Best NON - Nav Headunits for SQ?

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Any recommendations out there?  I'm looking to get a Double DIN Non Nav unit with at least 4v preouts. 

 

I will have powered door speakers and then my SSA XCON in the rear powered by the RF T1500.

 

Thanks for any recommendations.

[pmureika 31]

Budget range?

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Budget range?

I'd prefer to keep it around $500 give or take.

[Lee Carter 150]

Are there "SQ" double dins? 

 

You always hear Pioneer PRS80 or 99...and there a popular clarion(forget the model) which are all single dins.  I woulda love to have found a 2DIN unit the had the processing power of a PRS. (Particularly low/bandpass/high pass x-overs)

 

I just ordered a Pioneer AVH-X5600...it has an 8 band eq, high and low x-over, sub control...pretty much what most of their decks do, but it is 4v preouts.FWIW.

[pmureika 31]

Are there "SQ" double dins? 

 

You always hear Pioneer PRS80 or 99...and there a popular clarion(forget the model) which are all single dins.  I woulda love to have found a 2DIN unit the had the processing power of a PRS. (Particularly low/bandpass/high pass x-overs)

 

I just ordered a Pioneer AVH-X5600...it has an 8 band eq, high and low x-over, sub control...pretty much what most of their decks do, but it is 4v preouts.FWIW.

Clarion makes one. I don't remember the model.

[Shogen 325]

I think it's nx702

[pmureika 31]

Yes but it has Navigation with it.

 

Do you want to run a active front stage?

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Yes but it has Navigation with it.

 

Do you want to run a active front stage?

 

I'm nearly positive I will not be running active front stage.

[Sencheezy 689]

I'm a little confused? You said you want the best double din SQ unit, but won't be running active? 

lol

Any who, I have the Clarion NX702, it has built in Nav and built in BT, but also 4v output, with SQ settings galore. 

[pmureika 31]

I'm a little confused? You said you want the best double din SQ unit, but won't be running active? 

lol

Any who, I have the Clarion NX702, it has built in Nav and built in BT, but also 4v output, with SQ settings galore. 

Use a good quality one with a mini dsp.

 

There are so many options.

 

Running active will give you the best "SQ".

[ChadS13TDI 16]

 

I'm a little confused? You said you want the best double din SQ unit, but won't be running active? 

lol

Any who, I have the Clarion NX702, it has built in Nav and built in BT, but also 4v output, with SQ settings galore. 

Use a good quality one with a mini dsp.

 

There are so many options.

 

Running active will give you the best "SQ".

 

 

 

 

 

yeah sorry I guess I'm still pretty noob when it comes to most of this stuff.  I don't want to have to run a separate dsp. 

 

I want the best SQ I can get given the limited budget I'm working with an limited expertise.  I'm not planning to get crazy or anything.

 

I want to have some powered speakers with a  4 channel amp ~75rms per channel.   My car has 6.5" speakers in the doors and tweeters up on the dash. 

 

probably looking to spend ~$200ish give or take on the front speakers and probably less on the rear. 

 

I know most people say to ignore the rear but I do want to have speakers back there.

 

Is there a simple way to understand active vs passive?  Isn't active using a DSP?

Edited March 18, 2014 by ChadS13TDI

[Sencheezy 689]

Maybe you're confusing Active with SQ

 

To run Active, that simply means, Speaker A, play this frequency range ie (100hz-4khz), and Speaker B, play this range (4khz-20khz)

 

You DO NOT have to run Active to to have SQ. Their are many great Passive sounding systems out there. For you Skill set, it is probably what I would do.

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Maybe you're confusing Active with SQ

 

To run Active, that simply means, Speaker A, play this frequency range ie (100hz-4khz), and Speaker B, play this range (4khz-20khz)

 

You DO NOT have to run Active to to have SQ. Their are many great Passive sounding systems out there. For you Skill set, it is probably what I would do.

 

Thanks. Yeah I have very limited skills in this area. Never actually amp'd the door speakers.

 

I'm just going one step at a time and I figured I should get the Head-unit first and build out from there.

[Sencheezy 689]

 

Maybe you're confusing Active with SQ

 

To run Active, that simply means, Speaker A, play this frequency range ie (100hz-4khz), and Speaker B, play this range (4khz-20khz)

 

You DO NOT have to run Active to to have SQ. Their are many great Passive sounding systems out there. For you Skill set, it is probably what I would do.

 

Thanks. Yeah I have very limited skills in this area. Never actually amp'd the door speakers.

 

I'm just going one step at a time and I figured I should get the Head-unit first and build out from there.

 

 

I got you man. Yeah, I would buy the best unit for my budget if possible. Then buy a good amp, either four channel or 2 channel, and a good set of components. 

[///M5 2,833]

Pretty much any headunit manufactured by a reputable brand will give you the same SQ if you use no eq, crossover or t/a.

As for the 4v output, who cares? That is about as pointless as a spec as there is.

[ChadS13TDI 16]

I think I found a front runner...

 

Kenwood eXcelon DDX-8901HD

 

 

[///M5 2,833]

no

[ChadS13TDI 16]

no

Lol. Care to elaborate or make a suggestion?

[///M5 2,833]

Best and sq not even close

[///M5 2,833]

Need single din or nav

[Randal Johnson 544]

 

no

Lol. Care to elaborate or make a suggestion?

Good questioon. Looks like this is one of the latest products on the market.

They are just now taking pre-orders.

I run the Kenwood DNX9980HD btw. Very nice headunit for Sound Quality, but it does have the navigation feature that you are not looking for.

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Need single din or nav

Not interested in either.....

So far that is the "best" I've found with the criteria I've set.

Again I'm open to suggestions that may be better while still falling into the double din non nav units.

[ChadS13TDI 16]

Out of curiosity why is it that single din decks offer better sq?

[nadcicle 77]

Out of curiosity why is it that single din decks offer better sq?

 

I wish I had a "good" answer for this myself. To take a stab at it with an assumption I'd guess it's because the average factory replacement would have been a single din for the past 40 years so that has been the design feature that has set the standard. 

 

I currently run the Kenwood DNX9990HD and would have recommended that. You don't have to let the limitation of running active from a head-unit confuse you with the ability to run active at all. Sound quality isn't an achievement from the headunit itself simply because you can put most quality headunits in "Bypass" mode and bypass any internal equalization anyways. 

 

I also have a Pioneer prs80 in my truck that replaced a Kenwood excelon kdc-x996 and would argue that without running active that the sound quality was much better with the Kenwood out of the box. The time alignment was great on the kenwood whereas the Pioneer just pissed me off starting out. Now that isn't to say that the Pioneer was bad by any means because after tweaking it for what felt like ages it did get to sounding better. 

 

I would look more in to the features that you want vs features you don't think you need. Are you completely partial to a double din. Why not a single din and equalizer to fill the void? Alpine has some great single din/equalizer's that I wouldn't have minded trying out. 

[///M5 2,833]

It is rather simple. You asked for something which implies a perfect frequency response. This means you NEED a processor. There are no double din units without Nav that have a processor.

Had you actually read the terms and conditions and made a thread that described what you really needed instead of using some terminology that you don't understand the definition to you'd get better help.

Add to that the confusion of "needing" a 4v out. That is a pointless spec and won't help shit. There are some threads in my signature that will help you steer the thread in a direction that can help you. What you've given us so far can't. Exactly why "no" is the right answer.