ECLIPSE CD8455

here are Eclipse's specs
http://www.eclipse-web.com/cd/cd8455.html

This is simply a thread to show the other angles/views of this headunit that one cannot see from looking at the website. My camera's auto focus is possesed, so some of the pics may not be up to par. Found it difficult to take clean shots as they dont do the deck justice , specially the night pics.






DISPLAY

The display is an improvement over the last line in terms of the vaccum illuminescent display. Its much more fluid and brighter and exhibits a much better
daytime view than the 8443->8454 models.
Through the E-iserv you can download 'whatever is clever' for the Motion Picture display, although there are 3 simple flowing graphics presets on the deck. Nothing of the sort like a race car or what not is preset on the deck, dunno why they would advertise it that way, i found it a turn off on the site. EVERYTHING is an option, which is good. The display has an off setting as well that only turns on briefly during fuction/operation and turns back off during play.

Also the track/station presets being lined on the bottom allowed for a wider display screen


Illumination options are as folows...
BLUE/RED
BLUE/GREEN
BLUE/AMBER(orange-ish)
ALL GREEN
ALL RED

ERGONOMICS/CONTROLS

This is where I feel this new Eclipse is leaps and bounds IMPROVED over the last series. Other than lacking the rubber tipped edge rotary *****, these are the super precise. If I were to turn the volume fast , the deck responds on pace-dead on-my 8443 would lag and it would be small delay before it could catch up volume wise and it would be ridiculously sensitive and unexpectidly make adjustments for me when i'd rapidly push down to access the NonFader controls. These new ***** are nice and tight, not flimsy or cheap feeling at all.

FINALLY an easy way to locate/reach MUTE button, right on the left side of the volume ****. Same goes for the opposite side when engaged in funtions/dsp the RTN button is conveniently located dead center on side of the rotary ****, nothing in the way to confuse. I've had the deck less than 48hrs and I found myself making adjustments in/out easily, and my fingers glided along naturally.

Adjustability
Non Fader, Bass, MID, Treble controls now have a range of -6....0....+6
MP3/WMA/ memory card- i'm old school and its nothing that interests me, I've never used mp3, so i cannot comment on its use on this deck at the moment. Although the memory card allows for the use of E-iSERV's tuning tools



Remote is very responsive and up/down volume buttons are well integrated for ease of use.


SOUND


This deck is a very clean playing and dynamic deck every much so as the elder series. So I found no SQ differences in sound.

SRS-TruBass- simply a surround sound/bass engine similar to those found in the competition. Work quite well and doesnt distort speakers as heavy volume is aplied-nevertheless not my cup of tea. Although with lil' kids in the car, at very low you can jam out and have a nice full sound.

EQ- Gone are the days of 13band graphic EQ's.....now 7 band parametric on normal, 10 band on Pro mode. DSP setup allows for just about every frequency to be tuned. Quite flexible and deep. Tuning capability for 3 and 4way setups

Crossovers- this deck offers 6db, 12db, 18db, 24db crossover slopes
Others: Multi harmonizer, SVC, Phase controls, Time alignment ....

Cons- The trimplate that comes with these eclipse decks has been an issue as far as my metra kit is concerned. I'veinstalled other decks using the same kit and they fit fine- I had to trim the left/right outer edges , because squeezed in was putting pressure on the face, not letting the mechanized face come down for CD insertion. Also dont believe there's a way to FULLY shut off the Sub/Non-fader.


FINAL thoughts:
Love the ergonomics and finally user friendly operation.
Much more tuning capability than my CD8443. It exhibits no audible turn on pops, whether powering the deck from the off , or when turning on from being left on playing(i had no such prob w/ my 8443 BTW, but aware some did). Same crystal clear performance.
It has very little competition in its price range IMO performance/value wise. 8v/55ohm preouts, 24bit DAC's, DSP/tuning galore and a now a responsive/well layed out interface. Looks? ...will always be subjective.I've grown to like the 8455 faster than it took me lo like the 8443.

Manny

 

 

Damm That shiet is hot! wow it comes with a remote and you get to change the colors! how much does it go for? I hope Don has that one

 

Im willing to bet that Don can get them.....and probably end up helping you out more than anyone else.

 

another color combo....


I'll take more quality pics as i'm reading the encyclopedia of a manual to figure out how to use my manual focus, as you can see the pics are super imposed....

meantime, any questions can be answered by the installer and remote operator

 

Where do you think it came from?

Nice writeup Manny

 

Hehe cute kid.

How in the world does that thing work with a GPS? Any info on that? Curious to know if it talks to you or just makes beeping noises when it's time to turn.

 

The area shot is already included when you get the HU. You have to download directions and let it know when you make a turn to tell you where to go next. Whereas with the antenna it automatically knows that youve made the turn and proceeds to the next direction.

 

At night it would look better if it werent for the Disc MS, FM AM, Sound, and Disp buttons that stick out like a sore thumb on the side of each rotary ****. Other than that the look is growing on me. Nice write up though Manny, lookin good.

-kevin

 

Oh damn that looks nice.

 

yeah that deck looks alot better than the preliminary pix i saw.

 

Don i want that one too!!!

 

WAY out of your price range there junior

 

not when he sells crappy used coaxes for $200...anything is possible in his world.

 

You should hear sonme of ideas that he had on the phone...

 

I'm afraid to even think after what he told me about searching for rainbow components and finding the vacuum site. anyway, cute baby manny!

 

Thanks man...only 7months...hehe

 

any special racing seats?

 

yea i was just asking for suggestions on which amp to use, hows that wrong?

 

deck

Just curious, when your deck opens, does any part of the mechanism touch the metra kit?

 

nope

 

do you still have your old eclipse hu for sale? btw whats msrp on that?

