Fellow Maxima-ians:

This post is to debate whether to use a single vs. double DIN headunit to be the brain of my new setup. I need the expert opinion on these headunits as well as any comments on my choice of setup.

Headunit 1: Eclipse CD5030 (Single DIN)
Relevant Specs: 14W RMS/4 (50 peak) with 5V pre-amp output

Headunit 2: Pioneer FH-P8000BT (Double DIN)
Relevant Specs: 14W RMS/4 (50 peak) with 4V pre-amp output

Setup: Headunit powering rear door Infinity Kappa Full Range 5 1/4's and sending RCA to my 450 x 4 Rockford Fosgate Punch amp which will power my front Infinity Kappa Components at 2ohms and Infinity Perfect Subwoofer with the other two channels bridged at 4ohms.

Debate....begin!

 

whats there to debate? you have a very capable headunit (eclipse) vs. little more than a cd player (pioneer). i actually really like the look of the pioneer, and considered buying it at one point, but newer pioneer seems to have serious issues.

now the real question is why you compared apples to apple juice made from concentrate. i.e. a hu with time alignment and what i'm assuming to be an active crossover vs. something that can play your cds. a much more "fair" comparison, since you will not find a double din with any kind of advanced features, would be the cd3200 (or even the 3100 which can be had cheap).

either way, dollar for dollar the eclipse is the hands down winner in quality (based on track record) and features.

 

indeed.
couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

BonB. Valid info. The reason I thought the Pioneer would be more legit was because they have the 4V preamp outputs and, although it appeals more to those concerned with the aesthetics of their system rather than the performace, I was hoping I'd be able to get the best of both worlds with the it. However, after reading more about the pioneer I'm begining to see that there are a lot of reviews from those who are simply interested in upgrading their stock system with a better head unit and not much more than that.

The Eclipse is a pretty nice unit. I wonder why you can't find Double DIN units with decent performance.

How about the Eclpse CD5030 vs. Alpine CDA-9886?

 

well once you put the eclipse up against something on it's level feature wise (although the 9887 might be the comparable model) you are going to run into the "it's not even out yet" wall immediately. afaik no one, aside from industry insiders perhaps, has any hands on experience with it yet.

however, i'm still questioning what it is exactly that makes you feel the need the features of the 5030. not saying you don't, but your power setup isn't active and that kind of goes hand in hand (although definitely not mutually exclusive) with features like time alignment and auto-eq. these features are generally reserved for those seeking a higher level of performance. your shot in the dark approach makes me think that's probably not your goal.

all that aside, the eclipse unit looks great for the price and if i was in that market i'd probably give it a shot.

 

^^^ What makes you say might as far as the 9887? I don't think there's much else Eclipse will cram into the CD5030 for $300 retail that the 9887 does not have.

Although I like the display(from what I can see...) more on the Eclipse, the rest of the face looks cheap(think: Blaupunkt-esk looking - admittedly subjective) and I would almost bet for $300 retail the CD5030 won't have 3/4 the features of the 9887. Having said that, I have yet to try out any of the Imprint features on my 9887, so I'm not using mine to the fullest extent of it's abilities either

At any rate, to the OP I would suggest staying away from double-din HU's, as IMHO they look cheesy and most of them arent feature-packet(which you may not need them to be, however). That and I have not been very impressed with anything from Pioneer of late. Only way(again, IMHO) to do a good looking double-din install is to put a screen in the double-din hole and use a single-din to control it from the little flip-down pocket thing below...

 

i say "might" referring to the op's reference to the 9886. if the 5030 has active crossovers (which a little reading leads me to believe it does) then the 9886 to 5030 would not be an equal level product comparison.

looking at what specs are available i'd say it actually offers more.

 

To be honest, I really don't know much about time alignment or auto eq. features and when they would even be used. That being said, I think that the CD3200 might be better suited for my application.

Maybe because of the lesser known name of Eclipse to those who aren't very into car stereos, Alpine may have a bit of a markup on their products which would explain the feature vs. price disconnect.

 

it seems as if eclipse has recently put focus on pricing. they're newer offerings seem to be outstanding in value.

 

7200 is still in the lineup, the 5030 probably won' be active capable without external processing, let alone in teh $300 price range.

 

i haven't found anything that says explicitly that it will, but the ta/eq features combined with "flexible crossover settings for the speaker system used" led me to lean in that direction.

but if not, i think it would be great as well. auto eq and ta in a non active crossover unit is pretty cool for those wanting to get the most out of simple out-of-the-box systems.

now... if only someone would put these features in a dd i might would not be selling everything.

 

726e might have everything but active crossovers.

 

What does the cost have anything to do with it? Better is better right?

 

yup, better is better which is why i recommended the seemingly better of the 2, while neither is the "best" hu on the market by far. it just so happens that in this case you get a better unit for less money.

i am using mcintosh.

butt hurt much?

 

As you stated everyone buys 'bang for the buck'.

 

Not at all. I found it funny you brought up "value" in your discussion and it was sensless to do so for me. I understand that this is the internet. If you want to be a *****, that is up to you. It makes no difference to me at all.

 

He mentions the 9886

And you say the 9887 might compare...

Then you go back to the 9886 - lets be clear that the 9886 is not the same as the 9887, and the 5030 will NOT compare(atleast anywhere close) to the 9887. "flexible crossover settings for the speaker system used" could be marketing for any crossover settings at all; and I would just think that for $300, the 5030 won't be along the same lines feature-wise as the 9887. But as you said, we are running into the "its not even out yet..." fact, so noone really knows...

