I'm a stereo newb and I have a deck question

[L2RTSiAWD]

Ok so my old sony xplod deck was stolen from my car as you may or may not have read about in the hangout.

So now I need a new deck, is it better to get another sony since the connectors are still there or all deck connections pretty universal?

Excuse my lack of knowledge, I may know about dsm performance but never got into the audio aspect.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Also recommendations for a new deck would be appreciated.

Nothing to high-end, just a nice cd deck.

 

[jessebenner]

If you want to just plug another deck in without any rewiring, you will need another Sony. But even then, different models and different years use different harnesses, so you'll just have to test it first to make sure it will work. Sometimes, even if the plug looks the same, you may still not get all the functions to work properly.

Rewiring a new harness is no big deal, just get whatever deck you want and wire up the new harness.

 

[sexehtopper]

Your new deck will come with a harness of its own to wire to your "car harness" that you had to buy to install an aftermarket deck. all you do is take wires apart from it, and re solder,tape or whatebver you did to the new decks harness.

i recommend pioneer or alpine.

this is the one i recently purchased, i love it, its not all extravegant like my last one, but its gets it done..

http://www.cardomain.com/item/PIODEHP7600MP


also when you buy with sound domain it comes with install kit, dash kit, and wireing harness

pm me if you have any more questions

 

[Redmachine]

hey I have a nice sony deck that you'll probably love. its a mp8800 with active black 52x4 4volt preouts. Check it out over at best buy, it's like 349. THe sound is way cleaner than any pioneer deck I've heard(I had 2 before this one)
Did they get the actual wiring harness from the deck or is it still there, if it is it won't work. the pig tail/wiring harness that you had to buy that connects to the decks wiring harness can stay.

 

[BlackNWhiteRS]

Any deck you buy will come with its own harness, that connects to a mitsubishi to aftermarket harness that you prolly had to buy when you got the last deck. I would also recommend Pioneer, Alpine or even Panasonic. I'm definitely not a fan of sony, I think there sound quality is quite inferior. They look nice but I've also heard too many story's of them breaking.

Although unless your using an amp, your prolly won't notice much a difference between models and to some extent even brands.

 

[sexehtopper]

hey I have a nice sony deck that you'll probably love. its a mp8800 with active black 52x4 4volt preouts. Check it out over at best buy, it's like 349. THe sound is way cleaner than any pioneer deck I've heard(I had 2 before this one)
Did they get the actual wiring harness from the deck or is it still there, if it is it won't work. the pig tail/wiring harness that you had to buy that connects to the decks wiring harness can stay.

What dash kit is that? Mine is kinda FUBAR since i stuffed my TT and boost controller in it.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

I'm not using any amps or subs. I just want a nice deck, I'll check out the ones listed.

As far as the cables that were left behind was everything. They didn't take any of the cables or harnesses, they unplugged them and just took the deck.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

My last one didn't have mp3 playback so on this one I will get that.

Only 10 tracks on a cd gets old when have 100000000 mp3

 

[BlackNWhiteRS]

Atleast they were considerate. When my old car was broken into, they cut every wire they could find almost. My harness was cut, my RCA's were cut, my speaker wires, my neon light wires, everything.

You could probably get a pretty decent deck that even played mp3's for somewhere between 150-200 bucks.

Also, to prevent future theft somewhat, I suggest takign the faceplate off, and either hiding it in the car or taking it with you. Lack of a Faceplate is somewhat of a deterant.

 

[Redmachine]

What dash kit is that? Mine is kinda FUBAR since i stuffed my TT and boost controller in it.

schoshe from walmart. 19 bucks. fitment Kind of sucks, the deck sits kind of far inside so the nice trim piece doesn't fit right.

