Best head unit?

[DaSouthWon]

I have always had excellent results using Eclipse, and I'd put Alpine in 2nd place. Alpine has always seemed, to me at least, harder to use. Setting up the EQ and time correction has always been a lot of work to get it right. The last head unit that I bought was an Eclipse 8053, I've had it for 6 years and it still works flawlessly. Alpine usually has more features for the same priced unit compared to Eclipse, but many of them almost seemed gimmickey. Eclipse has always focused on SQ and if thats what your after I wouldn't hesitate making my decision.

[HWYSTR]

Thing with the Eclipse is that you have to step up to the 7200 to get the 24-bit DAC. Super nice stuff, incredible features, but pricey. It though I believe has 2 24-bit DACs, one for DLP specifically. The 5030 is pretty much entry, but does have bluetooth built in. It's a big jump to the 7200, they should have one model in between.

Alpine uses a 24-bit DAC in almost all their' head units, as does Kenwood in the Excelon line. Alpine has decent controls, though the Excelons have better, larger displays. The Excelons require an adapter for bluetooth in all but the top models, but it's not expensive, and you get full control. The Alpine iDA-x305 is a good deal for the money, but the Excelon x592 is a STEAL. You get full features for $120, and that is rediculously cheap. The 692 and 792 I believe both have front panel USB connectors, and all control iPods from the face.

http://ikesound.com/kenwood_kdc_x592

I've got a 792 in the one car, a 692 in another, and have had at least 3 x589s thru x591s, none have failed. I've also installed a number of the x591s and 2s for friends who are looking to replace factory units to have MP3 capabilities, none have had issues, and all are very happy.

It's kind of a waste to spend big bucks on head units, because in 3 years, the technology changes so much, even if it still works, you're going to want a new one. Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Blaupunkt, JVC, Sony, and Panasonic are all consumer-grade car audio products, and are pretty much all competitive. It's more a matter of opinion when choosing those, aside from price and features. The true high-end car audio componenets you probably wouldn't even recognize the names....

PS- Car head units don't catch fire, just like cars don't blow up like in movies.

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