before I spend a bunch of money.....

Ok maybe not a ton of money.... but I would like to get the best bang for my buck and am more into function over form..... so im not really into a bunch of flashy stuff... This has to do with replacing the receiver deck in my XJ. I just finished running new speaker wires to the front doors and rear cargo for the boxes I built... I am going to run another set of new wires to the rear hatch when I get a new roll tomorrow... Wife and I went out shopping for a new receiver...... Now my brain hurts.... I dont want to spend a bunch of money on this stereo system but I dont want to buy junk either. The only fancy thing I would like to have is a deck that plays MP3's... So here is where things stand.......

We went to Best Buy.... Dude showed us a few systems.... Said the Aiwa was a good choise at 149.00 and then said there were a couple others for about the same price range... One was from Dual... I dont know who the heck Dual is but the price was ok i guess.... I think the Aiwa was decent....
We looked at a couple JVC's and a Kenwood and a Sony. I know Aiwa is owned by Sony so I figured for the price they must be decent.

Went to one stereo shop and they told me to stay away from JVC, Dual, Kenwood, and Pioneer. They tried to sale us one of two decks that played MP3's.... One was a Clarion and the other was an Eclipse... both were about 175.00 and the only thing that sounded cool about the Eclipse was some sorta warranty for the first year if it got stolen from the vehicle.

Anyway I really would like to get some for around 150 bucks.... some of them are on sale now... like a Blaupunkt Pheonix for 120.00 instead of 200 bucks.

Anyway.... I would really like to get everyones feedback on this... I havent bought a decent system in a long time... and I dont want to spend more money on features I wont use..... thanks for any help.

Go to crutchfield.com! others(ex.discounts jungle) may have lower prices but you get poked :hang: on shipping(disco jungle wanted $25 to ship a deck). Plus Crutchfield gives you all the install stuff. I got a Panasonic a month or so ago, reasonably priced, good features. CALL them and ask about OUTLET stuff. even better deals. I've been doing business with them for 20 years and by the time you figure the install hardware in they are tough to beat. my.02, someone else will say they suck but opinions are like noses, everyone has one.

If you download music, travel frequently,or have a large collection I'd highly suggest getting the MP3 Player. I bought a Panasonic last year and it has been great!

Try the shopping sites like:
www.epinions.com
www.pricegrabber.com
www.etronics.com
for the best deals

HTH,

John

i installed car stereo's for years... Aiwa sucks ass, duel is worse. get a pioneer, kenwood or jvc... they are built for quality not quantity like the others... the little extra money goes a long way trust me.

Blackash132 said:

i installed car stereo's for years... Aiwa sucks ass, duel is worse. get a pioneer, kenwood or jvc... they are built for quality not quantity like the others... the little extra money goes a long way trust me.

Click to expand...

Second on the pioneer, like the receivers on them, supertuners, and they make nice stuff. Clarion is pretty good too, I've had a few of them over the years when bucks were tight and I needed a radio/tape deck when I traveled. Aiwa is trying to get back into the business big time so you might find some nice deals on them, back in the 70's and 80's they made high quality stuff, don't know what they are like now. Try for a removable one no matter what you get, either chasis or faceplate type.

Blackash132 said:

i installed car stereo's for years... Aiwa sucks ass, duel is worse. get a pioneer, kenwood or jvc... they are built for quality not quantity like the others... the little extra money goes a long way trust me.

Click to expand...

I second that, and they are NOT owned by Sony unless this happened very recently. Plus, Sony car audio is garbage. I would also recommend Eclipse and Panasonic.

I also agree that Crutchfield is pretty good to deal with as far as mail order goes. You can usually find a better deal locally, but at least Crutchfield supplies the install kit and the wiring harness adapter and whatever else you need to do the install on your particular application.

i've always been partial to alpine decks. functions are easy to get to, they sound great, and don't cost too much. I bought one last year, after my previous one was stolen, that has a flip down face, and it plays mp3's, cd-r/w's, and wma. i've just had too many problems with the pioneer decks.

I have a JVC 200W MP3 deck that is awesome IMO. It was in my previous vehicle and I am going to put it into the XJ sometime this week.

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL026820&page=2

When I bought it 2 years ago it was the only deck under $200 that had good reviews, MP3 capability, and a real volume knob. It's probably obsolete by now.

Aiwa is now a subdivision of Sony, or something like that. Not sure how long that has been in place. I read an article in Performance Audio & Sound August issue page 120 on their CDC-X504MP. Dude gave it decent reviews... But I would rather ask realworld rather then someone that writes for a rag being they might be to bias'd to give the whole story.

Page 122 of the same rag has the Eclipse CD3414.... I havent made a real purchase in years when it comes to car audio. (Lets just say when MB Quarts were the real thing just to give you a time line.)
Anyway I know Im not going to get something for nothing... Im somewhat of a realist so I know Im going to need to fork out some cash for something half way decent...... Whats the news on Blaupunkt these days? There is the one I mentioned thats normally 200 bucks and is now 120?

