[absentiabanish]

I like Apine also but I have to admit I've had two Alpine head untis in the past and loved them both. I now have a Pioneer dehp6900ub which has a usb 2.0 port on the back and I would not give it up for anything in my Jeep. I think Alpines are great in cars and in sq systems but in a Jeep the slightly less sq sound is better in my opinion.

[Hoosier03]

I will agree that alpine makes good products I just think that for the price you pay their are better brands in terms of warranty/cust service, I had an Alpine that started spitting out CD's and I tried to contact them and they gave me nothing, that is why I say eclipse...

sorry I wanted to clairify!

[Metzgerhund]

Sorry but Sony went down hill along time ago. I would have normally never recommended a Panasonic headunit to anyone, but I have to tell you this one I recently installed has really impressed me. Great sound quality with all kinds of featues including HBP crossovers and LBP crossovers. Surround sound, seperate subwoofer controls, adjustable sound control from seat specific areas. It has 2 aux. inputs, and is setup for addition of DVD player plus more. Really can't say anything bad about it. I have always used Eclipse, Pioneer and Alpine like most on here, but I have no problem putting this headunit right in there with them.

When I bought the Jeep it had a cheaper Panasonic headunit in it already. It actually had a decent sound quality to it, just not a lot of options besides your normal bass, treble, etc. crap. Since the sound quality was pretty decent I figured why not just try one of their top of line headunits. Plus the fact that since the plugs would be the same on the backs of the radio, it would be a very quick swap. Haven't regretted this decision one bit.

The Panasonic model number I speak of is the CQ-C9901W. Here's a couple pics.

[mylt1]

the panasonic deck i have kicks ***. one of the few decks that actually puts out 25w rms per ch. sounds great even compared to my older alpines. the thing with alpine has nothing to do with cost. any time i had a problem i went back to the dealer and it was fixed in no time.

[skid2964]

Well, crap!

I had chosen the same Sony unit, mainly for the USB port. I am not looking for a stereo that will blow the fenders off, just a nice system.

[osiris1741]

Originally Posted by skid2964

Well, crap!

I had chosen the same Sony unit, mainly for the USB port. I am not looking for a stereo that will blow the fenders off, just a nice system.

I'm kind've similar. I'm not looking for superior sound quality. I dont plan on adding big subs or anything. I mainly just need something that has the ease of a front USB port, a low cost (poor man here ), and decent sound. Enough to drive the stock speakers and sub that I already have. FYI, the sub I have is the one thats in Sahara's in the center console.

[SirGCal]

The only head units I will ever buy are Alpine, Eclipse and Clarion. Everyone else has too many problems here or there. On my never-buy list are Sony and Kenwood to name a few of the big-dogs.

[mylt1]

sirgcal why the no kenwood? i have one that was in my XJ for years with no problmes. i took it out to put in my new truck but switched back to my panasonic because it had a sub out that the kenwood didnt have. other than that i have never had a problem with it.

[SirGCal]

Originally Posted by mylt1

sirgcal why the no kenwood? i have one that was in my XJ for years with no problmes. i took it out to put in my new truck but switched back to my panasonic because it had a sub out that the kenwood didnt have. other than that i have never had a problem with it.

Honestly, I've replaced more of those than any other brand. Their motors are weak, electronics are sub-par. Pretty much all over-hype. Actually, I just had a friend with a very high-end KW in his Chevy but it never did sound right no matter what we tried. I blew it off to sub-par speakers, amps, etc. So a few years go by and he wants a new unit and I recommend my list and he picks a mid-line Alpine. And even to my amazement, putting it in and resetting his amps again properly solved all of his SQ problems. The sound is fuller, cleaner, sharper and he doesn't have to have them warranty the motorized face every year or so (his was in the shop twice as an example). They aren't all bad, but hit&miss enough that I don't recommend messing with them. Some of them just have the dumbest problems, some work for life... That's the whole problem.

[osiris1741]

Anybody else?

[hawaii]

I had a lower end Panasonic deck in my TJ, it is great quality. The faceplate takes a beating, sliding out of my jeep while driving, being rained on while sitting on the dash and it continues to work. I would buy a Panasonic before I buy a Sony, their quality has seriously gone down hill in the past 3 years.

[osiris1741]

Anybody seen any similarly priced units to the Sony that has the USB input?

[jaminb]

why is everyone hating on sony? i just got a CDX-GT520 for $170 installed. I searched for 2 months trying to find a good head unit that was around $150 that had a big display, aux in,and had the ability to control my ipod down the road.(for sony its an extra $50). I looked at pioneer and one that was close to the same features of the sony was about $200, and that didnt have an ipod adpater either. I looked for reviews all over and from what i gathered, if your looking to build a huge top of the line system sony is not for you, but if want a good bang for the buck and it still sounds pretty damn good get a sony. So back to my question? whats wrong with sony?

[SirGCal]

There isn't anything 'wrong' with Sony or Kenwood from that point of view... It's just I see tons of failures from Kenwoods. And Sony's & Kenwood's electronics aren't what they could be. For you're daily driver, sure knock yourself out. I wouldn't but I'm overly-anal about such things. And Alpine, Eclipse, Clarion all make bargain level items also so I just have no need to ever look outside those three (until something better comes along). Like I've said before, if you're happy with it, then there's nothing wrong with it. Hell, I've build near-competition rigs out of all Dual junk. And it sounded surprisingly OK. Wouldn't win any awards against anyone with better electronics but for a daily driver, it was very nice. Different level of looking at things.

[Slithering_Joe]

Sony is towards the bottom of the list - junk. They can only make TVs. I have come to the conclusion that if Sony makes something that has a moving part in it then it will break. I have owned a few Sony receivers, players, etc. to have them fail for some reason. They do not make quality. I had a '94 and now I have a '96 Mustang. I have had a tons of problems with the radio in the '94. It's been replaced 4 times when it was new. The '96 just has a mind of its own but works. I was not surprised to see that these factory radios said "Made by Sony for Ford..." on the side of it. The MACH 460 is not a bad factory system though.

I'm a big fan of Alpine but the very last one I owned was back in 1994. I won a few trophies in sound competitions with that stereo. Every vehicle that I have seen that won anything in a sound competion stereo had either an Alpine, Eclipse or Clarion (pro) installed. I can't say honestly if they still have the edge they did back in the day since I have been out of it for such a long time. The Alpine unit I had was great. I do have to say back then that Kenwood was good too. Companies now it seems are just names anymore. I hope Alpine still has it.

I own the Pioneer DEH-P77DH for the Jeep. I only got it for the 'alarm' system, the DIN+1/2 size and a few other features. I really don't care much for the sound quality in a Jeep. I have no complaints with this radio.
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