 

[SoilentGreen98]

Yeah, I saw that in the Hangout, sucks to hear it bro. But if you want my opinion I say don't get another Sony. Car Audio is one thing that Sony really cheats people out on. I heard their older decks were good but ever since this whole Xplod thing they've went to hell. I've been using Clarion and I absolutely love them! Other recommendations: Pioneer, Alpine (make sure you get one of the high end ones though), JVC, Panasonic, and Eclipse, those are all pretty trustworthy IMO.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Well it looks like with mose people are pretty divided on there favorite brand I'll look around and see what I like for a moderate price.

Any good links for websites with a wide selection.

 

[Ryans99OZ]

PIONEER!....once u go pioneer ull love it...dont go with another xplode, they suck IMO...theres some newer mroe expensive Sony's that are nice but i doubt ur gonna have the same harness ..pry just gonna have to buy a new one

 

[Chuckster]

Start tomorrow with your local newspaper flyers. All your local electronic stores will have their sales on display while you sip coffee in robe and slippers.

I'd just make sure you go with a higher wattage unit. I'm not sure what the precise numbers are, but look for over 40 watts a channel.

Mp3 are not that great of quality to begin with. With the 100 million mp3's you have, you shouldn't have any problems buying any brand you know. You might want to save an equalizer (3 bands or more) for another determing factor. Too many mp3's were created back when storage space was at a premium price.

 

[BlueTalon95]

I really like JVC stuff. good quality and good price. Wiring decks in is pretty easy, If you still have the manual from your old sony, you could just cross reference the wire colors from the old manual and the new manual of whatever deck you buy. Let me know if you have any ?'s on wiring, i'm pretty good with that stuff.

 

[pinknuggit]

A few things you might want to consider.

With an mp3 deck, you will be able to hold more songs, but the access time is ALOT slower. I bought a mp3 deck (kenwood z828) whenever they were new and "hot", and they suck. It takes about 5-7 seconds to load a song (i've never seen a mp3 headunit do faster, and i've seen aloooot of headunits), and it will get Extremely annoying especially if you're looking for a certain song on a cd of about 200. Also, most raw mp3's (Before you burn them onto an audio cd) are not normalized, and some will seem louder, yet others will be quieter. If you get the smallest scratch on your mp3 cd, say goodbye to switching tracks remotely fast.
Don't take this as an mp3-bash, but this is my personal experience, and after owning mp3 HU's since they came out, I'm happier with my good ol' CDA's. You can definately tell a difference in quality too (CDA sounds better).

If you don't have a big expensive system, and you're not absolutely concerned about total sound quality, a new sony deck would do you well. The only problem is that the newer they get, the more inclined they are to mechanically fail. You will be lucky to own an xplod deck that retains good mechanical function for over a year.

One thing i saw earlier in the post is a statement about power. The builtin amplifier in head units are small and can only make so much power. They are rated at high powers to attract buyers. The truth is that No headunit on the market today makes One ounce more than 17 watts at anything below 15% thd (distortion). THD is audible at 3% and becomes totally unbearable at 10%. The manufacturer rates the HU at the maximum power the amplifier will give out before it explodes.

A few other decks I would personally reccomend:
-an older Kenwood KDC-6017 or 7017. It's cheap, reliable, stylish, and has the features of most mid-level pioneer decks with alot more ease of use. Most decks will wear out the more you use them (buttons, backlights), but I used this one for a year and a half straight and nothing wore out on it at all. You can usually come across one in good condition for less than 100$ on ebay, and you can seldomly find one New in box for around the tune of 130-150$.
-an older Pioneer DEH-P5200. It has lots of features, and best of all, No screensavers! It's a solid looking deck that is attractive without the gaudy screen savers. It's extremely easy to use and is built like a tank. It doesn't have all the mombo jombo "Sound focus equalizer" or "front imaging enhancer" crap which doesn't do anything. One of the best value per $ decks I've sold/used.
-an older Alpine CDA-7863. Definately an awesome deck. Built strong, and has tons of features.

 

[97eagletalonesi]

i like kenwood when the assholes tried to take my cd deck they got my faceplate and ripped the piece behind to where you can see inside the deck and it still worked but i had to listen to one cd the whole time could not change it. i payed 200 for it and it played mp3 nicely. and was a decent deck. kdc-579 is this yrs model and i can get it for alittle under 200 but im gonna put the pionner that came out of my wifes 95 talon in this for now.

