Latest double din head units - Alpine/Kenwood/Pioneer?

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JoeS3

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Hello all,

i havnt kept up to date with the head-unit scene for over 3 years now but as ive purchased a new car im looking to replace the standard concert system for a good aftermarket one.

Previously, i had an alpine 9887R which was fantastic - gave me loads of sound tuning options and the quality was superb.


I went to my local audio specialist looking to buy another alpine head unit (double-din) but the guy in the store tells me that kenwood have come a long way in the past few years in terms of sound manipulation/tuning. He showed me a kenwood unit which had a 12 band parametric equaliser which was very impressive (considering the alpine one i saw only had 9)

So i left the shop knowing i needed to do some more research.
I was just looking for some advice to the best double-din head units which offer the most sound tuning options?

My only other requirement is SAT NAV.


thanks alot in advance, just a bit confused here...


cheers

Joe
 
Last edited:
be all and end all is they still dont sound as good as the alpine
more sound enhancement is cool provided you know how to use it properly (9 bands of parametric is more than adequate)
parametric equalisation is not the same as normal equalisation
 
dualmono21 said:
be all and end all is they still dont sound as good as the alpine
more sound enhancement is cool provided you know how to use it properly (9 bands of parametric is more than adequate)
parametric equalisation is not the same as normal equalisation
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply back.
really? so alpine is still superior in sound quality these days?

parametric allows individual control over the bands which is great.

these are the two ive been looking at
Car Audio Equipment | Buy online at Car Audio Security
Car Audio Equipment | Buy online at Car Audio Security

the kenwood does have more options to be fair. whats your opinion?
 
Bang for buck if you can excuse the lack of a built in sat nav , I think navs are best near eye level in corner of windscreen.

Can be had for £250.

[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dB1bYeWN7Xs&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdB1bYeWN7Xs[/video]
 
a few things
the kenwood is not parametric eq its a normal graphic eq the alpine is a parametric eq
picture on the kenwood is only vga the alpine is svga

what phone will you be connecting to the unit ? if its an iphone 5 then use something other than the alpine if its any thing else other than this use the alpine

the alpine sounds the best but doesnt have all the features of the other two
is it primarilly for sound or connectivity ?
 
dualmono21 said:
a few things
the kenwood is not parametric eq its a normal graphic eq the alpine is a parametric eq
picture on the kenwood is only vga the alpine is svga

what phone will you be connecting to the unit ? if its an iphone 5 then use something other than the alpine if its any thing else other than this use the alpine

the alpine sounds the best but doesnt have all the features of the other two
is it primarilly for sound or connectivity ?
Click to expand...


Yes, i do have an iphone5. does the alpine have issues with iphone 5 bluebooth connectivity or something?

id have to say my main priority is sound.
but your about to tell me the connectivity will be naff right? :-s
 
apple charge a manufacturer a surcharge for the iphone 5 as it has a digital output not a analogue one
if you are using an iphone 5 you need to check the compatibility with the headunit before purchase
as some manufacturers have been incensed by this charge and have refused to pay ... therefore there connectivity is limited to before the iphone 5
 
dualmono21 said:
apple charge a manufacturer a surcharge for the iphone 5 as it has a digital output not a analogue one
if you are using an iphone 5 you need to check the compatibility with the headunit before purchase
as some manufacturers have been incensed by this charge and have refused to pay ... therefore there connectivity is limited to before the iphone 5
Click to expand...

ahh, i see, thanks for the info.

would this connectivity be limited to only using bluetooth (i.e. no access to the music)?


ill definitely check.

other than that, stick with alpine for sound quality.... cheers.
 
you will need to check it with whatever unit you fancy as there may well be unforseen communication problems
i run an alpine d511 for video , android phone , navigation and phone with an old ipod touch specifically because i can use the ipod video feed to go onto the screens
a new iphone wont let you do this
 
horses for courses
pioneers sound dull and unnatural to me , nakamichi units sound better than the alpines
 
all the nakamichi units are purely for sound
they dont have things like connecections for phones or screens

they simply make very very good sounding headunits

the two to watch out for are the mb100 and the fantastic cd700 these are both over ten years old now but you will still annihilate any modern unit on sound quality
 
Could anyone recommend a good double din unit, i have 4th gen ipod nano that i want to play the music from, and a samsung s3 that i would like to connect via bluetooth.
Gps would be a plus but as people have said is better at eye level.
Also anything that will play cd/dvds and has anything bigger than a 6 inch screen.
Cheers

callum
 
good satellite navigation talks to you and tells you where to go .... you listen and then check the picture not the other way round

most of the alpine units will do everything you want and more
 
Hi yer Fazer0 I have to agree with Dualmomo21 on this modern in car hifi units hide behind digital enhancement to hide the poor quality sound and components and that some if not all manufactures hide behind this a car dealer will always sell you the manufacture that gives him the best mark up and remember when you listen in the shop they have ideal conditions for sound quality not the same as you car which is far from ideal , equaliser vs parametric equaliser, an equaliser is multiple tone controls over the entire audio frequency range 20HZ bass to 22KHZ treble the ideal equaliser is 31 band 1/3 octave (have a look at the pioneer dex-p99rs amazing sound quality on cd but I found ipod sounded average but the unit has only got pre-outs so you have would use amplifiers

Normal equaliser has the frequencies fixed, the parametric is more flexible as it allows you to adjust the frequencies them selves via a small amount off movement so in you put two bass frequencies together or mids or trebles so you have more control over the sound but the 31 one band per channel is far better option but only some manufactures seem to pursue this if I got this wrong I'am sure someone will correct me lol
 
yes correct in some things you say
but a parametric equaliser is far more powefull than a normal graphic
a good parametric lets you dial in to an exact frequency so your not limited to a specific band which may well be above or below the actually problem frequency
also a parametric equaliser has an adjustable q which allows you to fine tune the amount of equalisation it provides either side of the problem point a normal graphic has a fixed q point

the problem with both of them is you need very good microphone equipment to set either of them up
the industry standard is an audio control 3050 real time analyser and last time i checked there near on 4 grand
 
Hello people,

its been a few months since the last post but does anyone have any up to date links for double-din sat nav reviews? (seems to be a shortage on the internet at the moment - unless they're just not bringing out new models these days?)

Thanks

Joe
 
i would give it another month or so , all the manufacturers should be releasing new products within the next few weeks
these will have been shown at c.e.s earlier in the year
 
I don't know a great deal about this but surely in this day an age buying a unit with built in nav is a waste of money. Can you not just link your phone to the unit and run either google maps or a satnav app?

I'm seriously debating ditching my built in nav for something aftermarket, I just can't get on with it.
 
audi upgrades
yeh thats a good point i suppose, its either spending 8-900 quid for a Double Din Nav or 3-400 for a standard. hmmm

think ill have to get down to my local shop and test some of these head units out. I still want an Alpine tbh
 
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