It doesn't sound to me like the 9887 should have been brought into the conversation at all by looking at what the OP is trying to do. Just MHO.

-Matt

 

Indeed. That is just my experience though.

 

where did i mention value? i did say "dollar for dollar" but you can actually omit that completely. the eclipse is the better unit.

and don't bother playing the little passive aggressive bs. i don't care if you got your feelings hurt cause your little sub isn't the end all of subs. i donj't care that you felt stupid when you discovered that your whole little plan to prove your point was riddled with holes. i don't care if you think i'm a ***** and i don't care if you follow me around until the end of eternity trying to catch me going back on something i have said. keep watching, it just might happen.

you managed to re-read it and quote it, however you still have not comprehended what i said.

saying that a (5030) might be more comparable to b (9887) rather than c (9886) is not the same saying b might be comparable to a.

my guess is you had a problem with "might" being italicized as if to mean "it might if it were lucky" or "it might on a good day" however i meant "might" to mean "depending on the crossovers".

and let's be crystal clear, for the extra $100 spent on the 9887 you can buy a 9886 + h100 and have a more functional unit.

and since we're making things clear for the op's sake, matt here is going completely off assumptions (as i have been the entire time) and has no experience with the cd5303. feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. didn't think so...

---

you guys really need to get over ppl not praising whatever you happened to pick for your install as the greatest thing on 12v. or at least buy some better gear and then get butt hurt.

 

Yeah, can't imagine how I could do both

Yes I could have - I could have had yet another piece of equipment in my car, in the signal chain and to find a place for, all for getting nothing more that I could use than I have now...

To be truthful though; I actually think I may have taken the "might" to mean, "maybe the 9887 would stand up to it" - to me...

Correct again - we are both going off of assumptions(the fact of some being better than others not withstanding...). At no point did I say or insinuate otherwise. The assumption that Eclipse would for some odd reason cram more features into a headunit than they would charge for was wrong(IMHO), and maybe that is another thing that had me confused(seems to be a common issue today).

As far as being butt-hurt, I could really care less what anyone else thinks of any component in my system. I bought it because it fit what I needed. But an incorrect assumption is still incorrect, and that's the only reason I said anything...

Anyway, to the OP - stay away from the Pioneer. Just get either an Alpine or Eclipse. Doesn't matter which one, as long as it has the features you need for your plans. Both manufacturers have several offerings that will work for you. I think the new Eclipse's are nice looking, IMHO they just don't compare to the ones from back in the day - especially for the money.

Or better yet - get a McIntosh

 

well at least someone can stand the heat. kudos my friend.

but your assumption that the 9887 is better is, at the present time, no more proven than mine that the 5030 will be the greater of the two. i really wouldn't be surprised if i was wrong, but then again... i put the emphasis on "might" for that very reason so i have nothing to lose.

 

No worries bro - been on here long enough to know how $h1t works. I threw a few "IMHO"s in there for the same reason

 

Blah blah blah you girls and your bickering.

 

so whats the word on the crossovers don? i know you know.

 

it seems as if eclipse has recently put focus on pricing. they're newer offerings seem to be outstanding in value.

Right there is where you mentioned value.

I am not passive agressive. Not sure where you came up with that. My feeling were never hurt. Again, not sure where you came up with that. I never said my "little sub" is the end all of subs. I don't even own either of the subs, nor have I ever, nor do I plan to own either. I also never felt stupid in regards to my ideas. It stopped being a discussion when you, Don, and china started making fun of it. Intead of offering suggestion on improving my thoughts, you belittled them and made personal attcks aimed at me. To me, that is a *****. I have no plans to follow you around. I just happened to see some irony in the lack of validity in regards to a products relative or even absolute "value" in comparison to another when I suggested it and when you suggested it. It was still fresh in my mind as the subject was discussed very recently.

I am not worried about the heat in the kitchen, I just seem to have less and less interest in dealing with people who spend more time being destructive than constructive. I promise you I will not have any further correspondence with you on any topic. I simply don't feel I should waste any more time with you as you are the only persons opinion matters. There is always something you can use to pick someone apart. You just seem to have a knack for finding it and find purpose in it and enjoy doing so. Have fun with that.

 

No worries, I am done.

I will appologize to the OP. I will not post in this thread again.

 

Very basic and no TA.

 

Whoa ! Where did I make fun or belittle you. Did you take the comment of something being flawed as an attack? C'mon Chris you should know better than that.

IF I was making attacks at you, it would all be in fun and you would know it. Nowhere in that thread did I make fun of you, just pointed out the facts as I saw them.

 

you brought up value in a conversation about performance. i have a closet full of s**t i bought for no reason other than it's performance vs. price ratio. hell, i have an entire system that doesn't add up to $600 that i have no doubt will sound great. i also have a few select items that i believe to be the best performing within what i could tolerate spending and even still i recognize the superior products that i can't justify the price for but never do i doubt their performance. the difference is i understand the difference. value is value, performance is performance. same story, nothings changed.

as far as your little test, i never made fun of it. i only pointed out it's plentiful faults. once again this goes back to you not handling things you don't want to hear well at all. but take it how you wanna take it, i could care less.

 

hmmm... crossovers don't surprise me. can't say the same for ta since it is being so heavily advertised.

 

I should clarify, it does have TA, but it is auto as in preset like a positioning control.

 

i vote eclipse. ran pioneers in the past, never again. had THREE diffferent premier decks crap out on me with the stupid microfuse issue. got me an eclipse and been happy ever since.

 

Oh <clears throat>, sorry...

j/k