2. misc-audio
  3. 1392992829

Auto audio

Hello AudiogoNers,

I know this isn't a topic often addressed here, but I would like some recommendations about a head unit for my car. Shopping at the usual suspects I find that not one of them talks about the sound quality of their gear but rather whether there's an I-Pod jack and if it's Bluetooth compatible. I've had a Nakamichi for a couple of years, but the transport is getting weak and I'm looking to replace it. Are there any choices besides Nakamichi and McIntosh for those who want good sound in their cars?
128x128macdonj
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,838 posts
 
If you find anything as good as the Nakamichi, let me know.

I had a Nakamichi for a few years and it was heads and tails above anything else I have owned or heard for cars, at least when it worked. :-)

I replaced it with a newer MOTR Alpine. Nothing special, but gets the job done.

With car stereos though, I will say that more watts within any particular line is almost always better as long as the speakers are able to handle it.
macdonj's avatar
macdonj OP
118 posts
 
Mapman, I have an outboard power amp, so I don't care about the wattage of the head unit. Eclipse used to make source/ preamp only head units that sounded good, but they've since quit making consumer audio gear. Sigh. I owned two. The first outlasted the car. The second's transport got dodgy after a couple of years.
ohlala
1,231 posts
 
This takes me back to my CD35z. I agree Eclipse was the only unit as good. I don't think McIntosh makes car audio equipment anymore, and I doubt the sound quality of any brands has improved since I was last looking years ago. Even then there were only a few head units with a good tonal balance. Unless you can audition them and see how bad or good the various brands are currently, I would just buy a new CD400.
csmgolf
871 posts
 
I have been out of car audio for a while now, but Eclipse by Fujitsu Ten makes some excellent head units (at least they used to). Their top line units ere line level only and were built specifically with sound quality in mind. The last one I had was the 8051 model. They are not cheap, but the sound quality is excellent. That model also had an external parametric unit that was designed to be used with it.
macdonj's avatar
macdonj OP
118 posts
 
Csmgolf,

Eclipse doesn't make consumer audio anymore. That's how I ended up finding the Nakamichi I'm using now. Looks like I'll have to go with a new Nakamichi CD400. Even Nakamichi is downgrading, they used to market a CD500 with a bit of DSP, but that doesn't seem to be available anymore.

Ohlala,

As you know, auditioning head units is hit-of-miss at best since they are in a sound board with unknown amps and speakers. I'd have to purchase a couple, install one, listen then repeat. Ugly, ugly.
More to discover