Just Me? Or Is This The Best Looking Cd Player?

[mike2002]

last year the only cd player that impressed me was a JVC arsenal, this year, its still the only one...due to release in about a week or 2

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-b4aSZ6g28u9/c...os&i=257KDAR860 (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-b4aSZ6g28u9/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&id=morephotos&i=257KDAR860)

inmo, and i havn't seen one in person obviously, its a simple, stylish cd player, the only one i can think of that would LOOK GOOD in our cars.....as in, not stick out like a sore thumb (like my bright silver/blue panasonic in my woodgrain dashed aurora)

ill have to wait till these hit the stores, but i may pick one up. and retail of $260? sweet deal (there's a 960 thats 60 more, all i can see is it adds a sd memory stick input)

1 thing im worried about. anyone ever have a JVC? it looks like the radio reception sucks major A$$. i use the radio alot.....i do have a aftermarket rear window antenna waiting to be installed though.

even the display color matches the interior color of the car....the red buttons match my radar detector...LOL

[bigd6983]

but its still a jvc.......

[Vtolds]

I think it is ugly actaully and very plain, you can get way better looking for that price.

[mike2002]

Originally posted by VTOLDS@Feb 13 2005, 05:47 PM
I think it is ugly actaully and very plain, you can get way better looking for that price.
its only $260, so its not the best in the world

i guess some of use dont like bright ugly silver generic flashy pieces of sh!t, and some of us like things that flow with the car, and look like it could have come stock (classy)

again, i havn't seen it in person, so i cant attest to the fit and finish of the product

[Vtolds]

Mine CD player only cost $120.00 and right now I have the stock Radio in.

[Final-Reality]

It's rather plain, boring, no style... oh and the volume is controlled by buttons, not a turnable knob.

I'll never get a stereo where you have to repeatedly push a button to turn the volume up or down, it's gotta have a knob baby!

[mike2002]

260 is retail, im sure ill be able to pick it up for 200-220ish

i personally dont want a cd player with a million flashy colors, and a silver backplate. 95% of the cd players look like they came out of a spaceship, extremely tacky and completley clash with the car they go in

my alero is tan interior leather w/ halo gauges. the alero is a rather plain car inside, throwin a flashy cd player in the dash ruins the look of the car inmo. this cd isn't flashy at all, and matches the look of the alero's interior very well. black, blueishgreenish display, simple design. i know it doesn't have the quality of a $400 alpine or panasonic, but comparing other $250 cd players it does well.

no one else thinks this would look good and flow with the dash of a alero? the only other decks i like are panasonic, i just dont know if id like the blue...i can change the color of my halo gauges though

PS i do like volume knobs....guess i cant have everything....:P

EDIT this is the one i like from last year...adds touchscreen and voice recognition...and the same "bland" syling...probably the one ill pickup

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IdzeLP48aGf/c...os&i=257KDA5000 (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-IdzeLP48aGf/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&id=morephotos&i=257KDA5000)

[BLK03GXS]

I think my deck looks good
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/Pr...ProductID=13856 (http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13856)
Yours has push button volume, do you carry a club in your car to? lol jk
Get somethin nicer if you want to spend the cash on a system, do it right the first time, you'll be a lot happyer :thumbsup:

[Voodosoup]

Never really liked the look of the JVC stuff, they always have gimmicky animations that look like they would cause ceasures.....

This is much more my style
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-J51185m1fR4/c...9&display=L#Tab (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-J51185m1fR4/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&id=morephotos&pi=1&i=113KDCX589&display=L#Tab)

[FormulaNERD]

you want a knob that only controls volume? lame... i want a knob that controls everything... hahahahahahaha (in a dark villain voice) this knob will take over the world... or something.

http://invision.aleromod.com/uploads/post-10-1108104697.jpg

[mike2002]

did you check that one out vodoo soup? there's nothing gimmicky about that one, bland...i suppose but its pretty gimmick free

i havnt played with them..but ive used alot of the kenwoods at my brother's shop, and i really really dislike them...somthing about them, i just dont like them

if i was doing it right the first time...i doubt id get a alpine...not trying to knock them, there awesome as far as features go, and they look good....but they dont really flow with the car


i guess i just have REALLY different taste then you guys....lol

i do admit that jvc isn't the the best for features, but they do have a ton of features, especially if you look at the ar5000 from last year(5volt pre-outs, subwoofer gain/freq, touchscreen) only thing that the alpine really has over it is awesome deck power, but ive got a amp. im more looking for a deck that will go with the cars style.

