[austinpetemo]

hey FF, the first mod for my 02 zx5 is the radio, because that crappy broken 6 disc player just dont fly with me. so i ripped it out and replaced it with the radio i had in my old car, which is a dual head unit. they no longer sell the unit i have since i bought it a year and a half ago, but its pretty much the same as THIS ONE but without the bluetooth function. THIS is the unit im looking at getting right now. i like that it has the bluetooth function, so i can talk but keep both hands on the wheel, and it preamps at 5v.

i have stock speakers, and probably will for quite awhile, i only have about $200 to spend on my audio system right now, and thats the price of this radio, if i were to simply use my old radio i could get an amp and some door speakers, however i think starting off with a better head unit would be the right way to start out.

any imput would be greatly appreciated, if anyone has any experience with the newwer JVC units id love to hear what you have to say about theyre products before i invest the money.

 

[An Audio Guru]

This is what I witness and my opinion...... As my second "job" I do mobile audio, video sales and installation. I sell Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, Jensen, Panasonic(before the mobile side went out of business), and JVC as well as a few other insignificant brands. No one ever buys the JVC brand for some reason. Except when they had the Ghost face radios. That's just a view on a consumer statistic. I have never used JVC personally, but Kenwood is my fav and has never done me wrong. It's a reliable brand, and can handle abuse from what I've seen. It tends to be around the same price as JVC if not just a smidgen cheaper. Kenwood is cheaper than Pioneer in most cases and sound is usually close to the same. A good thing about Kenwoods is that their mid-high end radios typically have higher volt pre-outs. Even up to 5 volt on one that I saw.

Good luck, have fun!!

 

[zx32nr]

i love my alpine, i had a kenwood and love it but the one thing i do like about my alpine is the ability to change the audio of almost everything.

 

[badazz2010focus]

whatever you do STAY AWAY FROM DUAL!!NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS TRUST ME! take it from a car audio installer mang.

 

[austinpetemo]

Ya that's what I Have right now from my old car, and that's exactly why I'm gettin a new one for my focus. I bought the dual for cheap and got what I payed for. It works and gets the job done, but it could obviously be better

 

[An Audio Guru]

Yeah Dual is boo boo. Never had an Alpine but heard all good things about it.

 

[austinpetemo]

I'm just going to go with the JVC, cuz it has the most bang for the buck for my price range. After shopping around I found a way I can get it for $150

 

[freemind]

I cannot believe you guys are trashing Dual.

Their quality is unbelievable.

The lack of quality that is......................

 

[ryuclan]

I would go with Alpine, Clarion or Pioneer. In my opinion they are the best manufacturers of audio head units. I also purchased a Dual deck, and I traded it for a used Clarion one the day I took it out of the box. The thing is, if you get the right head unit, you can hold out on upgraded your speakers because the right one will make your stock speakers sound so much better.

I don't know about amps but I bought my subs for 40 bucks a piece. They are Infinity 1262 subs. 12" and rated at 1200 watts each I believe. They are a steal and I couldn't blow them if I wanted to.

Try searching here before you make a choice.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/

 

[An Audio Guru]

jvc model# ? i can cross check my distributor price if you want. Might be cheaper w/ flat rate shipping if you got a week to wait........

 

[An Audio Guru]

I cannot believe you guys are trashing Dual.

Their quality is unbelievable.

The lack of quality that is......................

Oh yeah.....we did it....[nutkick]

 

[austinpetemo]

Kdr900 I can get it on amazon for $150 with free shipping

 

[freemind]

Find a used Eclipse CD-7200

You will NEVER need anything else.

 

[An Audio Guru]

Tried to check a price for kdr900. Come to find out it is last years model. Some company's will still have back stock of these but my people only carry current year models. They sold this last year for $128.16. So after shipping even if they had it you would still be right around $150. So good find with Amazon. I would make sure they offer a warranty seeing as how it is last years model. They don't keep previous years in stock. Sorry....I tried. Good luck man.

 

[austinpetemo]

what is the new model?

 

[An Audio Guru]

NEW MODEL IS KD-R820BT. The highest model my people got in stock as of now is the KD-R620.

 

[austinpetemo]

Oooh, I've looked at that one and I didn't like it as much, it's only got two 2.5v preamps where the 900 has three 5v. Plus there isn't any Bluetooth.

 

[An Audio Guru]

I know right....