Which AV receiver for car?

[AlmostAmerican3]

i didnt see anywhere else to put this, and since im a newbie, this seemed like the right place to post. I need a new receiver for my car. I have predeliction towards Pioneer, and have come down to 2 seemingly awsome A/V in-dash receivers. Its between the following

Pioneer DEH-P7700MP

or

Pioneer DEH-P6700MP

*is there a difference between the 2 mentioned above? i mean, a big difference in audio quality?

any suggestions welcomed for other alpine or kenwood models, or especially pioneer. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[twoksl2]

get the best one you can afford, if you plan on using external amplifiers then the 7700 has 3 preouts where the 6700 only has 2,
the 7700 also has AAC support, and an OLED display (its a new type of display technology)

 

[zumbo]

ALPINE. ALPINE. ALPINE.

 

[MarkOcena]

Alpine is probably the best deck manufacturer right now, followed by Pioneer. I have an older Pioneer DEH-6500, and when I compared it to Kenwood (terrible!), JVC (I like how some of them blink to the beat), and Sony, you could clearly tell the Pioneer was the best. I don't know how much better is, but maybe Zumbo will fill you in with that.

 

[MarkOcena]

MB Quartz

Hey Zumbo, some of the guys I work with have MB Quartz for they're car audio systems. Do you as well or just at home?

 

[krzywica]

Alpine

I'm with Zumbo on this one. Alpine has the cleanest sounding head units out there right now IMHO.

When shopping keep in mind mobile audio is a whole nother animal than home audio. Most of the time your stock head unit will not have enough power to push the speakers. You will usually have to go with a good four channel amp to get nice clean reproduction.

So.....try to find a reciever with good visual quality and good features (of course good build quality is a must).

As far as good amps go stay away from major retailers and go with names like Phoenix Gold, Cadence, Eclipse, ect.

Happy shopping!

 

[zumbo]

Hey Zumbo, some of the guys I work with have MB Quartz for they're car audio systems. Do you as well or just at home?

I am not into car audio anymore. I have a stack of equipment though. I have a three-way set of seperates from MB Quart(6.5",4",.75") I used on a Linear Power 1502, A two-way set of seperates from MB Quart(4",1") I used on a Linear Power 952, Kicker Solo-Baric I used on a Linear Power 2202(modified), Audio Control 24xs, Audio Control Epicenter, Audio Control ESP, all ran by an Alpine.

I had all of this in a '98 Silverado. It was a good clean sounding system. I am not into a "boomy" system, and I only had room for one 10" under the rear seat. I had a custom MDF box made to fit the 12" there. It was a tight fit. Anyway, I decided to consume mass quantities of beverage and wrap it around a power poll. So I got a '00 Tundra and put the Alpine, sub and sub amp in it. Kept it for five years, and now have a '05 Tacoma. Not going to install any of it in this one. I don't spend much time in it. Just to work and back.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Stick with Pioneer for car audio if you like highs and flexibility. I've had Sony, Pioneer, Alpine, and Clarion head units and I've always swore by Pioneer for their excellent parametric eq's. No other units seem to have the flexibility in sound the Pioneers do. I still have the DEHP 4400 with a 892 watt monobloc amp and 2 P.Miller 10" subs. The Pioneer unit IMO is so good I have yet to replace the stock door and dash speakers, as well as the need to add an amp to power them. Go with the 7700. If you need advice, ask the installers what they prefer and use. They'll steer you in the right direction. Alpine is my second choice. Kenwood, JVC, Sony, and the rest just don't hold a candle to these two.

 

[twoksl2]

if youre going to go all willy-nilly and start suggesting head units them my vote is eclipse. i like them way better then any other head unit i have had or used, including, alpine, kenwood, pioneer rockford, u name it and ive pretty much used it.

but of the two head units that he was looking at i still say the 7700 is the best one

 

[AlmostAmerican3]

Stick with Pioneer for car audio if you like highs and flexibility. I've had Sony, Pioneer, Alpine, and Clarion head units and I've always swore by Pioneer for their excellent parametric eq's. No other units seem to have the flexibility in sound the Pioneers do. I still have the DEHP 4400 with a 892 watt monobloc amp and 2 P.Miller 10" subs. The Pioneer unit IMO is so good I have yet to replace the stock door and dash speakers, as well as the need to add an amp to power them. Go with the 7700. If you need advice, ask the installers what they prefer and use. They'll steer you in the right direction. Alpine is my second choice. Kenwood, JVC, Sony, and the rest just don't hold a candle to these two.

well, i got a really good deal on the 6700 cause my friend got a discount from work i did like how the 7700 had 3 preouts, but couldnt i just get a crossover and add an amp later if needed? most likely i would use 2 when i get the money for some subs, but so far, the speakers seem to be doing fine without the amp, although i most likely will get one when i get a better car. I dont think ill be needing the 3rd preout because of this, or so i hear i can do so with a crossover...if i cant, oh well. still better than the sony xplod that came with the car....piece of **** sony...