[FormulaNERD]

you've also gotta remember, all of us arent running stock, or burlwood :)

[BLK03GXS]

Originally posted by FormulaNERD@Feb 14 2005, 01:20 AM
you want a knob that only controls volume? lame... i want a knob that controls everything... hahahahahahaha (in a dark villain voice) this knob will take over the world... or something.

http://invision.aleromod.com/uploads/post-10-1108104697.jpg
i find this deck UGLY but maybe thats just me

That knob is kinda... too big... haha

[FormulaNERD]

duh dood.. .you think a knob any smaller could take over the world? i dont think so.

[Naich]

I used to have an old JVC el chamelion that I had in my old buick, and that looked very cool for the time (circa 1998)... but this new JVC pretty much looks like the same thing except newer. My Chamelion had bad radio reception, but it sounded ok with my ghetto-cheap-ass system.

[mdodge]

I have a jvc HU :( It's not like that one, has a volume knob which i agree is a must. But is' got good features for what i need. But i like the pioneer premier that best...yeah it's not that good looking, but i bet it sounds good and has got good features.

[FormulaNERD]

mmmm 6.5v preouts and 60X4 mosfet. personalized screen savers and animations galore! drooool
ooo pretty clock... http://pioneerelectronics.com/pio/pe/images/portal/cit_3430/92753471Entertainment_clock_darkblue.gif
and it's not just a knob! it's a seven-way rotary commander for system control, file navigation, and world domination might i add!


Feeling the need for higher power? The DEH-P80MP will fix that, real fast: 60 watts of clean MOSFET power will absolutely flood your vehicle. For convenience (and a high coolness factor) the Auto-Flap Motorized Face silently glides back and forth for CD loading. It also features a totally new design, with a unique 7-Way Rotary Commander for easy operation plus a Deep Blue OEL Display with screensavers and background videos. You can even import your own customized digital movies into the display! Playback includes MP3, WMA, and it’s ready for Satellite Radio (XM or Sirius) and the hot iPod Adapter shipping in Spring ‘05.

For viewing MP3 information, the DEH-P80MP supports both ID3v1 tags and the more current ID3v2. Up to 16 characters can be shown on the display at one time, vs. 8-10 characters on most competitors’ models… meaning that you can see most artists’ full names, not some funky abbreviation

Here’s an example of how easy it works. Let’s say you just threw in a CD-R loaded with all your favorite MP3 files. Here’s how you’d find one specific file:
1. Press the LIST button to view your folders (such as Garage, Electronica)
2. Spin the Rotary Commander dial to select a folder on the display
3. Tilt the dial Right to view folder contents
4. Locate the file you want
5. Press the center of the dial to begin playback
That’s it. Your fingers stay on just one dial, so it’s fast and easy to find what you want and play it.

[mdodge]

^yep, I'd install it.

[FormulaNERD]

Attention current and future iPod owners: this deck can be your gateway to taking your iPod music collection on the road! This spring we’ll begin shipping a new Pioneer iPod Adapter, a small box that can hide under a seat. Once you connect this adapter to your iPod and also to your headunit, you can control your iPod through the headunit and even view album, artist, and other music info on its display. The Pioneer iPod adapter powers your iPod and even re-charges its internal battery. Just think: now you can play all of your iPod tunes via a powerful Pioneer mobile audio system


oh, and it automatically mutes when it hears your cell phone ringing :)

[mike2002]

with 6.5volts that usually means you'd have to attenuate the input...(to high of voltage for most amps) with a 5volt that will work with about every amp (i think mine is 200mv-5v, then 5v-13v or somthing)

if pioneer made a good looking deck, id get it

[sound_xtreme]

past 2 cd players in my alero have been high end JVC's they've both been great.ive had pioneer and they just dont do it for me.

[johny_boy32]

Originally posted by FormulaNERD@Feb 14 2005, 04:43 AM
oh, and it automatically mutes when it hears your cell phone ringing :)
Honestly, ^can you beat that^?

