19 replies to this topic

[zeth_an]

Hey guys.. i have a budget of $1500 and i'd like to get a SQ HU. At the moment i'm looking at the Pioneer P9450 or the Clarion DXZ935. Any of you guys got any experience with either HU or perhaps any other recommendation.

Cheers

[Ic3man]

Im sure people here will recommend. a Nak. alpine or eclipse. Look into those brands.

[-DJ-]

i'd take the clarion over the pioneer. give the pioneer the clarion's DACs and i'd take the pioneer.

yeah, however i agree with the above, i'd take a nak over both... (CD-400 is within ur price range... in fact will leave you a little on the side, and this one will sound more musical than either the pio or clarion [or anything else on the market at the same price for that matter])
(i'll prolly be flamed for that last one...)

but it really depends on what you want to achieve. to many people, sq means a gazillion time correction features, equalisers, DSP's (concert hall, stadium, etc...) "media expander", surround... bla bla etcetera, to allow them to tweak the bejesus out of the sound how they like it.

while there's nothing wrong with this, its not a 'purist's' solution, and at the end of the day "SQ" really does come down to just that - sound quality...

decide what you want from your system before making ur choice. but if its one of the above 2 - i'd take the clarion...

$0.02

d

[Kevlar]

For those sort of dollars, have a look at the Alpine phantom face. Great HU, more features then........something with alot of features!!!!!!

Cheers Kevlar

[Rockin]

Alright heres what you do. You buy a Nakamichi CD-400 and then you give it to me alright? You following me so far? OK, then you use the remaining money to buy a Clarion DB235 for yourself OR and this is only if I like you, I could give you my Pioneer DEH-P5450.

[sliksilvia]

i heard Nak were goin under is it true
(bit of the topic) and if u buy a Nak headunit and have a fault which is rare but not impossible dont expect to get it fixed in Oz its going to have to be taken to Jap some places wouldnt even give me a warrenty when i wanted my Nak deck! spendin $1500 on a HU with no warrenty wasent my cup of tea )

[Slider]

Quote

Originally posted by sliksilvia:
i heard Nak were goin under is it true
(bit of the topic) and if u buy a Nak headunit and have a fault which is rare but not impossible dont expect to get it fixed in Oz its going to have to be taken to Jap some places wouldnt even give me a warrenty when i wanted my Nak deck! spendin $1500 on a HU with no warrenty wasent my cup of tea    )

Nak are not going under, it was going to happen but they have been taken over so they dont go under.

I brought a Nak cd45z 2nd hand...then i broke it and sent it to A-Z trading in melbourne and they had it back to me in working order inside 1 week. Its the best money i have ever spent, it sounds great!

[T-Bro]

i use the top-end clarion, very happy with it, sounds smooth, silky, controlled in both the top and bottom end, and revealing. a tad more fluid than the DRX-9675z it replaced.

[Bodyjar]

I had the 925, basically the same as the 935 only different colour. It was great for features and sound, but the flip down face thing gets a tad annoying if you use it a lot...

I got rid of mine mainly because of that...

And bought an Alpine 7878R, very similar in specs but without the 24bit dacs, but more EQ/crossover options. It's good, but it doesnt have the wow factor the Clarion had

[-DJ-]

always liked clarion's 24-bit dacs. they sound they have just wipes the floor.. eats pioneer and alpine and panasonic and sony and... etc etc.

i don't like that flip on the 935... and pro logic 2 is horrid!

why not go a 835mp??? its got the nice dacs too...

but if you can deal with minimal features, and just want the ultimate in sq, go a nak cd-400.

d

[T-Bro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by DjHatton:
[b]i don't like that flip on the 935... and pro logic 2 is horrid! if executed and setup right, prologic works well.

[ix]

you can turn the pro logic II feature off can't you?

(as well as other processing features?)

[T-Bro]

absolutely. in normal stereo mode u have individual gain and time alignment adjustment for each speaker, which is great.

[heimerich]

with $1500, if you can get stuff from singapore, try the Clarion HXD-1 or maybe the top of the range eclipse...

[MattyP]

Thumbs up for the Naka CD-400, but if you want some flashy light action & a bit more music adjustment I'd then take the others into account as the Naka has barely any features (well it doesn't need it anyway to sound good) With the money left over I'd get some very high quality RCAs & speaker cable if you haven't got that already.