 

[BlueTalon95]

A few things you might want to consider.

With an mp3 deck, you will be able to hold more songs, but the access time is ALOT slower. I bought a mp3 deck (kenwood z828) whenever they were new and "hot", and they suck. It takes about 5-7 seconds to load a song (i've never seen a mp3 headunit do faster, and i've seen aloooot of headunits), and it will get Extremely annoying especially if you're looking for a certain song on a cd of about 200. Also, most raw mp3's (Before you burn them onto an audio cd) are not normalized, and some will seem louder, yet others will be quieter. If you get the smallest scratch on your mp3 cd, say goodbye to switching tracks remotely fast.
.

not sure about kenwood, but my JVC deck takes a max time of 5 seconds to read the mp3 cd when you slide it in, and song loading is almost instantaneous. The annoying thing is to keep pressing the forward button to go to a specific song, but the deck is not to fault here. Your absolutely right about the volume drops on different songs, but there is software for the computer that can fix this, right? Also right about scratches. Not only will you not be able to move through files quickly, but several files are usually damaged by a tiny scratch.

IMO, being able to put all my 80's hair band songs onto only one cd far outways the downsides.

 

[GSXpress]

My Kenwood Excelon deck allows me to switch between folders . I seperate my MP3s into different folders by Artist or Album. It cuts the searching down from 300+ to 15ish. If you want to know the model, I'll run outside and find out for you.

 

[futrgsxonr]

Most of the new decent hu's will read folders as well which is really nice. I have an Alpine 9813 and love it. I've had it for almost 2 years now, and everything still works perfect. With a cd of about 300 songs it takes about 5 seconds to load the cd and then songs are instant. This IMO is the best hu out there. Of course I am bias but this head unit has tons of easy to use features for newbs or the advanced. Also whats nice about these hu's is that all of the most used buttons are on the left closest to the driver so you aren't reaching all the way across your cabin to get to the next song or change the volume. It also comes with a really nice remote. Another great feature is that it has different tilt angles so you can angle your hu's face so where you can see it the best. So I would recommend the Alpine 9813 or any decent Alpine. You will have to find the 9813 on Ebay since it is last years model. Hope this helps.

Later | "B"

 

[pinknuggit]

yeah the 9813 is a good deck. I forgot about that one.

 

[sjwelna]

I really dislike Sony products in general, and after owning an Xplod deck, i'd never buy another one. From what I've seen, they are extremely skip happy, and in our cars, (especially if you have prothanes) you can expect to see some serious skipping.

I have had very good luck with my Pioneer deck, and have seen many people happy with their products. You could also look into Alpine, they make nice HU's.

-Steve

 

[Redmachine]

I really dislike Sony products in general, and after owning an Xplod deck, i'd never buy another one. From what I've seen, they are extremely skip happy, and in our cars, (especially if you have prothanes) you can expect to see some serious skipping.

I have had very good luck with my Pioneer deck, and have seen many people happy with their products. You could also look into Alpine, they make nice HU's.

-Steve

See I must be the only happy owner of a sony. Never skipped, I never had playback problems that you guys seem to have. I on the other hand have owned 2 pioneer decks and hated every last moment with them. They skipped on me, didn't read disks, lost power. I started loving sony after buying my wife the mp70 with the flip down face and cd tray. That thing plays beautifully.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

I went ahead an bought another sony since I liked the last one alot and it's not that expensive.

I bought this one.

http://www.cardomain.com/item/SONCDXF5700?vq_id=none


MP3 playback is great, I popped the cd in (650mb of mp3's) it read all the folders in like 2 sec and when I switch between folders it's as fast as switching tracks on a regular cd.

Even though some of my mp3's have different bitrates the player does a good job of counteracting that and I don't have to keep raising and lowering the volumes between folders and the sound is better than my old xplod deck.

Overall for me it was great for the money