[sound_xtreme]

Originally posted by johny_boy32+Feb 14 2005, 11:47 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (johny_boy32 @ Feb 14 2005, 11:47 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-FormulaNERD@Feb 14 2005, 04:43 AM
oh, and it automatically mutes when it hears your cell phone ringing :)
Honestly, ^can you beat that^? [/b][/quote]
my clarion i bought almost 8 years ago did that, nothing special.

[mike2002]

soundextreme, how was the radio reception compared to stock?

this is the jvc i like the most, last years model, was $400

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-FH31Im8fgtj/c...00&I=257KDA5000 (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-FH31Im8fgtj/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&I=257KDA5000)

I also like this deck. i havn't liked sony in a long long time since my old mobile ES deck, but this one is the kind of look that i like

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-OB2cZ4oGH5f/c...300&I=158F7715X (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-OB2cZ4oGH5f/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&I=158F7715X)

I like the JVC more, but its just rated to get horrible radio reception, sony's always been pretty good

and again...im NOT USING THE DECK POWER, i know that thats were these lack in comparison to alpine/pioneer, but i could care less, already got a 5 channel amp

[sound_xtreme]

sony sucks. my jvc's reception isnt bad, about the same as stock.

[mike2002]

alright, its official.........after alot of looking, im 99% sure this is the HU im ordering

http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/2004_p...s/DXZ745MP.html (http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/2004_products/source_units/DXZ745MP.html)

its last years model (this years are ugly unless you get the 855's or 955's) so i can get it for $200 new (originally 400), shipped if i look real hard. im just going to wait a week or 2 as my brother is picking up clarion in his shop, i may be able to get a even better deal through him

anyone have anything good or bad to say about clarion? i used to have a 7375z back in the day....nice deck for its time (like 5 years ago)

[mikegett]

Mike2002, Go with what you want in a HU. I agree with you that allmost all decks look pretty bad. My eclipse, Alpine, and Panasonic look way to flashy. Bright lights, black and aluminum, lotts of alpine buttons. Not what I call style. The only thing I can say about appearance is that OEL displays will never be in my car. Besides the fact that I prefer a well reproduced sound over a floating dolphin, they just suck in daylight. There is a reason that VF displays cost nearly three times the amount. They may not look as good, but they have the highest contrast and brightness of any display on the market. Another suggestion is to stay away from touchscreen. I had a '88 eclipse cassette deck with touch screen DSP. It was cool for about one week.
After that I became frustrated with all of the finger prints. Try to imagine what is the first reaction to cleaning finger prints. Do not use glass cleaners or any other car chemicals. The plastic coating over the display will dry out and eventually crack.

[tenny]

my buddy has that JVC in his trans am, the5000 one, last years model, and it's an AWESOME deck

[1WhiteOSV]

we just got those in at Best Buy...I'm not too impressed with them..I installed one yesterday in a Honda Accord and I think it looked like garbage.

[mike2002]

i saw the silver one that best buy has. looks like its about the same, only silver. im really unimpressed with how dim the display is, maybe it just got washed out. i havn't seen any of the NEW jvc decks, the high end ones at least. but it did look alot better in the pics

i did see the other deck, the clarion dxz745mp at M&M car audio, and it looks really nice in person, it has a very high quality look and feel to it. the knob feels very solid, opens fast and ejects cd's very quickly, overall looked better in person. so im pretty set on the clarion deck, just waiting for the dealer price list and my tax return

[Alero04]

mike2002...why would u want to get a deck to FLOW with the car? jsut keep it stock! the whole point of getting a deck is to make it look better then it does stock...well, thats what *I* thought anyway. u do mods to make the car look hotter...or am i just dreaming and not making any sense?! lol :lol:

[mikegett]

It depends on what is more important to you. Flash or sound quality. If you only want looks, then buy a new deck that you like. If you want sound quality but dislike flash ( I don't like it either) then look for a decent HU that tries to be a HU.

[Schimmel03]

ok, ok. I like the cd player that FormulaNerd showed, But I just can't get over the lack of design on the left side of it. Its just so plain. Anyhow, I do however like the Pioneer deck thats a step below that one.
http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/180068/fullsize/h130DEHP770-f.jpeg

I just bought this one for my fiance for her birthday. Shes been complaining about it for a while now and she saw me looking at this one and got all googly eyed. Anyhow, we'll see how this one is when it comes in the mail.

