alright well, i think its time to ditch the stock HU in my car.. im looking for a single din headunit.. ive always had pioneer headunits in my cars before, but ive also heard great things about alpine units as well.

what does everyone suggest these days? basically between pioneer/alpine!

GO!

 

I also am a fan of alpine head units but the specs didn't match up with pioneer. For the same money Pioneer offered units very similar with a 4v preamp voltage (versus 2v for alpine). The other thing is that most Alpine units have blue lights, the pioneer units I looked at all have variable lighting. I just installed the new 8400bh and I love it. Incredible improvement in sound, just using some of the preset eq's. Pandora in the automobile is really awesome too. Open to answering any other questions.

I think I still like the interface for alpine, but I haven't spent much time with the Pioneer yet.

 

awesome, the 8400bh is what i was looking at too!

thanks for the response!

 

Not a problem. I took pictures of pretty much everything and figured I would create a how to thread. I know there is already one on here but I never found one that had everything all in one place, although it is super easy. If you have any other questions, just let me know. I dont know how much you have read on here but everyone talks about how the Pioneer units do not fit that well. I didn't have any problems although I did remove the mounting sleeve on the head unit. I have mine installed with the trim but the trim does sit behind the dash piece, but I liked that look over having my unit sticking out 1-2". I still may play around mounting it though. Concerning mounting the mic, I used/attached the clip that they supply with the mic, it clips loosely onto the steering column top cover piece. Attach the top cover while holding the loose clip into the groove, and when you lock the cover piece back in it will create tension and hold the mic firmly in place. This is the same placement that turco used, if you saw what he did, but I didn't have to drill holes into the cover piece.

 

do i have to pick up a harness for the new HU?

 

You don't HAVE to, but its way easier to do this way - other wise you will have to hard wire it. Either order off of crutchfield and they will supply you with the correct harness. It is just a lancer harness if you order elsewhere.

You will either use barrel connectors or a solder tool to connect the wire harness to the harness that connects to the head unit. Match up the colors, and that is it.

 

I actually returned my 8400BH today, I liked it and it sounded great, but the display of the screen really doesn't work with our car. If you look at the images the LCD screen sits low in the frame, and so this part of the screen is not viewable from a normal sitting position. I noticed it when I first put it into the car, and it wasn't as noticeable when driving at night which is when I do most of my driving so I ignored it. I feel like its a design flaw with the system (I mean even looking at it head on the display is flush with the frame - due to the CD slot on the face of the 8400, the screen had to be pushed down to compensate. The 9400 Cd slot is behind the face (flap face), so there is space between the frame and all sides of the screen. Hopefully it works out - went with the 9400 unit should get here on Wednesday.

DO NOT BUY DEH-8400BH for EVO IX - I tried adjusting the angle by only using one screw on the bracket and its still off quite a bit.

 

i just bought the 9400 myself!

should be here next week, thanks for all the advice!

 

Yes. I am glad you read my last post before purchasing a head unit and opted for the 9400. I would have felt very bad if you purchased the 8400 after I recommended it initially.

I also will have mine next week. Good luck with everything.

 

I just realized that I met you yesterday. Good luck.

 

i installed the 9400 in my car today.. holy crap, the improvement is unreal!! i cant believe i never upgraded before!

 

nice meeting you as well!

 

Yeah, the improvement is pretty incredible. I installed it last week and had to drive home to see the family for easter. The ride was much more enjoyable
listening to random music (pandora instead of pre-made CD's). It really helped the bass in the car (only 1dB on bass boost), it even sounds like a have a small sub in the rear deck.

I highly recommend this head unit.

 

Hi guys,
I've been considering the Pioneer DEH-8400BH and 9400BH as well. I was sort of leaning toward the 9400 since I think it looks a little cleaner. Does the bluetooth mic work well in our cars with all the road and exhaust noise? I think I read a post somewhere that there is so much background noise that the other guy can't hear you at all rendering the bluetooth useless. What do you guys think? Is your exhaust modified? Have you tried streaming music from an Android phone via bluetooth as well? Thanks for any input.

 

On factory speakers? And the improvement is that good? Is so, I need to change
Mine out ASAP