Actually for off roading I would go with a marine unit....They have better internal shock mounting...

I had an aiwa in my subaru for about 3 years beat the hell out of that car dirt roads ect. at speed never had a skipp or problem with the unit. also loved that it was the only one even close to the price that had an aux jack in the front you could hook in a mp3 the apple thing or whatever you like was vary nice if i ever c $140. in my wallet ill probly drop one in the jeep just got the factory am/fm casset for now

I just had a new Pioneer deck installed in my XJ yesterday. I paid US$169 for the deck (plus I get a $20 rebate), with a free installation, although I had to pay about an extra $40 for the wiring harness and mounting bracket.

My local Best Buy did the job, and it seems to be a tidy and tight installation. The deck itself plays normal CDs, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, WMA, has 18 presets for FM, 6 for AM - all of which hold channels great, is XM Satellite ready (just need to add the receiver unit and antenna), and has a great built in equalizer, that lets you tailor the equalizer settings to get the best results from my factory speakers, plus it looks good, has a remote control and a detatchable face - the only downside is that they didn't include a plastic case for the face plate, but I just throw it in an old sock when I take the face off.

FWIW, I went out looking in the same price bracket as you did, and looked at just about everything, and this was the best overall unit that I could find. Judging by most of the responses here, the AIWA looks great and has plenty of features, but I've also read a tonne of reviews stating that they're just plain unreliable - CD's skipping over bumpy roads, not reading scratched CD's well etc.... same thing for DUAL. JVC has a lot of options, but when I compared them against each other with the same test speakers, the Pioneer just sounded fuller and punchier - FWIW, I own a recording studio and run it for a living, and this Pioneer deck fits the bill for me - to my ears it sounds great, plays pretty much all the stuff that I could think of throwing at it (excl. DVD), looks great, has a nice built in equalizer and sounds great right out of the box with my factory speakers.

Oh, the model number in my XJ is : DEH-P4600MP.

Happy hunthing !

B Rgds,
Quarterwave

I think Pioneer is the best bang for the buck. I have a PEH7400, and is has every option I'd ever want, and won't break the bank. Its nearly impossible to make skip. Its only skipped once, thanks PennDOT.

Check out millionbuy.com, awesome prices.

--Matt

Well I went out today I did some more shopping. Came back with a Pioneer. Guess I did ok. I didnt get an MP3 player. I went ahead and skipped on it for now. I bought the Pioneer DEH-P360. Paid 140 bucks out the door. Guy was going to give me the install kit too but didnt need it. So what do you think... did I do ok? =)

I also went ahead and decided to buy a can of the spray on Dynamat. 20 bucks to try it didnt sound to bad to me. I have used the Dynamat Extreme and its great. Dude said this spray on is more along the lines of the regular dynamat. "Anyone?"

before i new anything about audio i bought a sony explode cd player for about 200, that was about 3 years ago, now it goes for around 120. its been in my jeep and banged around and was abused plenty and was still going strong when i pulled it out to get a touch screen a few months ago. most explode products(speakers) suck. but i was very very happy with their cd player.

my XJ has Xplod speakers and deck... Had an Xplod amp, but it died after 1 year and 3 days. (1000w amp)

Now I'm running an Oldschool Rockford Fosgate amp (600W) and it's MUCH better and cleaner and reliable than the Sony one... But I haven't had anything but good tunes from the deck and speakers... It plays along, even during "pothole" season, which around here requires an ORV sticker and a lift kit doesn't hurt, so you don't scape the rockers when you hit bottom, and that's on the main roads.

Pioneer makes some good stuff, for the price. I had a 12disc changer in the back of my old XJ (may she rest in peace) and it worked solid for 5 years, before the whole thing burst into flames (the jeep, not the changer)

one good tip on installation... Get the wiring harness adapter and solder all your connections somewhere you can work... Don't try to install the thing in the jeep with wires pulled every which way... You will be able to do a much neater and faster job out in the open.

$40 for install hardware is high and that's how BB covers the "free" installation. Normally that's how such places cover their "free" deals. If you are at all mech. inclined, get the install kit and do it. XJ's are very easy to do an install on, the dash bezel is held on by 4 screws and the deck is held in place by two. If you've done the wiring at your workbench it will take you 15 minutes once you get in the jeep with your new tunes.
I understand that some may not have the time etc to work on thier stuff but if you do this is a mod anyone can do. Try it!!

I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback.... it helped in the decession... I will be doing the install later this week... have to work a lot of hours till then.

anyone use the spray on sound deadener? i have the stuff made by dynamat... already sprayed behind the rear 1/4 panels on both sides.

also any write ups on putting 6.5's in the front doors... did plenty of reading.. but i want this to look stock.