[HAZED]

mike i remember u saying u hade the eclipse 5484 and the 5444 whats the best dif between the both and whats <vf> display????

[mikegett]

I have owned a few units. The eclipse 5303R produced around 97. The best sounding deck ever. Period. The E5510MDT. A Japanese Minidisk unit with built in five disk changer. Very nice, but I couldn't get US stations. The Eclipse 54430. My favorite design in a HU. I loved this radio. I looked exactly like the Mini disk but was black. And currently the cd8454. The cd5444 is the unit below the cd8454. The main difference is that the cd8454 adds parametric eq's, a digital input, eight volt preouts, and the vf display. The vf display is the primary reason that I went with the 8454. It looks the same as the other units lcd with the exception of being white characters. The contrast and brightness of a Full-dot Vacuum Fluorescent (VF) Display is the highest in the industry. If you are concerned with seeing the display in daylight then buy a unit that uses one of these. I have used this HU for over six months and have the contrast turned to 60 percent with zero visibility problems. If you live in a area where sunlight is not a large factor, then concider saving some money and going with a lower unit. The parametric eq's are nice but I still prefer external controls. Eight volts sound cool, but most amps you find on ebay will only except four to five without inducing noice. If you realy want sound quality look at the output signal’s impedance and not voltage. Eight volts give you 55 ohms just like the five volt units. These two eclipse models still have the lowest impedence of any US HU. Even the alpine F-1 carries a 75 ohm impedence. If you drop down to the 2.7 volt eclipse the impedence shoots up to 330.

[HAZED]

i must say u really know your eclipse... well thanks im looking into another head unit and found the 8454 drop price for 500 and they have no units in good guys so they offering to sell the store display for around the same price of the 5444 :D

[mikegett]

Sounds good. You may try and see if they will go down to 450 for the demo. That will still give them a 150 dollar profit on the unit.
CD5444 $225.00
CD8454 $300.00
It all depends on how bad they want to get rid of the deck. The other thing you can concider is paying 500 and have them instal it for free.

[mikegett]

Here is the 5303r. Hands down the best sounding deck I have ever owned. The display was the killer. It was the first HU to offer a large flip down lcd display. The contrast was horrible and virtualy impossible to see in the day. It was a preamp only model featuring the first five volt preouts.

[mikegett]

This is a picture of the 5509. The eight volt version of my 54430. I still find this to be my favorite style. It had a very clean look to it. The sound was amazing, just like the 5303r. The problem with this year was cd skipping with cd-r's. I was lucky to be one of the few to aviod it. It took nearly a year for eclips to discover exactly what was causing the problem. Turned out to be two intermittent problems. One was bad memory modules. Another was the power supply. It had to have a constant 12 volts or errors occured. Some older cars only supplied 11 -14 volts. I never should have sold this unit. Hands down my favorite.

[mikegett]

This is the E5510MDT from Japan. It looks exactly like the 54430 only mine was silver instead of black. The deck contained a five mini disk changer. My supervisor removed the tuner and placed a av input in its place. This made it easy to input my 54430 into the minidisk unit and out to the amps. I still find minidisk to be the best compression alternative. Everyone that had been in my car found the sound to be as good as cd and in some cases seemed better. Now I just need to let my wife put it into her new car.

[HAZED]

i remember that deck 5559 great deck love the deck dif from what everyone hade ALpine kenwood ect im really interested in eclipse deck maybe even AVs style deck with the 7 inch lcd flip up .

[mikegett]

If you are interested in a in dash dvd go with the flip up units. The double dins are very hard to see in daylight. The flip ups give you the versatility to tilt the display to a good angle.

