there a different breed, audiofanat check ur pm!

and absolutely NOWHERE will you find posts with kenwood, Jvc, or alpine problems. Lets grow up a little here, and get our heads out of our tails. To make a purchase on a recommendation from a single person whom you do not even know is just plain foolish, no matter who he/she is. Do your research, and make an informed decision, free of biased opinion. Plain and simple. Buy what YOU want.

He can buy what he wants, however I have seen much less write ups on problem's with those brands than pioneer. I only give my opinion and recommendation as to the truth of what I have seen in the field nothing more nothing less. If they truly made quality products than I would have no problem recommending them. Hate me, agree or disagree I have a opinion and that's what I share. I have installed pioneers before and some have had no trouble.

I was a Pioneer fan, I liked their stuff, but now I'm on Kenwood, I fricken looove Kenwood Excelon's stuff.. Kenwood has really stepped up over the years. Just MY personal opinion.

Headunit that I have in my car is a Kenwood Dual DIN + DVD.

Kenwood DDX370 DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

it's $280 from Crutchfield... $50 more if you want Bluetooth.

:tup:

Ive had my share of head units but for the price on Ebay I have installed pioneer avic x940bt in my last 2 cars and im about to do it a third time. Its navigation integrated and i usually get them for about 450 - 500 bucks I love them! Highly recommend.

I like my Alpine 535HD
Alpine Electronics of America, Inc.

Although my main requirements were only HD radio, DVD playback and touch screen. Didn't need a GPS since I already have a standalone Garmin.

Now I kinda want to upgrade to a full touch screen unit or at least with smaller buttons so that it looks less flashy and more OEM.

i never liked HD radio as receiption isn't really all that great in my area and the signal completely cuts off (digital) vs FM radio when the signal weakens.

i run 4500BT on my car. i too have a 5" life time map nuvi that also runs my obd2 gauges. :p

TBF, I never had an issue with my old Alpine HU (just a basic CD player at the time) and the only issues I had with my Pioneer (slide-out 1DIN) was the clip to hold the removable face on broke off after a couple of years (taped it on permanent after that :icon17: ) and then a year or so ago (was in my SRT, sold it though) a tooth in the gear broke so there was some clicking.

Everything sound- & touch-screen-wise worked perfect though.

im selling my Pioneer 4500BT :hello:

see my sig below

yea i already have a 7inch garmin the 2797lmt? or something like that
so the kenwood 300U looks like its gonna fit me just right.

I need to step my game up and get a nice double din unit for my Z.. I have a very nice Kenwood Excelon in my s2000.

wat, you dont have a ddin in your Z yet? all this talk about kenwood, thought you were already a master at the Z system. :ugh:


:icon17: :p

Also great, but price gets up there...:tiphat: Got my DDX370 for $249.99 with free backup camera at CarToys last month....great deal for a double din under $250 bucks I'd say!!!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psd82f99dd.png

Best Bang for your buck!!! 4V preouts if you want to expand your system, Great Reviews, Fast file Search and the easiest bypass for DVD playback while driving.(just ground the parking brake)!!!

Anyone know about the pre's in the kenwood dpx500bt?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

:bowrofl::bowrofl:

Haha.. Man, for as much as I drive my Z, its soooo not an issue. My Z is a 2010 with only 6k miles..:icon17:

I have the Kenwood Excelon DNN990HD and it is awesome. Has so many bells and whistles that probably aren't needed but I love it. They also have the 770HD as well.

ok this site is a bit too confusing for a middled aged guy like me... :icon14:

DNN990HD/770HD Special Site - Kenwood

the 770HD's price is reasonable though for a dvd/nav unit. :)

Haha I love that site. :) I pretty much went through that site so I could see all the features the two units had. Has some good info that helping me in deciding to purchase the 990HD

dang my eyeballs were like wtf?! :confused: all over the place.

Holy Sh!t now I feel old.:icon14:

yah, right? it was like looking at something like this...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...hSvXsHi5diaggP


:icon14::icon14::icon14: :wtf2:

First had a Pioneer x920bt installed in my Z back in 2010. Had zero issues with it and enjoyed the unit, but yearned for a larger screen.

In 2012 got a Kenwood Excellon DNX9990HD installed which by most reviews was touted as being the "top of the line" and "best on the market" by numerous sources.

Had to send the unit in to Kenwood TWICE to get repaired. First because it was doing this repeating boot and would not load up or even turn off unless you disconnected the car battery, which apparently was a big problem for the entire line. The second time was because one of the USB ports was not being recognized by the unit.

Other complaints I have about this unit is the Garmin nav is slow and clunky. Another is how the unit loads data off the USB drives. When you turn on the unit the screen first reads, no drive connected... Then reads the thumb drive and then finally resumes where you left off with your media. The Pioneer I had loaded and resumed instantaneously. Also the Pioneer would allow me to jump to different points of the music or video by punching in the time I would like to go to. The Kenwood requires you to manually fast forward to spots like its an old 80s cassette player.

A final gripe I have with the Kenwood is with the Bluetooth phone connect. My Pioneer would just play my phones ringtone through the speakers while the Kenwood just plays its own generic ringtones.

For MY PEROSNAL NEEDS I Honestly regret getting this Kenwood. I should have kept my Pioneer as is or upgraded to a 7inch Pioneer.

I have the dnx690hd with nav. It looks just like yours. Does yours jam up like a computer freeze sometimes?

I'm also in the market for a new head unit, but with a certain budget. The DDX814 head unit died one day after the car came back from the body shop. The unit looks good, and sounds pretty good, but was terrible overall. The UI wasn't so great, was slow, and USB file system was slow and limited (< 256 songs per folder).

I'm currently debating on a few models:
JVC KW-R900BT; No frills, simple, fast, and sounds great for the money. It has a 24-bit TI Burr Brown DAC. Looks like a toy boombox.
Kenwood DDX770 or DDX790; These models look identical, but it seems like the 790 reviews indicate it has better sound quality despite both having a non-specific 24-bit DAC. Too many bells 'n whistles, and I'm still scarred by the DDX814 experience.

That's pretty much it for now. I spent almost $1200 on my last head unit after taxes, and it's not something I want to do anymore. So something under $500 is plenty.

All I want to do is plug in a large capacity USB stick and enjoy good quality audio on my 2.1ch setup. Heck, I even thought about a Raspberry Pi project with a high quality USB DAC. [shrugs]