|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 6 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Best Head Unit, Period! Oct 03, 2007
By Jaron Berman
"wyndspeed"
I bought a new car a week ago, and leading up to that purchase, had a sound-quality stereo in mind. The car has space for a double-din unit, though I didn't like the look or functionality of any that I'd seen. I'm a little too old to enjoy color changing faces or ridiculous graphics. I just wanted a clean, simple front panel and outstanding sound.
I came from alpine, and thought I'd just keep it, but the features and reviews on this unit won me over, so I gave it a shot. A lot nicer looking than the new eclipse decks, more features and a lower price. As for the 4v vs. 5v vs. 8v pre-outs - the voltage matters less than the impedence, and any high-quality unit should have very little noise.
As for functionality - it took me a bit longer to figure out than other units, but in the end its logical. The 2-knob system is fast to get at all usual functions...except mute (att)..which may not be available on the deck, only on the remote??? For ipod usage, with the new model II interface, scrolling is fast enough, though nowhere near as quick as the ipod itself.
Sound quality - WOW. The installers had it set up when I got the car back, and it sounded ok. I have focal component fronts, a JL 8w7 sub in front-mounted box, and a JL 450/4 amp. Nice stuff, should sound good. Immediately, it was very bass heavy, which showed off my new sub well, but it got tiring to listen to. I put the car in the garage, used the included mic, and had the unit auto-setup. 6 minutes later, it was like I'd gone from boombox to a $10,000 system. The auto eq and auto time align are not gimmicks! I was told by my installer that the eq's on most decks aren't used by SQ systems, because they limit the quality rather than enhance it. Not so in this case. Here, the deck does all the crossover work, including adjusting the slopes. There's a seamless sound from the tweets to the mids to the sub, across all types of music. If you get this unit, USE THE AUTO SETUP!!!! Even if you want to tailor the sound more to your taste later, it sounds far better when you start with the auto time align and eq. My old alpine had a very sharp boost on the sub when you tried to bring the bass up. You can do that if you want with this unit, however, it's also easy to make a nice gradual slope up on the low-end. I liked the interface of my 9825 alpine, but in the end I could never get it to sound in 3 years as nice as I could with this in 6 minutes.
If it sounds like I'm impressed, I am. I've been fortunate enough to hear basically everything out there, and I have to say that if you're looking for a sound-quality no frills head unit, this is the one. Pioneer has a less than stellar quality record, so make sure you get a working one! This model has a history of poorly internally grounded RCA's. I was fortunate enough not to have this problem, but you'll find that ALL negative reports on this unit have to do with factory defects on the rca's. If you're unlucky enough to have that happen, trade it in, get a good one. Don't get turned off by their quality control - when it's good, it's REALLY good. Car audio is a compromise, no matter how you look at it. Cars aren't the perfect audio environments. But, that in mind, this deck makes things sound about as good as they can without complex measurement and outboard eq equipment.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A Music Lover's Head Unit - Perhaps the Best Sep 06, 2007
By I. Bilynsky
"Info Center"
I've gone through many head units in my time, and this is by and far the best one I have had the pleasure of listening to. If you want a bunch of gimmick features like bluetooth for your cell or a memory card slot, look elsewhere. This HU is for people who like music and care about quality.
I installed this HU in my car, using with the crappy stock speakers. The auto-eq (which needs to be set up using an included microphone) really did a great job of flattening the sound. Next, I selected "natural" as the EQ and tweaked the high-pass filters for the front and rear. I was very impressed with how good this thing made cheapo stock speakers sound.
For my car I was not interested in running an amp or a subwoofer, but I did upgrade the factory speakers to Alpine Type-S series (6.5"). These are excellent all-around speakers and for the money, hard to beat. Paired with this HU, you will have an incredibly visceral music experience. Excellent full-range sound, including detailed bass and spacious highs. The 50x4 amp built into the HU can do up to 22W RMS according to the specs, which is plenty if you select the right type of speakers (90 dB or better sensitivity).
If you are looking for the absolute best sounding HU on the market, this is it.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Sound Above All Aug 05, 2007
By Snowsurfer
I have been researching a head unit for a long time that has good sound, and not just flash. I listen to all types of music and high quality is important, not just boom and sizzle. With the help of the auto Eq and then tweaking the adjustments voices and instruments sound like voices and instruments. If the midrange doesn't sound right, then the music looses its naturalness in my opinion. That isn't the case with this Pioneer. I haven't even upgraded my stock speakers yet, but the improvement in sound has been amazing. A friend who has upgraded his entire system got in my truck and commented right away about the rich sound that the unit delivered. I can't wait to upgrade the component speakers in my truck to some high end ones and a good amp to see what this head unit is really capable of. The amount of adjustability is amazing so you can dial it in to the smallest degree. There are probably better receivers out there, but to me not the balance and price point I was looking for, with the Burr Brown DAC's, time alignment features, Auto Eq, and all of the other features without all of the unnecessary useless garbage.
Highly Recommended if you're looking for sound quality, and not just something with a lot of gimmicks to impress your friends.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Pioneer DEH-P880PRS Jan 03, 2008
By Paula
My favorite feature of this head unit is the auto equalization and time alignment feature. A microphone is included for this purpose. Alpine wants you to buy a microphone and computer program separately for $250 to perform this function.
One thing to keep in mind is that there aren't any buttons on the face to select radio stations instantly with. I don't listen to the radio, so that's not a problem for me, but my wife would probably prefer the buttons. I prefer the uncluttered appearance.
My only complaint about the radio is the display. It's impossible to see during the day with sunglasses on.
Overall I'm very happy with this model. The sound quality is incredible.
WARNING: According to a Pioneer repair tech, there's a pin-head sized fuse inside the head unit that will burn out if you attach RCA cables while the unit is powered during installation, which will cause grounding problems and noise. I know this because I hired some idiots to install my stereo who didn't read the instructions and burned out this fuse. Be carefull!
Been looking for this Dec 24, 2010
By jesse r
I have been looking for this product for a long time. I am so glad that there was someone on amazon who had it.
See all 6 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
| | |
|
|
