Topic: eed car audio advice (Eclipse & Polk content) UPDATE

[Sterling]

Hey guys,
Since I just got broken into and my deck stolen I have decided to buy another deck adn some new speakers for the rear of my car 95 Neon. I have been lokking at the Eclipse units but my big question is:

Do the face platees come off? What is the secuity measure they use?

And:

What speakers to get? ~ Obviously this is a matter of opinion so I can anrrow it down. I'm lokking at either boston acoustics, infinity references, or maybe JL audio's (of the lower end).

Thanks!

Sterling

[C.Clark]

if you need a new head unit, i strongly reccommend alpine and kenwood, with an alpine, when you take off the face plate, it renders the actually electronics within the head unit useless without that face plate.  and kenwood's flip over to the back side which is matte black and looks like you have no headunit and are a cheap bastard, its detered thieves from my car before, i hope this helps
-polk and alpine small speakers are wonderful

[Lee]

I had BA speakers in my old truck, and they sounded great.  They're plenty bright, though.  I ran them from a Pioneer premier head unit into an eclipse 100x4 amp.  Paired up nicely with the JL 10w3 sub and eclipse 100x2 amp (bridged, of course).

[zhianosatch]

my dad just had his eclipse player jacked. they don't have any with removable faces, but they do have some security feature that identifies the player's location if it's ever taken out and fired up without a special cd you designate as the "key cd" during installation...
and i guess they replace it if it's stolen within a year or two or 4 seconds or some amount of time... my dad's still waiting for his.

[jlykos]

Armen is right; Eclipse faceplates cannot be removed, but a thief cannot use it if they do steal it.  Unfortunately, most thieves are not aware of this "feature" so if your average car stereo thief steals your deck, too bad.  Eclipse will replace it if it a thief brings it into a shop and if the shop reports it, but you may be waiting a little while for that to happen, or until the thief just chucks it in the nearest dumpster after they can't figure out how to run it.

That said, I own an Eclipse and it is the best head unit I have ever used.  It sounds fantastic and does not look so flashy as to be the type to easily catch a thief's eye.

For speakers, all of the ones that you mentioned would most likely need an outboard amp to adequately run.  I run Quart separates in the front, BA 6x9s in the rear, and a JL Audio sub.  I also have three amps.  If you are on a budget, I would recommend a Sony Xplod 4-channel amp (available at Best Buy or Circuit City) and some Boston Acoustics speakers.  Paired with an Eclipse head unit, you are in business.  If you want to add a sub later for a low price, add a one-channel Memphis Audio sub amp and a 10" or 12" Orion XBR sub and you will have a killer system then for not a whole lot of money.

Georgia fucking RULES!!!!  I'm never coming back!!!

[Sterling]

Thanks guys. I'm actually looking at some alpine head units (although I want an eclipse, the face platenot coming off is just not sitting well with me). After all, I just got robbed less than a week ago (fuggin bastards!  )

I'm looking at a pretty nice alpine unit and some BA speakers...I will cosider the amp though. Never thought I'd be "one of those guys" with an amp in the back....however...I'l never forget being at the hampton run in 03' ans hearing this guys sweet car and soundsystem bumping tube....man I was drooling at how krisp and nice it sounded...(drooling...)

[mmmatt]

I have an aiwa (made by sony) and it is fair to middlin.  I have the lower end unit and there were 2 or 3 above it.  My biggest beef is the stereo separation from the cd player and the weak internal amp.  Both which I assume are better in the higher-end models.  The big advantage is they all have a minijack on the front panel so you can plug in your recorder on the way home from the show. I sometimes even just to use my jb3 for every day.  Overall I like it.  I have memphis speakers which I like as well.

Matt

[Sterling]

Yeahs thats actually why I had the JVC before, the mini jack in the back. However alot of the higher end units (at leats the ones I'm looking at) have RCA inputs/aux inputs in the back so I can still listen on the way home...I love that!

[caymanreview]

i had my eclipse unit jacked a few years back, but i had bought it with the car, so i wasnt the original buyer and couldnt get it replaced.

first thing i did, was go buy a brand new eclipse. i have owned alot of different head units, but never had any even compare to my eclipse

thier prices are lower these days than when i bought my stuff (3 years ago???) but the product remains as good as ever im told

imho, you cant go wrong with eclipse

[JeffK]

Add Clarion pro audio to the list of source units.  I've not been steered wrong with them.

For speakers, get something that has external crossovers.  Eclipse makes some moderately priced coaxials with external xovers.  For a bit better, check into the MB Quart line.  Canto, Dynaudio, Focal, Diamond are also great... but may be out of your pricerange.

[Sterling]

Wow those are expensive. I've decided on an alpine unit (cda-7863) which I got for 150 shipped. For speakers I'm seriously comsidering some Infinity References (9603i) for 70 shipped. IDK...let me know what ya think.

SS

[Mic D]

That said, I own an Eclipse and it is the best head unit I have ever used.  It sounds fantastic and does not look so flashy as to be the type to easily catch a thief's eye.

Agreed. I love my CD8053.

I don't know about any other eclipse models, but mine's got a red light that flashes when I turn my car off. Simple security feature but I'm sure it helps!

[1st set only]

I had a blaupunkt that I loved sounded great and was not flashy at all.
I have the stock monsoon in my GTI and it sounds pretty good and is loud as all hell but i hate it. 6 disc changer in the rear is the worst design of all time. I find that music gets old quick when you dont have immediate acces to it.

[Sterling]

So I ended up going with an Alpine head unit (CDA-7863) and BA RX 97's inthe rear. maybe upgrade later but probabl afte the car dies  . Thanks for the input everyone, as usual.