by Chris from Washington » Thu Mar 01, 2018 9:07 am
Dr. Righteous wrote:Hello all. Typical Newbie here.
I'm no stranger to car audio but I've been out of it for a long time.
Sold the car I had the system in; then after got married ended up selling all my gear.
But I've been wanting a nice system for a long time now and have a good vehicle to install it in. '14 quad cab RAM truck.
It has the base model audio in it; no amp, no infinity speakers.
Like I said I've been out of car audio for a long while and I'm not up on the better brand head units or what is a great bang for the buck and what is junk.
So far I purchased a Pioneer 10" sub TSW261D4. That is a dual 4 ohm.
A 5 channel amp; NVX JDA900.5 and have upgraded the factory door speakers to 6x9 Rockford Fosgates.
The next thing I need is a descent head unit.
I'm interested in a 6 to 7 inch touch screen dual DIN unit with NAV but I'm really on a budget. Want to say at $400 or under.
I've looked at a few online that seems descent but reading the reviews they area usually majority saying they are junk. (like SoundStream head units, that is a old brand I remember)
Also there are a flood of Chinese brand head units that run android. But then, how do you know what is descent?
Something with flashy features, bells and whistles that sounded like crap would be a real disappointment.
(BTW, one reason I got out of car audio years ago was because everyone was into loud as hell distorted bass instead of quality sound)
So I'm appealing to you guy who live eat and breath car audio and deal with this stuff every day.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks
Hi Welcome to the forum
I think for a head unit, you're best bet is to stick with the mainstream (Alpine, Pioneer)
I also at one point thought about the Chinese Android units, because of the flexibility the provide. The problem is, these units will NEVER get an Android update.
Some of the ones out now, I bet are still running KitKat. So as apps progress, they will drop support for the older OS and they'll stop working on these units.
So within 3-5 years, that $700 unit is worthless
Plus, I'm sure the sound quality on these things are pretty cruddy too.
I really wish Alpine/Pioneer would hurry up and adopt Android Auto more. I really want a new head unit for my other car, but don't really want to spend money on a navigation when Google Maps integration just makes way more sense.
[quote="Dr. Righteous"]Hello all. Typical Newbie here.
I'm no stranger to car audio but I've been out of it for a long time.
Sold the car I had the system in; then after got married ended up selling all my gear.
But I've been wanting a nice system for a long time now and have a good vehicle to install it in. '14 quad cab RAM truck.
It has the base model audio in it; no amp, no infinity speakers.
Like I said I've been out of car audio for a long while and I'm not up on the better brand head units or what is a great bang for the buck and what is junk.
So far I purchased a Pioneer 10" sub TSW261D4. That is a dual 4 ohm.
A 5 channel amp; NVX JDA900.5 and have upgraded the factory door speakers to 6x9 Rockford Fosgates.
The next thing I need is a descent head unit.
I'm interested in a 6 to 7 inch touch screen dual DIN unit with NAV but I'm really on a budget. Want to say at $400 or under.
I've looked at a few online that seems descent but reading the reviews they area usually majority saying they are junk. (like SoundStream head units, that is a old brand I remember)
Also there are a flood of Chinese brand head units that run android. But then, how do you know what is descent?
Something with flashy features, bells and whistles that sounded like crap would be a real disappointment.
(BTW, one reason I got out of car audio years ago was because everyone was into loud as hell distorted bass instead of quality sound)
So I'm appealing to you guy who live eat and breath car audio and deal with this stuff every day.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks[/quote]
Hi Welcome to the forum
I think for a head unit, you're best bet is to stick with the mainstream (Alpine, Pioneer)
I also at one point thought about the Chinese Android units, because of the flexibility the provide. The problem is, these units will NEVER get an Android update.
Some of the ones out now, I bet are still running KitKat. So as apps progress, they will drop support for the older OS and they'll stop working on these units.
So within 3-5 years, that $700 unit is worthless :( Plus, I'm sure the sound quality on these things are pretty cruddy too.
I really wish Alpine/Pioneer would hurry up and adopt Android Auto more. I really want a new head unit for my other car, but don't really want to spend money on a navigation when Google Maps integration just makes way more sense.