Audio Brand

[Stagea_Neo]

Clarion head units for functionaliy/quality/longevity are very good, thats all I've bought for the last 14 years of driving and put in my vehicles.

JVC, would be my 2nd choice for head units, they are just as good if not better in some respects.

I've installed a couple of these and was very impressed with the features and quality, havent had anyone

call me back saying something broken etc...

Kenwood, 3rd choice, they are good but just not to my liking.

Pioneer are ok, except for the prices on some bits are just ridiculous, need some more features/functionality i rekon.

Sony, i second the opnion that would not piss on it if on fire.

Over priced junk both their home equipment and car equipment.

I have a friend who has constantly bought sony crap from home and in the car over the years and it

has always failed just out of warranty. He just wont learn.

And Sony being Sony, he paid through the arse for just a name.

In my books Sony's name aint worth the ink that is used to print it.

Clarion need sto start making some true 6.5 inch splits again with the rubber buytel surrounds, and decent rms values.

Most of their range use the paper composite surrounds that hold the speaker to the basket which dont last that long.

Shop around for speakers see which suits you, have a listen to the wallbaords set up in the shop, although it wont give an accurate indication of how it sounds in the car, but it will give you an idea of which speakers have better clarity and range.

Also always refer to the rms / nominal rating of the speakers, not the peak.

Match the rms value to the rms value of the amplifier you connect it to so you dont blow up stuff.

In reference to the last comment, even good to have a bit higher rms value on the amplifier than the speakers

so you do not overdrive/overheat the amplifier.

Then adjust the gain/volume on the amp(s) to balance out volume front to rear, also as to not blow up the speakers,

or cause them to distort.

Have fun deciding what to get, there's lots of options.

nearly 4got. Jaycar super tweeters are excellent and good price.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Stagea_Neo

[Jack88]

its personal choice

you will get a lot of mixed opinions on this - go to a few stores and play. if you want clarion gear fire me a PM

completly agree chris! there is nothing more that grinds my gears then someone saying that x brand craps all over this other brand when esentially the components used are the same! after working in the car audio industry for over 4 years i can tell you that you will have very very few of any name brand head unit come back with a fault that wasnt caused by a customer thinking they knew what they were doing or from miss use in some way.

The only real difference from one brand to another is design ie looks and the features it has. now keep in mind that every name brand has a headunit within a few dollars of another name brands unit with basically the same features.

My advice is to figure out exactly what features you want and then to compair units from different brands that meet your requirments once you have established a list of units that meet your needs then start compairing them on looks.

Stagea_Neo: I dont know what clarion speakers you have been looking at but clarion have been using buytel surrounds in there entire range of splits for a rather long time now.its only there base range models that were using the paper composite surrounds. as of there current models,they all use buytel rubber surrounds now.

Jack