Down to 3 choices - any opinions

[mikeherts]

I (think) Ive narrowed my head unit choice down to 3. Just wondered if anyone would give me their opinion on which to get. I can get all 3 for a similar price which makes one a real bargain. Links are simply for memory refreshing, not indicative of where I would buy them

http://www.audio-direct.com/cgi-bin/pgen_asp/big.asp?itemnum=DEHP8400MPhttp://www.audio-direct.com/cgi-bin/pgen_asp/big.asp?itemnum=DEHP8400MP - this is the one that is the real bargain price and I really really like the look of it, but have never been a Pioneer person, although Ive never heard anything bad about them

http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/stock01/kdcm7024.asphttp://www.justkenwood.co.uk/stock01/kdcm7024.asp - this would actually be the cheapest option but I do really like it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007BKQS/202-6360507-8726216http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007BKQS/202-6360507-8726216 - thanks to Evil Ice for making me look at Alpine! I do like this unit, but I would say that it is the least visually pleasing out of my final 3. Ive heard it has good reviews and is the most powerful.

Any opinions are welcome. I must say that the Pioneer is the one grasping me the most but I just dont know which to choose! Another point worth mentioning is that I plan to buy a changer to go with whatever one I get at a later date, so the price of changers would be relevant too.

 

[Daz]

Pioneer.

 

[Leigh]

Mmmmmmmmmmm like the look of the kenny !!

 

[McBunny]

to me they are all nasty except the alpine

 

[mikeherts]

LOL - 3 completely differing opinions!! I expected everyone to go for the Alpine as it seems to be the god of ICE in a lot of opinions!

I like all 3, but if I had to order them on aesthetics only, it would be Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine. However, I know that you shouldnt always go for the smartest looking units.

Why do you say the other 2 are nasty dogmaul? They seem to all be pretty similar feature wise I thought?

 

[Daz]

My Pioneer is great. I had the choice when I got mine, I wanted the Pioneer for months.. and Im really glad I got it! Mines the 6300R - Good features, looks nice, sounds fantastic - what else do you need?

 

[James20VT]

http://www.thezeb.com/images/brands/jvc/KDLH-1000.jpg

i have this head unit in the R5. i love the displays it shows.. also has mp3 playback on it.. which is cool

JVC - KD-LH1100

 

[mikeherts]

That looks a nice one James. I just found the JVC KDLH2000R which is also MP3 & looks identical for 219.99 which seems a bargain. I think Im just getting over tempted by the units with the panels that pop down - dont know why.....probably just more to go wrong on them!

Youre right Daz - as long as it does what you want and looks great, it should be fine.

Its just a case of which I get!! Like I said, I think the Pioneer is getting my vote at the moment.

 

[sammy]

Pioneer

 

[Ben j]

kenwood

 

[James20VT]

Mike.. i think mines the 2000R then.. got models mixed up i think

they still look same anyway

 

[Colin_S]

The Kenwood as a face of and the part taht comes of is very very thin. The Pioneer does not have a face of and is Silver so easily seen by the thiefs!!!

Infact the kenwood is a much better unit, in terms of build quality, the fact that the face is pretty thin where the Pionner is massive.

 

[172gal]

GO SONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FORGET THE OTHERS

 

[Illusion]

Sorry mate, im a Pioneer bandit...even tho ive got a Kenwood at the mo

 

[Mike Wright]

The Pioneer is a good unit however the remote is useless!!!!!! I contacted Car Audio Direct and they didnt want to know!!!!!

DONT BUY IT FROM CAR AUDIO DIRECT!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mikeherts]

I was looking at the Sony CDX-MP70 (or whatever its called - the MP3 one that Renault are offering) but people slated Sony ICE.

I think Im between the Pioneer and the Kenwood at the moment. The Alpine is nice but when you are spending that kind of money, its nice to really want what you are getting rather than get it because its supposed to be better. Unfortunately the Alpine unit does very little for me visually. Its not ugly or anything, just not overly impressive. Considering Im more of a performance freak than an ICE freak, I doubt I would notice the difference between any of them sound wise.

Kenwood is about £50 cheaper than the Pioneer, but the Pioneer has had its price slashed much more (its about £400 everywhere else). Ive had Kenwood before and I know I like them, but the Pioneer looks better in this case.

Ill have a think about it on my night shift tonight. Keep the opinions coming!

 

[MaLicE]

ok forget pioneer for propper sound quality, if u compare it to the kenny or the alpine u will here the difference.

if your gonna get the hu then upgrade speakers etc then either the kenny or the alpine are good, but if i was going kenny i would only ever buy there top of the like the 9*** models bout 100 quid more but u get the display like the pioneer with the 3d images and silghtly better features, i have the alpine 7893r which is the model below the 7894r (only diff is colour and the remote and also i think the preouts are slightly different.) and i love it, i have looked at the kenny 9*** and really like it and if i had the m000ney i would swap my hu for it, or i would wait till the 2003 alpine modles are out over here.



MaLicE

 

[Daz]

Pioneer are better than Alpine and Kenwood.
^ - Thats a Full stop.. therefore, marking the end of the discussion.

Thanks!

Daz.

 

[Illusion]

Joker!

But yeah, i con cur with the boy

 

[MaLicE]

it may sound nice but daz can u say u have herd an alpine in your car???



pioneer i think = teh p00 p00

alpine or kenny or if u can afford it and can put up with the boring looks go for nakimichi.

 

[Daz]

Why would I want to listen to an Alpine in my car, when I already have a superior unit?

So yea, Pioneer is the one to get.

 

[Evil ICE]

I would say Alpine, then Pioneer then Kenwood...just get a bank loan and buy a Nakamichi to make the decision easy.

Out of the 3 listed there the Alpine will be the best quality one. Both in build and sound quality...thats an unbiased opinion as we sell all of those units and also I use a Panasonic headunit.

Pioneers are good units with lots of handy features etc but Alpine units win hands down in most cases..if not in the styling department.

Russ

 

[McBunny]

i hate things that look like they should be on the enterprise my old rockford rfx9300 was plain and simple

 

[HILLY]

alpine 7894 all day long for spl and quality ive got one as well as the rest of the gear. they kick ass so much better than other crap makes pioneer etc

 

[Fred@BTM]

Pioneer

 

[Daz]

Yay!

 

[Dave]

The alpine is a very popular and good quality unit. However I picked up a different alpine which is just as good 7892/3 not sure which for £200. go alpine. if not alpine then go kenwood. dont touch sony. pioneer is a compromise

 

[Adams_16v]

id go for alpine. I was gonna get the same model a bit back. Pioneer is also v good from experiance. but Alpine better!

 

[mikeherts]

From a little tally - which I probably counted wrong anyway! - I make it 6 individual votes for the Alpine, 6 for the Pioneer and just 3 for the poor Kenwood. If someone gave an order of the 3, I took their first as their vote.

I wonder why the Kenwood isnt as popular.

Im still deciding but I really dont think Ill notice a difference between any of the 3 - Im just not that into ICE.

Thanks for the opinions!

 

[Rorrie]

i got the alpine, its awsome, got it from http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/shop/acatalog/CAD_Hot_Deals_104.htmlhttp://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/shop/acatalog/CAD_Hot_Deals_104.html

for £299, ive had no probs with cad

 

[coolspot007007]

Well I vote Kenwood, all the Alpines look the same, and they look in my opinion, sh*te. And looks for me at least are a factor. Ive bought the top of the range Kenwood 3 years running now, partly cos i used to be able to get em cheap, but they are feature packed, look quite good (display could be better) and sound good too. Id recommend this one...(KDC-PSW9524 £399 )