Topic: clarion pro or eclipse or nak?

[scb]

if i were looking at similarly priced/spec'd head units, is one known to break down more?  are both comparable sound quality?

bueller?


(updated subject to include nak)

[caymanreview]

did you ever read any revues for that kenwood w/ the burr brown dac's?

im a eclipse kind of guy, have been for many years, but ive never had anything clarion

[scb]

i can't find any sort of review on the kenwood one...

[ashevillain]

I have a Clarion DXZ835MP...I like it alot for it's sound quality but not so much for it's ergonomics....or the motorized faceplate (but it seems a high end receiver can't be found without some extra, unnecessary gadgetry no matter what brand...)

[scb]

the fact that the eclipse doesn't seem to have a detachable face (can't find anything about it) might make me stay away from it.  my car isn't too hard to break into with the soft top on...

[Nick in Edinboro]

While I know you mentioned the two brands your looking at I will dilute the pool even more and suggest Pioneer's Premier line of head units.  I own an older model and it has performed flawlessly in the three cars and, eh about, 4 years I've owned it!

Another brand to consider is Blaupunkt.  I owned an older model CD player of theirs and it performed well.  Very simple, very plain and less moving parts to break (same goes for a brand like Alpine).

I know, no help, but just some suggestions if you haven't considered them.

[scb]

my girlfriend has a pioneer premier deck in her car that's never worked correctly, so that's why i wasn't considering them.  i have been quite happy with 2 sets of premier speakers though

maybe i'll take a look...thanks

[scb]

anyone heard the Nak CD400?

[dnsacks]

Scott:

Off topic, but I've ended up doing away with using a head unit alltogether and now run a portable player (Iaudio m3 with flac support is my current player) directly into my power amp (an old a/d/s)  via a 1/8" stereo mini>rca cable. Next step -- take the portable player's gain control out of the equation by installing a variable gain headphone amp (a cmoy or grado clone) between the line out of the portable player and the line in of my power amp. 

Sounds great in my application and does away with the bells, whistles and theft-ability of a decent head unit.

[scb]

http://www.nakamichiusa.com/auto/CD400/spec.html

http://www.nakamichiusa.com/auto/CD400/

i've found *great* reviews

[itsmyforte]

been using clarion pro audio for a while, purchased a few decks and have had friends who use them.  i am a happy customer.  rumors have heard say eclipse quality went down hill?  some more specific units i might mention of good quality is the Alpine 7909, Clarion Pro Audio HX-D10(i currently use)has preamp only 3 sets of 4v outs, dual 24-bit Burr-Brown dac's.  others worth mention are Denon, Mcintosh, or Nakamichi.

[ashevillain]

how do you guys find out what DAC's are used? (i.e. is there a way to find out without opening the unit?) I don't seem to recall seeing that info in the documentation. I ask b/c my head unit was advertised as having dual 24bit DAC also but mentioned nothing about the manufacturer of the DAC. Since it's a Clarion I guess I could assume they are using the same (or similar) Burr Brown DAC...but we all know what happens when one assume's...

[itsmyforte]

a good quality deck will have a preamp and thats it, nothing else.  the 835 may have dual 24bit but not of the high quality nature.  if i could find one i'd buy a 7909 in a heartbeat.

[JeffK]

both the clarion pro audio and eclipse will give you solid performance.  if you're planning to run amps, get the source unit with the best pre-outs.  i think eclipse was pimpin' 5v+ pre-outs at one point.

[scb]

some eclipse models even have 8v pre outs

i'm going to stay away from an amp at this point.  i had one in the last car and while it sounded great, i'm trying to have a more simplistic system in the new car. 

a good quality deck will have a preamp and thats it, nothing else.  the 835 may have dual 24bit but not of the high quality nature.  if i could find one i'd buy a 7909 in a heartbeat.

while an internal amp is not ideal, not all suck.  eclipse has some MOSFET amps and the nak deck amps are suposedly pretty decent