Does anyone know of a good website/forum/blog which covers car audio equipment? I'm specifically interested in finding out about upcoming Navigation units before I commit to a specific system.... I have a feeling Alpine has something up their sleeve...

I've tried looking and keep find sub-par audio magazines...

 

crutchfield.com

 

go to sounddomain.com and go to the forum section. Search engine sucks but some really knowledgable guys on there.

 

thanks... well, I searched and found a couple of other places myself aswell... I will definetly be staying clear of the AVIC-N2 unit... anyone here have personal experience with the Kenwood units?

 

"Kenwood"

I had a top of the line unit in my Subaru. The sound quality was ok but here are a few comments.

1) Alpine and Blaupunkt (high end) units sound better (e.g. better equalization).
2) Kenwood units typically have little buttons that are a pain to utilize on the road.
3) I'm not sure that I like Kenwood's looks at this point.
4) You can spend a great deal of money on Kenwood and I'm not sure that it would be well spent
5) The Kenwood was reliable.

It's too bad that the Evo doesn't have a double DIN opening as there would be many interesting navigation options in that case. I have a TrafficPro (single DIN) in one of my cars and with an external amp it really works and sounds great.

 

I appreciate the info! The reason I'm looking at the Kenwood is because of the way it flips outward.... I have my radio relocated to my lower DIN so I'm afraid a standard flip wont work down there... I have an all Alpine system ready to put in (from my 03 EVO) but I wanted to replace the HU with a screen this time around.

Good to know the Kenwood is reliable though (big + since I had a previous Pio get stuck on me).

And yes... a double din solution would be tops..

 

i had the avic-n2 and it works great except it takes some work to bypass to watch video...i didnt even mess with that stuff... this is the only navagation indash system i found...i thought this would be the top of the line piece... i went and traded in my evo and had to take the system out but dealership was a dick so i kept the evo but the system is still off the car.. the highlight of this system i think is the rear view camera (extra) which i can watch the car behind is losing....lol

 

I have the n1 and love it. I just installed the new clarion double din unit that has a 30 gb internal memory, memory stick input, navigation, dvd/cd/dvd combo in a customers car and was not impressed at all with it...($2300)

 

ummm... in imo... Blaupunkt sucks money dick

I use a Eclipse by Fujitsu Ten... i have a 8 volt preout with my balance line driver =)... there new line up is still in question of how good it is ...but last years 8000 series .. = the pwnt

also another good line Pioneer... Premier line up some of the best comp decks are the premier decks

that's just my 2 cents =)

 

Could someone explain to me what the differnce between these two HU's is? Other than the fact the XXV-05V is the 25th Anniversary edition?

 

double din in the evo!!! can you send some pics.. I have been looking forever to find a kit for a double din in the evo.

 

i got the top of the line jvc 7 " lcd unit. i thinks it hot

 

I have the Kenwood 911DVD unit in my EVO. Its packed full of features for on 03-04 model...although newer units support MP3 and other features. But my unit has the TV tuner and AV inputs - so I can add navigation, a rear back up camera when I wish. Right now, I have my Creative Zen Micro hooked into the one of the AV inputs, and I bought a $10 cellphone holder at Walmart that sticks in the cigarette lighter. Works great. The only thing I hate about Kenwood, is their stupid menus and childish screen layouts. I wish I could mod the screens with something more professional or techy. Here's a shot of it (I think its Jerry Springer on the tube ):

 

Obviously everyone can have an opinion.

That said 99% of Blaupunkt head units are really low end high volume junk. But their top of the line units are very different in that they employ technology just not seen in other offerings. For example their FM receiver is in fact an optimal combining digital receiver. That means that there are two receivers and the resulting received signals are time aligned and summed to mitigate multipath. This is very high end signal processing found in cellular base stations, military receivers, etc and is not simply a process of selecting the better of two antennas.

Also a parametric equalizer uses a microphone to measure calibration tones to compute filter coefficients that yield a flat response for the car/speakers in question. In addition this process also automatically determines the time difference of arrival thus ensuring the sound stage is correct for the listener. With Alpine head units this is a manual process.

Another thing the microphone is used for is to dynamically compensate for noise in the cabin by predistorting the audio. Given that Evo is so loud this is a significant feature in that you don't have to simply crank up the volume to hear clean music.

I used to have Alpine and Kenwood, but I never have had first hand experience with Eclipse or Pioneer. The Alpine head unit stood the test of time, but their V12 amp's internal solder connections would fail due to vibration. I got tired of fixing it. Thus I let the Alpine equipment go with the car when I traded it.