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Old 07-09-2013, 05:29 PM
 
741 posts, read 1,740,394 times
Reputation: 223

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Thanks all for the reply.

Mine is 1998 Lexus ES 300. I remember 3 years back the audio installation guy mentioning that he has to bypass amplifier and all that due to some issues in the wires/connections etc.,

I need to recheck this with a good installation provider (whom I need to find out).

Since 3 years back, I also wanted cassette player, he only had PYLE plus head unit (receiver) , that had Cassette /CD/MP3 at that time. I don't think it is a great unit as well and not user friendly to operate as well.

I am thinking of going with a CD/MP3/USB Input head unit.

I did the following research at the Crutchfield: Car Stereo, Speakers, Home Theater, LCD TV, Digital Cameras and got the following options for the headunits which costs less than $100.

Please suggest which one is that I should go for?

Pioneer DEH-2500UI
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1302500UI/Pioneer-DEH-2500UI.html $89.99 /
13 people rated Avg 4*
Has CD/MP3/USB 14/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 2 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,5 EQ Bands

Pioneer DEH-4400HD
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1304400HD/Pioneer-DEH-4400HD.html $99.99
135 people rated Avg 4.5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 14/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 4 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,3 EQ Bands

Pioneer DEH-X3500UI
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130X3500UI/Pioneer-DEH-X3500UI.html $99.99
35 people rated Avg 5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 14/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 4 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,5 EQ Bands

Sony CDX-GT570UP
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158GT570UP/Sony-CDX-GT570UP.html $89.99
27 people rated Avg 4.5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 17/52 Watts, 20KHZ, 4 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,7 EQ Bands

Sony CDX-GT575UP
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158GT575UP/Sony-CDX-GT575UP.html $89.99
20 people rated Avg 4.5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 17/52 Watts, 20KHZ, 4 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,7 EQ Bands

Alpine CDE-141
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500CDE141/Alpine-CDE-141.html $99.99
22 people rated Avg 4.5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 18/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 4 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp,3 EQ Bands

Kenwood KDC-255U
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDC255U/Kenwood-KDC-255U.html $99.99
8 people rated Avg 5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 22/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 2 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp, 3 EQ Bands


Kenwood KDC-155U
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KDC155U/Kenwood-KDC-155U.html $89.99
27 people Rated Avg 5*
Has CD/MP3/USB 22/50 Watts, 20KHZ, 2 Channel Preamp, No Sub Preamp, 3 EQ Bands



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Old 07-09-2013, 06:08 PM
 
Location: Texas
5,717 posts, read 18,797,051 times
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You have 3 to choose from actually if you go by the ratings. There's one Pioneer rated at 5 and both Kenwoods are rated at 5. The Kenwood will deliver 50% more power to the speakers. Pioneer 14 RMS, Kenwood 22 RMS. RMS means the amount of power the unit can deliver continuously. The 50 watts x4 means it can hit that at peak times but cannot maintain it. If you intend to amp later, it's irrelevant. Sony head units I've found to be short lived and very touchy to power output. I didn't see Bluetooth on any of those listed. Are you sure you don't want it?
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Old 07-09-2013, 06:39 PM
 
8,402 posts, read 24,120,831 times
Reputation: 6822
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL View Post
You have 3 to choose from actually if you go by the ratings. There's one Pioneer rated at 5 and both Kenwoods are rated at 5. The Kenwood will deliver 50% more power to the speakers. Pioneer 14 RMS, Kenwood 22 RMS. RMS means the amount of power the unit can deliver continuously. The 50 watts x4 means it can hit that at peak times but cannot maintain it. If you intend to amp later, it's irrelevant. Sony head units I've found to be short lived and very touchy to power output. I didn't see Bluetooth on any of those listed. Are you sure you don't want it?
I think many reviews are to be taken with a grain of salt. One reviewer gave the radio a 1 because the shipping was slow. Another gave a 5 because the display was pretty. The number system is completely arbitrary. My suggestion is to not focus on the rating numbers, but to read the reviews so the silly ones can be sorted out.
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Old 07-09-2013, 07:00 PM
 
