hey guys

i'm thinking of upgrading my headunit to one that will be better for sq. pioneer 5450 just ain't quite good enough nemore.

since i haven't used or had an experience with them cept the pioneer i need you thoughts on them.

the contenders are:

Pioneer deh-9350
Clarion dxz-825
Alpine 7878 or 7894.

i'm open to other suggestions, altho must have 3x rca, >2v preouts and a detachable face.

i realise the pioneer and clarion are now superseeded models but a rough guide on the pricing if you know it would be good as well.

so hit me with it

thanks
PJ

[ June 25, 2003, 20:36: Message edited by: PartyJase ]

pioneer dexp88r

where... why.. and how much?

out of those i would definitely go the clarion dxz925 (dual 24bit DAC, 6 channel TA, Dolby Digital etc)
its retail was about 1350 but could be had for about 1100. it has now been superseded but i saw sum runout models for about 900. maybe u can gt an ex demo one? the new one 935 is basically exactly the same (from what i know), and im guessing is about the same price. The onli beef i had with this h/u is the motorised face seems a bit weak and that it mite snap if you accidently knocked it. however its gotta be the thinnest detachable face ive ever seen!

the 7894 is also quite a nice deck, has mp3 (not realli desired for sq), and looks funky. this retails for about 1000 but could be had for about 800. once again i think this model has been superseded.

if not have a look at some of the eclipse h/u, maybe the 5441 i think.
good luck

thoughts on alpine 7878?

comeon ppl - someones gotta have opinions of these or use HU's like them?

io'm not good with model nuba's but i have the 1000$ alpine head unit. the blue one with flip face.. not ghost. it's like the second highest one b4 u go to ghost face. Sounds awesome, time correction really does work, u just play with setting and all of sudden u will hear speaker sjust click together and sounds perfect like all speakers bang at once, it also has media expander which sounds great when activated.

dood check out the clarion dxz715, it's a older model but really nice SQ deck. i have one myself.
it has 24 bit dac converter, 4v preouts, 3 sets of rca's, remote, flip face, dimmer, contrast, crossover's etc etc etc.

soundmaster in hurstville have one sitting in the demo board and i think its their last one, they want only 500 for it and it retailed at around 900-1000 mark.

with head units cant go past alpine or if you have the money eclipse. both top end companys for sq

Yeah i love my alpine head unit, you have so much control over everything with it.. but there might be other one's just as good

i'd consider eclipse but need a detachable face coz HU sits up high in the car and dont wanna be showing it.

thanks so far guys.

nakamichi cd400
from az trading or any autobarn store
we got one here in geelong autobarn for 899

second what dazdillinger said re: the clarion.

i tested my clarion 925 against my home denon dvd-9000 using the same CD, in my car. the difference between the two was barely discernable, with the 240v Denon just winning out with slightly sharper image definition. it says something when a car cd player can keep up with a highend home cd player running from mains. the 24-bit clarion's are excellent, ive owned two of them and they are audibly better than many other offerings, though obviously not all.

have a listen and see what your ears think.

t-bro: is the 925 really that much of a step up over the 825?
i know that 925 has TA, DP2 and dual 24bit dacs, but i mean from the point of not needing to resort to TA and other fancy tricks.

i figure thats the same for all the decks tho. want it to sound as good as possible before using TA, eq, etc.

kinda trying to work out if whether justifying the extra money considering seen 825 on sale for 500 bucks.

also anyone in melb got one that i could demo??

[ July 01, 2003, 13:10: Message edited by: PartyJase ]

the 8 series should be comparable in sound quality to the 9 series, if you are willing to give up the 9 series more comprehensive features. as i understand it, the 8 series uses the same/similar DAC layout to the 9 series, so should be good. have to listen to it yourself though, but yeah id say is a winner - ive heard one but not critically.

look for something that will:

-give a good clean and solid voltage from the pre-outs,

-that's easy to use,

-has good warranty support here in Australia,

-and then, has the features you want.

I went with the Alpine 7949 as it came to me at a good price and Alpine Australia are in Vic.



[ July 03, 2003, 09:25: Message edited by: R ]

thanks guys thus far.

another q t-bro: do you use the time alignment on the 925 and the inbuilt eq?

i figure that most of the difference between 825 and 925 is the TA and eq. and dont think DP2 gonna be much use to me as no plan for centre speaker at the moment. guess could just solve the eq difference by using outboard eqs neway.

r: since i'm really only consider alpine, pioneer and clarion top end decks they're all 4v pre-outs or higher so i don't think the clean output is much of an issue, and they all are established here so warranties and repairs not a prob. point 2 bout usability is a good one. i'm used to pioneer deck so obviously 9350 would be right at home for me, i'm not really partial to the alpine face layouts and some of their menu structures, and had a quick play with the clarion in a shop the other day and it doesn't seem too bad. nothing that reading the manual wouldn't solve. but thanks for them

now i just gotta find an incar demo of them both? HELP!!!

partyjase: no, i dont use the TA or EQ features of my headunit, because i run my system under the Dolby Prologic II format where they are disabled.

however, when i switch my system back over to 'stereo' mode i do use the TA feature and its AWESOME! you can really use it to shift that centre image back into the middle. in fact, ive said before that when TA is switched on, you could swear blind that my centre speaker is still working - even though its not. its pretty convincing stuff and if you have a great front stage it will certainly help fine tune the image placement.

as for the EQ i dont use it but i used to on my old unit (a DRX9675z) which was identical in that respect, and its excellent, you can choose any three bands to adjust (boost/cut, plus the Q factor or steepness) and you can do it in 1/3 octave incremenets (ie up to 30 bands to choose from). it really lets you zoom in on any peaks or dips, and is pretty easy to setup if you have a meter/RTA to guide you.

any other q's please ask.