Head Units

Is it me or is every Head unit offered today a total POS. This the third head unit that has died on me and they are all

newer style Pioneer,JVC, Clarion have mp3 usb etc options. They all died within 4-6 months several drove me nuts thinking

my wiring was bad, NO just a crap radio. Anyone have any good experiences with head units it can be DVD or CD as long

as it has USB or MicroSD. The reviews for newer units are abysmal and that ranges from the 79 dollar Pioneer to the 300

dollar Sony. It seems most of the higher end head units aren't even made anymore ie. Rockford makes nice marine

units but nothing for cars and Nakimichi makes a mediocre CD unit that is over 200. Any thoughts, experiences or

suggestions on this subject would be great. Most of the used higher end units are outdated and who wants to pay

300-500 for a 5-10 year old head unit used with no warranty .. not me!

I've been a Kenwood fan for years.  I currently have a Kenwood unit in my daily that's a CD w/ the usb and I've been rocking it for a little over 3 years.  I think I paid like 139.99 for it with a 4 year warranty.  Best Buy carries it for sure.  They still have a similar one to what I have, just a little newer.  I also have a Kenwood CD player that is 13 years old and still works, but the LCD went out, otherwise still works.  I've always had good luck with Kenwood over the years from head units to speakers, to amps.

My favorite deck of all time though is the JVC El Kameleon I had in the lowrider back in the day.  That was the coolest designed deck I've ever owned.  Had it 3 years and sold it with the car still functioning perfectly.

I had a lot of Home Hifi from Kenwood but don't think I had but maybe one car unit. I do see the eXcelons listed on

their site maybe I should look at them. I had few Alpines and Clarions that I loved but that was 90s or early 2000s product

the new stuff isn't cut from the same cloth especially Clarion(1 of 3 POS lol) they are junk now.



Well I found a Pioneer that actually has no bad reviews about it's reliability or usability .

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/DVD-Receivers/AVH-P1400DVD

Found a NOS unit for reasonable (under 150) in a town where my cousin grew up I seen that as a sign LOL.

I will post install pics and info soon

Ive also only ever used kenwood and pioneer, and both were no problems, i have the kenwood kdcx494 in mine now, bought it in 2011 when someone broke in my other caprice and stole the pioneer, its still works great.

Back in the days before in-dash cd players I had a killer Yamaha head unit. Pull-out chassis and all.

If you use a din-chassis unit, there's room for a 1/2 din EQ to be mounted above it.

I have a cheezy JVC head unit in my blazer but it uses my steering wheel controls, so that makes it cool. It has all the goodies, usb, ipod, etc. It was something like $139 at best buy. I've had it for a little over a year and still haven't figured out how to turn the damn thing off without removing the face off it. Sooner or later I'm going to have to read the instructions, lol!

I am going to hope this Pioneer which although new was made a couple of years back is better than what is available

now. My favorite brand used to be Clarion I had few tape decks and CD decks but the stuff they make now is really not

good at all. Pioneer used to always have good product but now hmm well I guess I'll find out the hard way......

I mentioned this rough winter were having and this is also delaying my install as I need the car dry to seal some leaks and

I want to insulate the radio from the rest of the dash as well to avoid problems. I have some rubber and some pliable

sheeting to seal and box it in. The gist of all this I drive around Radioless, ah the purr of that 305 at 5300rpm .... yeah.

I was also thinking of using the Deutsch DT connectors in future wiring anyone use these I have heard good things but

haven't gotten around to try them.