need help looking for a good deck!

[anekin007]

i'll be purchasing a new deck soon.. i gave mines to my girl cause her deck died..damn..there goes my satellite radio ..but she is buying me a new deck.. so i got about $300 to spend.. i havnt looked for a deck for awhile now so i forgot all the good model numbers and i dont know nothing about the 2004 models.. so got any suggestion on a deck brand and model to get for $300? prefer 2003-2004..maybe order models if they are really good..

my current setup in my car are.. Front speakers - JL audio xr650 components , Rear speakers - JL audio Vr690. powered by a cheap 300.4 rockford amp.

 

[Spencey]

Most people think I'm full of s**t because they haven't looked at their new line, but I really think Sony is coming up in the game. I'm running one of the new Sonys and I never thought it would be this good. The new 120 dB CD signal to noise ratio kills for sound quality, great stuff. Mine's the CDX-M8805X and usually goes for $360.

 

[Akiahara96]

I'm not a fan of Sony, but they're modestly priced since you're on a budget.

You could probably get a nicer Kenwood or JVC though.

 

[loccusst]

I don't like the look of the high level sony's especialy the one with video capability. I like the Pioneer 8600 and the JVC I think the model number is kd-shx700. Its got a nice gunmetal finish with video and pic capability, gold plated rcs preouts and just looks realy nice. JVC makes a model kd-shx900 that has HD radio capability (the new thing in radio). The pioneer has pic and video capability (not as good as the jvc), has an auto eq that sets up the sound field for the specific vehicle its installed in. If you had satalite on you head unit before why not just get a headunit that will operate the same satalite radio company?

 

[$lick Rick]

you can get a decent entry level eclipse deck for that price that will blow your mind as far as sound quality, you can NEVER go wrong with alpine, clarion doesnt make a bad product either.... sony/pioneer, you get allot of options for the$$$ but they use crappy ass tuners and your sound quality will suffer because of it.

 

[Bull]

i have a pioneer 6600 and i love it. or you could get the pioneer 3600, my dad has it and its cool too. the only difference really is that i have screen savers and he dont. i would recomend either deck to anyone.

 

[$lick Rick]

i've switched decks 11 times that i can remember so far this year.. i got like 8 decks lying around my house... funny shiz

 

[loccusst]

Actually the 4600 is better to go with than the 3600 for pioneer. The 4600 has MP3/WMA capability. The JVC KD-LH300 is probably the best deck you can get for your money. Pioneer does not have crappy tuners and the sound quality does not suffer. Alpine is good but in my opinion you pay alot more than you should for what you get. I personaly don't like Alpine.

 

[$lick Rick]

that's another point... it's all preference... you need to go listen to a bunch of decks to see what you like the best.

which display, controls, and sound you prefer will determine if you like the deck.

and yes, pioneer uses low quality tuners.... it's just facts... if you're going to spend $400 on a pioneer they step up a bit, but imo the sq is still sub par compared to better quality decks

 

[loccusst]

In my opinion after sound quality should be easy of controling the deck. Your in a car so if you can't operate the menu or even the basic controls easily then don't buy it. Its not worth destroying your car just to have something that looks cool cause you cen't figure out how to change the volume. Make sure the features are something you wil use down the road. They might be cool right now but will they be worth the money you spent on em later when you don't use them. The coolness factor wears off eventually.

 

[$lick Rick]

^^^^^^

and from personal experience with decks with bright displays and screen savers and such, they can be quite distracting while driving at night... the deck i have right now has it's own dimmer controls and a nice blue display

and if you plan on going with dvd system in the future, then a nice feature to look for would be audio inputs

 

[anekin007]

my deck location is going to be in the bottom section where the cup holder is..so 90% i wont even be looking at it or seeing it because i cover it with that flip lid so i dont really care about display..i want something that looks decent.. so basically i want something for sound quality.. the alpines i ran into that i like are more into the $400 range.. any good models on the eclipes?

 

[Bull]

my deck location is going to be in the bottom section where the cup holder is..so 90% i wont even be looking at it or seeing it because i cover it with that flip lid so i dont really care about display..i want something that looks decent.. so basically i want something for sound quality.. the aplines i ran into that i like are more into the $400 range.. any good models on the eclipes?

hah, you are gonna pay a grip for eclipse. hehe, but they are helllllllllllla good decks. i would just do a pioneer 3600. it is a simple set up. easy to use, built in cross over to make ur mids and highs sound good, bass controlls for ur subs, IMO it sounds like you would be happier with this deck. it wont break the bank since you are just gonna hide it all the time.

 

[Akiahara96]

... I'd still say JVC.. or Clarion. You'll get a better deck for the price.

 

[$lick Rick]

if you're going to put it down there i recommend a deck with adjustable angle face. otherwise it's gonna be sorta b***h to read and controll teh deck. i have a nice alpine with the adjustable motorized face in my civic.... daniel has the deck in the same place you're gonna put yours... and even he said he wished he had a deck that angled... it's not necissary... but it sure as hell would be a perk

 

[anekin007]

pioneer 4600 and 3600 are nice decks..but they dont have any sub pre outs..
pioneer 8600 is out of my range..cheapest i found was $400
jvc shx700 is a little out my range..cheapest i found was $340.

shoot me some more model numbers..so i can look them up..

 

[$lick Rick]

... I'd still say JVC.. or Clarion. You'll get a better deck for the price.

out of the 11 decks i've used THIS YEAR i have a nice clarion in my gsr. great sound quality, good looks, sub controls, rca audio inputs, a nice looking display, a full function remote, and easy controls

 

[$lick Rick]

this is the deck i'm using right now

http://www.cardomain.com/item/CLADXZ615

 

[Spencey]

Go Clarion if you can, good stuff, anything after a 445 has a mono sub preout. The only problem with clarion is that they are not label on the back of the deck, but its all listed in the installation manual. Some of their decks have 4 preouts, front, rear, sub, and fixed Aux if you are sending the signal to another source that has adjustable volume.

 

[Akiahara96]

I really like Clarions. My last video setup was all Clarion. Given, the screen wasn't the prettiest thing when it was closed... but with mp3s.. they displayed right on the screen.. and there's no way to do that on my Alpines.

So, go Clarion! If I liked all-in-one setups, I'd get the big boy Clarion...