Advice on head unit

 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 171
Registered: Nov-04
My friend's in the last stage of picking the headunit and I had narrowed it down to the following after considering his budget:
1. Alpine CDA-9835 - $385 4V
2. JVC KD-AR3000 - $200 5V
3. Kendwood KDC-X979 - $290 5V
4. Panasonic CQ-C9800U - $340 5V
5. Pioneer DEH-P960MP - $420 6.5V
All prices include shipping.

The pioneer one I think is the best, but's kind of going on a budget limb. I appreciate all the suggestions! Thank you
 

Gold Member
Username: Jonathan_f

GA USA

Post Number: 2811
Registered: May-04
Go between the Alpine and Pioneer IMO. The Pioneer offers the most features, higher preamp output, 24 bit DACs, more tuning capability, etc. The Alpine is a great head unit as well, lots of good features on that one as well.
 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 172
Registered: Nov-04
Thanks man. Just out of curiosity, why would you not go with the other units?
How would you think kicker k65.2, 75W RMS, components sound if powered by either of the units you suggested? I appreciate all your help.
 

Gold Member
Username: Jonathan_f

GA USA

Post Number: 2813
Registered: May-04
Not as reliable units is why, JVCs tend to have tuner issues, Kenwoods tend to be unreliable all around, and the Panasonics are kinda shaky as well. Both the Alpine and Pioneer are solid units, and will both compliment those speakers very well. Choose on what you like best as far as ergonomics go, both are excellent units.
 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 173
Registered: Nov-04
So you're saying I can get away running those kicker components from either of the head units?
 

Gold Member
Username: Jonathan_f

GA USA

Post Number: 2814
Registered: May-04
Oh, I thought you were eventually planning to amp them. If you eventually plan to get an amp, still choose on ergonomics. If you plan to keep running components off the head unit, you're better off w/ the Alpine since it has the V-drive chip for more power per channel.
 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 177
Registered: Nov-04
Appreciate all the help! This is a bit out there, but any way i can use all 4 channels of the HU to drive 2 speakers? lol
 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 178
Registered: Nov-04
Also, now that I'm going to run his speaker off the HU, the kicker amp for the subs is 4 channel. So, would I connect the RCA's to the sub-out on the HU and then use a Y-adapter for the amp to get the same signal to all 4 channels of the amp?
 

Gold Member
Username: Jonathan_f

GA USA

Post Number: 2821
Registered: May-04
Nope, you can only use 2 channels for 2 speakers. I think (don't hold me to this) the Eclipse HUs allow you to use the internal amp for active components, meaning the front channels would power tweets and the rear would power mids, I can't remember though as I don't use the HUs internal amp. For the amp, yes, you can use y adaptors for the amp, but I think that Kicker amp will allow the rear channel input to operate from of the front channels.
 

Silver Member
Username: Oleg

Santa Monica, CA USA

Post Number: 181
Registered: Nov-04
Ok, thanks. One last question. Ultimately it's not up to me to decide because I'm not the one paying for this, but that Panasonic CQ-C9800U HU is rated @ 70W x 4 Max, what do you think the RMS rating is? Can't find it anywhere.
 

Gold Member
Username: Jonathan_f

GA USA

Post Number: 2825
Registered: May-04
It claims to be 60 watts RMS per channel due to a digital Class T amplifier built in, but it isn't certified to do so and I haven't seen any independant tests. I'm not a fan of digital amps for full range speakers, but you should at least listen to it and try it out. An external amplifier would sound better than the receiver's internal amp would ever hope to. Believe it or not, 60 watts RMS isn't a huge jump over 27 RMS, doubling the power will provide around a 3 db increase, but that digital amp will also clip earlier and harder than an A/B amp will.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Terminatermule

Australia

Post Number: 59
Registered: Nov-04
Jonathan has pretty much got you sorted, and I agree with him on pretty much all points. The 9835 has one of the best built in amps you will find in a HU. The Pioneers is pretty good aswell. From those two your friend could safely choose based on personal taste and budget.

Cheers Glenn
 

Anonymous
 
I have a panasonic CQ-5410U and it's sick. So i would go with the panasonic 9800. the motorized face is awesome and w/ the dot matrix display that has to be sick. but alpine is also very nice too.
 

Gold Member
Username: Glasswolf

NorthWest, Michigan USA

Post Number: 6682
Registered: Dec-03
panasonic has nice looks and features, but I'm not very fond of their build quality or reliability in car or home audio products.
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us