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I purchased the Eclipse CD8445 a few days ago, should be here wednesday. This is my first Eclipse HU i have ever owned (surprising, seeing as how I've owned over 20 HUs). I know Eclipse makes what tons consider to be the best HU around, but does anyone have an opinion on this particular unit? i didn't buy one of their new models because I figure why pay more for a unit when you can buy one a little older that has the same looks, and all the features you need?

I really love the 8v preouts, 7 band EQ, and 24 bit D/A converters. The only things I haven't gotten much info on is the "Area Map Shot" which I believe is some sort of navigaton, though I'm not sure, and the "E-iSERV". How exactly does that work? God, I'm anxoius to get this and get the "temporary" HU out of the Focus.

i cant say anything on your unit but i have an av8022(older in dash dvd) with 8v preouts and the sound quality became so much better from my 2v preout pioneer deck. the navigation thing, i believe you have to hook it up to the pc first? i remember hearing something like that.

Yeah, just did a little more research on the Area Shot and E-iSERV stuff. Looks like I do the work on my PC, then transfer it to my HU via CD-R or memory stick. Pretty cool, actually.

i wonder how well it works though b/c it looks to me like its just a simple grid map.. and it says turn left turn right etc.. pretty simple.. but i guess u cant really get a good navi setup in a single din unit

MrSo0h0o wrote:i wonder how well it works though b/c it looks to me like its just a simple grid map.. and it says turn left turn right etc.. pretty simple.. but i guess u cant really get a good navi setup in a single din unit

sure you can....avic-n2......of course their is a seperate brain to mount along with an antenna but it is single din

Oh well, I didn't buy it for the nav anyways :)

smoker wrote:sure you can....avic-n2......of course their is a seperate brain to mount along with an antenna but it is single din

ohh i meant without screens.. sorry bout that.. i have a TomTom so im happy with that :happy055:

Justin I had the 8445 and loved it. if you have another type of processor, ie: eq or crossover, then the parametric 7band eq will be a great assistant to the external eq. If not, I would have considered the 8455, with it's 10 band parametric eq. Now the ei-serv is a great little tool that when coupled with the optional microphone, has its own on board white noise and will record the frequencies onto your memory stick. Then you download the memory stick to your computer, access the Eclipse EI-Serv website and upload your findings. EI-Serv will then give you the best settings to provide a strong soundstage. Quite a neat deal. The map thing is kinda interesting, although I can't see alot of great things coming for it. The only thing wrong with the 8445 that I found was that the memory stick and microphone don't come with the unit. You can buy both from Eclipse's website, but they should be included. 8455 has both included and has the 10band Parametric eq.

Ahhh ok good information. Looks like I may have to buy a microphone then :) What kind of memory stick does it use?

Sony Memory stick. FYI my review of the 8455 goes into great detail on how to use the EIserv stuff. There are a few minor difrences with the 55 and the 45, but almost everything else is the same.

http://www.caraudiocentral.net/forums/s ... php?t=1416

Holy crap. I just looked, that thing has been read 2069 times.