Location: Central Texas
13,715 posts, read 31,031,321 times
Reputation: 9270
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL View Post
You have 3 to choose from actually if you go by the ratings. There's one Pioneer rated at 5 and both Kenwoods are rated at 5. The Kenwood will deliver 50% more power to the speakers. Pioneer 14 RMS, Kenwood 22 RMS. RMS means the amount of power the unit can deliver continuously. The 50 watts x4 means it can hit that at peak times but cannot maintain it. If you intend to amp later, it's irrelevant. Sony head units I've found to be short lived and very touchy to power output. I didn't see Bluetooth on any of those listed. Are you sure you don't want it?
Did you notice the Kenwood units are not CEA-2006 compliant? That means their power ratings are not based on industry standards. That also means the power ratings cannot be trusted.

Also - do you understand decibels vs. electrical power? To increase the loudness by 3 dB (barely audible), you must double the power. If the Kenwood really had 22 watts RMS, it is only 1.96 dB louder than 14 watts. A 35W amp is only 1.46 dB louder than a 25W amp.

I don't believe the Kenwood's power ratings. I think any buyer should assume these headunits have about 15W per channel. There are no high power headunits because they all use "chip" amplifiers and they cannot generate much heat in the dash.

Note that I have no problem with Kenwood. I have used them and like them. Just don't believe the power ratings.
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Old 07-09-2013, 09:14 PM
 
Location: Texas
5,717 posts, read 18,797,051 times
Reputation: 11223
Right! Kenwood and Pioneer.....oh gee, all the freakin head units have been using the MOSFET amp for decades....who knew?!?. Pyle even has them rated at 4000watts....who knew?!? And we all know you can't believe anything the low lifes at these head makers say in their specs. They all are immune to false advertising so be careful. They're just out to get yer money....DUH. Good Grief! Now I know how Obama got elected....twice.
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Old 07-09-2013, 09:24 PM
 
741 posts, read 1,740,394 times
Reputation: 223
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL View Post
You have 3 to choose from actually if you go by the ratings. There's one Pioneer rated at 5 and both Kenwoods are rated at 5. The Kenwood will deliver 50% more power to the speakers. Pioneer 14 RMS, Kenwood 22 RMS. RMS means the amount of power the unit can deliver continuously. The 50 watts x4 means it can hit that at peak times but cannot maintain it. If you intend to amp later, it's irrelevant. Sony head units I've found to be short lived and very touchy to power output. I didn't see Bluetooth on any of those listed. Are you sure you don't want it?



Sorry.. I have no idea what Bluetooth functionality would provide? Please advice on the advantages of having Bluetooth
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Old 07-09-2013, 09:30 PM
 
741 posts, read 1,740,394 times
Reputation: 223
Just curious... what does Number of Channels in the Preamp and number of EQ bands mean?

Would it be fair to assume that higher these numbers... better is the functionality...

meaning 4 channels in Preamp is better than 2 channels in Preamp and 4 EQ bands better than 2 EQ bands
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Old 07-10-2013, 08:12 AM
 
Location: MN
6,429 posts, read 6,968,478 times
Reputation: 5723
Find an Alpine on eBay, its the only brand I'll buy, had'em for years! The remotes have gotten cheaper over the years, but good thing my older better one still works great.
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Old 07-10-2013, 08:16 AM
 
2,349 posts, read 5,415,118 times
Reputation: 3061
This thread is making me nervous. I have to stop reading it. I am liable to go out and spend money to upgrade my auto stereo.
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Old 07-10-2013, 08:17 AM
 
741 posts, read 1,740,394 times
Reputation: 223
I am curious, if it would be possible to bypass the Amplifier that came with the car from head unit to the Speaker.... provided head unit has the preamps.

Thanks!
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