 

Actually it was sold within hours of getting this one put in ...

Don would be the first you need to inquire on pricing . MSRP on the 8455 is @ $649, while the CD8445 substantially less for practically same deck minus a few bells. I repeat Don can 'help' you with pricing..

 

Nothing at all wrong with that part, just the other 'shortcuts' you were referring to...

 

Here's some info on the GPS/Area shot
http://www.eclipse-web.com/cd/eiserv1.html

Add ons-
GPS $169 retail
Sirius $79 retail


Don are those prices correct?

 

Close, but a little off..

GPS ..$199
Sirius ..$119

 

PEQ. 7band (normal mode)
Band 1 63hz/80hz/100hz
Band 2 125hz/160hz/200hz
Band 3 250hz/315hz/400hz/500hz
Band 4 630hz/800hz/1khz/1.25khz
Band 5 1.6khz/2khz/2.5khz/3.15hz
Band 6 4khz/5khz/6.3khz/8khz
Band 7 10khz/12.5khz/16khz

On pro mode there a 5 Front Bands and 5 rears with a range of varied freq's too deep for me to post- although in same freq's points as above

Pro mode offers 3way multi(6speakers) and 4speakers +Subwoofer tuning
http://www.eclipse-web.com/cd/image...o_customize.jpg

The more I'm finding out, the more impressed I'm becoming with this unit. If one cant tune a system with this deck , lord help you...

 

nice deck, i wished my kenwood had 7 bands of EQ tweakability. i only have 3

 

I wish mine had the 4speakers + 1 sub tuning. I think mine has trouble picking up the bass from the mic. I haven't had much time to play around with the eiserv since I switched over to a biamp setup in my car.

Just a word of caution, be careful when playing with the parametric eq while listening to music. If your setup is like mine and you have a straight unaltered signal from the hu to your tweeters (im using the hu as my cross over), try to avoid pressing any numbered buttons unless you have stored a peq profile. I was playing around with this while driving and accidently pressed one of those numbered buttons. It reset all my settings. Luckily, I realized this and turned the unit off before any damage could be done to my tweeters. I dont know if they have changed this on the 05 models.

 

lolll o yea i remember now, if i go in the wrong direction i give you permission to slap me in the head

 

VERY nice write up, Manny!! VERY helpful and informative.

I like the way the deck looks with your interior. It has a lot more "aluminum" than the previous models, which compliments your dash kit nicely.

Thanks a bunch!!

Tony

 

Thanks
weird..I actually think the aluminum trim on the 8443/8053/8454 matched better with my kit

 

Originally Posted by BodegaBay
Thanks for the review and the pictures Manny. I was ready to give up on the 2005 Eclipse's until your photos -- much better looking than their website.

Can I ask you a few questions?

GENERAL QUESTIONS:
I see you have Arc XXK amps. Were there any problems mating the amps to the 8V Eclipse? I believe Arc is limited to 2.5V, can accept 4V, but I wasn't so sure about 8V.
Are you running your front components in 2-way or 3-way config?
What mode do you use? Normal or Pro?
Have you tried the Circle Suround mode? I believe it's only accessible when the PRO mode is OFF.
Is the internal amplifier defeatable?
PRO MODE QUESTIONS:
What is the min crossover frequency allowable for the FRONT RCA's HIGH PASS? That is to say, how low a frequency will the Pro Mode allow the front channels to go down to? The 8053/8443 only allowed it to go down to something like ~320Hz.
Can you double confirm that the crossover slopes of 24dB is allowed for all channels: Front, Rears, and Sub?
NORMAL MODE QUESTIONS:
Are the crossover available in 24dB or is it only limited to 12db? The 8053/8443 limited it to 12dB.

I have compared the small differences between the 8445vs. 8455. Other than the 7 band P-EQ and different modes (the 8445 has "Advance" and "Normal" modes while the 8455 has the "Pro" and "Normal" modes), I'm not seeing much differences.

Thanks again for your time.


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Arc amps- in no way, shape, or form are they limited to 2.5v- their sensitivity is rated "2.5v @1khz" -its a scenario you'lll never see- many dont know how to read these specs and assume they cannot take higher voltage- heck Arc processors and EQ's have between 8v balanced and up to 9v rms capability- why would they make these if their amps coudn't handle it? All this means is i'm getting full rated power with much lower gains. I had no issue w/my 8443 nor this 8455 and I've applied a good 85-90% volume w/ no clipping and although ear deafning levels, it remains crystal clear

Ok here we go....

Non pro AND PRO MODE have 6db/12db/18db/24db slope selections

Non Fader output has a STEREO or Monoaural selection

CSII- is only available on basic mode- has a LOW or HI, OFF setting

PRO MODE PEQ

the lowest for each band are as follows-

Band 1(F/R) 63hz
Band 2(F/R) 80hz
Band 3(F/R) 100hz
Band 4(F/R) 200hz
Band 5(F/R)250hz

I dont have much use for the PEQ, as I didn't use it much either with the 8443- dunno if its due to my tweet placement- but i dont suffer much from reflections or feel the need to boost/cut - I'm getting very true to the source flat response.
So I've been going back and forth between Basic/Pro as i feel like. In Pro mode you have Bass/Mid/ Trebble controls so they pretty much take care what I need to on the fly.

I'm currently running a 2way passive set as I'm working on adding a set of midbasses to the existing set Via a piggyback passive X'over- these 6.5" mids will be playing midbass in conjunction with my primary mid from 80hz up its smooth rolloff at 220hz....Not a traditional 3way, but called a Dual woofer system by Rainbow- its supposed to give a 6db increase in that freq range

There is no way to defeat the internal amp- although Eclipse decks dont suffer from it SQ wise as other decks do. IMO its a non-issue.