[HAZED]

oh man just seen this great flip up man that was sick kenwood "still looking around :lol:

[mike2002]

Originally posted by Alero04@Feb 22 2005, 02:53 PM
mike2002...why would u want to get a deck to FLOW with the car? jsut keep it stock! the whole point of getting a deck is to make it look better then it does stock...well, thats what *I* thought anyway. u do mods to make the car look hotter...or am i just dreaming and not making any sense?! lolÂ;-) :lol:
i guess you could use the same motto for clear taillights, fart cans, chrome hubcaps and LED's........but they sure dont flow with any car inmo

i like those eclipse decks....hey mike, how do you like clarion? clarion decks have the same "style" of looks as those eclipse's, or at least the dxz745mp im looking at does. i was messing with it in a store, and it has a very quality look/feel to it. i really liked how fast the face opened and how quickly it took/ejected cd's. im still waiting on there prices though :(

http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/2004_p...s/DXZ745MP.html (http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/2004_products/source_units/DXZ745MP.html)

mike knows a ton about eclipse because he works for them! lol

[mikegett]

I love the new DXZ745MP. The look and style is great. Clarion has always had some nice decks. Most of there decks have always carried higher ratings than alpine in sound quality. The new DX seems to hold to it. I noticed that they added the external power supply. A very nice touch. Just be certain to avoid putting it near any power sources or they will induce noise as well. One thing I am curious about is the internal crossover. They use a simple and promode like the eclipse. On eclipse you have to use promode to defeat the crossover. A feature that I dislike greatly. If you get price quotes let me know. I am curious as to what the deck will range. The copper chasis will probably put it around the 900 dollar range. One more note. It has a VFD display. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[kwhauck]

Originally posted by Final-Reality@Feb 13 2005, 04:59 PM
It's rather plain, boring, no style... oh and the volume is controlled by buttons, not a turnable knob.

I'll never get a stereo where you have to repeatedly push a button to turn the volume up or down, it's gotta have a knob baby!
i'll stick with a remote, then i don't have to lean forward to turn a knob... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[mike2002]

Originally posted by mikegett@Feb 26 2005, 01:59 PM
I love the new DXZ745MP. The look and style is great. Clarion has always had some nice decks. Most of there decks have always carried higher ratings than alpine in sound quality. The new DX seems to hold to it. I noticed that they added the external power supply. A very nice touch. Just be certain to avoid putting it near any power sources or they will induce noise as well. One thing I am curious about is the internal crossover. They use a simple and promode like the eclipse. On eclipse you have to use promode to defeat the crossover. A feature that I dislike greatly. If you get price quotes let me know. I am curious as to what the deck will range. The copper chasis will probably put it around the 900 dollar range. One more note. It has a VFD display. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I just got my tax return, so i just ordered the deck. its a 2004 clarion dxz745mp, the original retail was wither 499 or 599. but since its a 04, and 05's just came out i got it for $175 shipped :D

hey mike, ive got another question for you. since we have a 2din opening, and its a 1 din deck, i could either go with a pocket, or somthing below the deck. then i saw this

http://www.clarion.com/usa/products/multimedia/SRK5.html

its a center channel speaker, usually used for 5.1. my last deck (panasonic 901u i believe) had a cheesy motorized flip out tweeter, but the thing about it, is with that tweeter on low, it made it harder to seperate where the sound was comming from, and actually added alot to the sound inmo. i can get one for $80ish so im not quite sure if i want one. right now i have 6" components in the factory spots, and tweeters in the factory spots, and you can distinguish where the sound is comming from, it would be nice to bring the soundstage up front some and make it harder to tell where the sound is comming from.....but do you have any thoughts on this?

[mikegett]

A true five point one will only send mid ranges to the center channel. I love them. A friend of mine had a nissan 300 with the bose center channel. It sounded very nice. I added a midrange in my ford, just under the radio, and liked it alot. I didn't have five point one decoding but it seemed to do a nice fill. Just avoid highs. The lower the frequency the easier it can blend without noticable coloring. This is why tweeters are so directional. You may have to put a crossover onto this and eliminate some of the highs since it incorporates full range. Good choice on decks. Let me know how you like it.

[HAZED]

yah let us know!!!!!!!!!! :popcorn:

[stealthlero]

Originally posted by turbo-alero+Feb 26 2005, 07:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (turbo-alero @ Feb 26 2005, 07:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Final-Reality@Feb 13 2005, 04:59 PM
It's rather plain, boring, no style... oh and the volume is controlled by buttons, not a turnable knob.

I'll never get a stereo where you have to repeatedly push a button to turn the volume up or down, it's gotta have a knob baby!
i'll stick with a remote, then i don't have to lean forward to turn a knob... :lol: :lol: :lol: [/b][/quote]
:lol: exactly Kyle, they work wonders!!