What deck would you buy with in the $250 or so range?

[z31maniac]

Discuss.

[jle30]

what do you want it to do? ipod, usb, sat radio, Bluetooth, etc?

[z31maniac]

what do you want it to do? ipod, usb, sat radio, Bluetooth, etc?

Of those 4 ipod would be the biggest, but that's not even a big concern. As long as its a quality deck with Fr/Rr/Sub preamp outs and can play MP3 and those formats I'm open.

I have been out of the audio game for a long time. I still have the Panasonic DF 88 I bought back in early '99 when I was still doing SPL competitions in my 300ZX.

[Dozyproductions]

alpine cda 9885. Nice Ipod and quick Ipod controls and it generally looks sexy in e30 interior. On ebay you can get them $200-220ish shipped to your door.

[bmw325csi]

My only piece of advice is to stay away from the deck with a motorized faceplate. They are only good for a few months then after the start to get stuck. Ive had 3 of em and all have given me problems. I recomened pioneer if anything. However with the new clarions, you can macth the lights to your car so thats a nice touch.

[Dozyproductions]

My only piece of advice is to stay away from the deck with a motorized faceplate. They are only good for a few months then after the start to get stuck. Ive had 3 of em and all have given me problems. I recomened pioneer if anything. However with the new clarions, you can macth the lights to your car so thats a nice touch.

bad advice. Owned at least 5 alpine decks all with motorized faces with some ranging from 5 years to new. Never had a problem.

[StereoInstaller1]

My only piece of advice is to stay away from the deck with a motorized faceplate. They are only good for a few months then after the start to get stuck. Ive had 3 of em and all have given me problems. I recomened pioneer if anything. However with the new clarions, you can macth the lights to your car so thats a nice touch.

IMO, there are precious few decks that look good in an E30. I have a Sony in my dash right now, and it basically does not look right. Plus, poor options as far as USB, Bluetooth, etc.

I have never liked Clarion deck personally, but they do look OK in an E30.

Pioneer will have USB in nearly all of their new decks, then options are limitless in connectivity, as in iPod, other MP3 players, even a hard drive in a housing...but look like ass in an E30.

Panasonic has a few choices. None have exact matches in color, but have some of the best SQ in the car audio world. The CQ-C7413 has been my #1 choice for an E30, but are hard to find now.

Alpine is easily the most problematic deck in the world as far as basic stuff like noise, consistent operation and skipping, especial now that virtually all of them are made in Korea. Reliability has gone in the toilet since about 1998...no thanks, IMO.

As far as motorized face, I will not have anything in my E30 without it, problems or no.

Oh yeah...DP88 FTMFW in 1998...what a great deck! (except for the shitty graphics)


Oh yeah, as far as the looks thing, get a CD43 Business class deck and a Audiocontrol Three.1...you will be totally fucking stunned.

Luke

[Addissimo]

I'd wait for the clarion DRZ785USB to come out. It should be shipping within feb (judging by last year's release of the DRZ775USB). Full 3 way cross-over capability, you can match the illumination color to match your dash perfectly, built in USB control, and optional iTool control.

It looks exactly the same as the 775, but with a black face plate rather than a silver one. The only downside is that it has no volume knob.

-Addis

Edit: The price will come down quite a bit from the 280 it's at now, also.

[Dozyproductions]

Alpine is easily the most problematic deck in the world as far as basic stuff like noise, consistent operation and skipping, especial now that virtually all of them are made in Korea. Reliability has gone in the toilet since about 1998...no thanks, IMO.

I would have to disagree. Pioneer has been plagued with the alt whine issues. I believed they are fixed now though, plus you can get away with the simple "grounding the rca" deal.

I just can't agree with your opinion about "alpine quality" and i need to say something because people take it as fact. Alpine's cda 7998 and 9835 were brilliant decks. They were made back in 2003-04. Yet i can agree that alpine slumped for about 2 years until this year. Highly functional and reliable decks. I ran 7998 for a couple of months last year and never gave me issues. That deck is all about a motorized face.

I have a 9815 right now in the car and it can hang, "SQ" wise, with my older eclipse 8053 and 8443. No noise, no skipping even after i bang my dash to unstick my stuck rpm needle. IF anything i had reading issues with my last eclipse decks a lot more often than my alpine or pioneer.

[wagonizzle]

http://www.midwestelectronics.com/blaupunkt-st-louis-mp56-p-189.html

I love the customizable color on my Blaupunkt. I am not sure if this is still true, but the higher models were well made and sounded great. These days the choices are a little different, but this one looks pretty nice ^

why can't I paste in the post body, r3v?

[StereoInstaller1]

I would have to disagree. Pioneer has been plagued with the alt whine issues. I believed they are fixed now though, plus you can get away with the simple "grounding the rca" deal.

You know, you are absolutely right, I always forget about the whole "Shitty Pioneer Preout" issues, like the Sub out clipping so bad that amps fry, or just sound like ass, or whatever. Certainly are crappy preouts, no matter what. The "RCA ground" is a secret, though...Shhhhhhhh!

I just can't agree with your opinion about "alpine quality" and i need to say something because people take it as fact. Alpine's cda 7998 and 9835 were brilliant decks. They were made back in 2003-04. Yet i can agree that alpine slumped for about 2 years until this year. Highly functional and reliable decks. I ran 7998 for a couple of months last year and never gave me issues. That deck is all about a motorized face.

OK, so let me set something straight for anyone reading this: Just because someone states an OPINION, that does not make it FACT.

Please, internetters, learn to discern between the two.

My OPINION is that Alpine has QC issues, the FACT is that I have had more issues with Alpine than ANY other major brand. See the difference there? If I could get the quality that Alpine offered all through the 80's and early 90's, I would still be their #1 fan...instead, I like Panasonic best, if forced to narrow it down to a single brand name.

Oh how I miss my old Denon!

[Mless5]

Going on the limb here. I purchased used Pioneer prs 880 for $250 with ipod adapter. Here it is in stock form:



Here is my version:



It has a TON of processing capabilities too! I think I am going to keep knobs white for now. They aren't as bright as picture shows adding a little bit of variety. I think all red will be a little over kill. Ideally, I would like to red out corner 4 buttons that are still white.

[Dozyproductions]

You know, you are absolutely right, I always forget about the whole "Shitty Pioneer Preout" issues, like the Sub out clipping so bad that amps fry, or just sound like ass, or whatever. Certainly are crappy preouts, no matter what. The "RCA ground" is a secret, though...Shhhhhhhh!

OK, so let me set something straight for anyone reading this: Just because someone states an OPINION, that does not make it FACT.

Please, internetters, learn to discern between the two.

My OPINION is that Alpine has QC issues, the FACT is that I have had more issues with Alpine than ANY other major brand. See the difference there? If I could get the quality that Alpine offered all through the 80's and early 90's, I would still be their #1 fan...instead, I like Panasonic best, if forced to narrow it down to a single brand name.

Oh how I miss my old Denon!

And thats the problem with me. I dont have the age to have an accurate reference to even early 90's equipment. So when in my earlier post its all depending on rather current products.

I will definitely agree panasonic is a great sleeper company amongst 'audiophiles'. A lot big brand high end features without the big brand high end prices.

[StereoInstaller1]

I dont have the age

oh yeah, thanks.

[Dozyproductions]

oh yeah, thanks.

Or just think of it as me just missing out on a really awesome and long concert of a life time. :p