Head Unit Recs (1 Viewer)

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Roswell Cruiser

Roswell Cruiser

Joined
Jun 3, 2017
Threads
4
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Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Hey yall-

I've been looking at different head units to install in Lucille (my '99 100). I've looked at a number of them on Crutchfield but haven't pulled the trigger yet because I want to be sure that I get the right one and don't regret not having a particular feature down the road. I looked around at different threads on head unit installs but did not see a general discussion on which units folks liked best. Thought it may be worth throwing up a general topic for the board to check the pulse on what double din head units are most popular.

Questions for the board:
1. What aftermarket double din head Unit have you installed?
2. Recommend or no?
3. What are your favorite features?
4. What features do you wish you had?

Important features for me:
Must haves: phone integration (Apple CarPlay for me), Bluetooth capability, ability to wire in a backup camera, double din, factory-ish look, reliable brand, good user interface,
Nice to haves: extra inputs (HDMI), ability to play CDs and DVDs.

I'm looking at the Alpine iLX-207, Sony XAV-AX100, Sony XAV-AX200 and the Pioneer AVH-2330NEX. Love the look of the two Sonys but worried they could be a bit limited in features.
 
if you're looking at 5-7 hundred, I would move up to the pioneer avic nex units that come with nav. Even if you don't use it much it's nice to have. The speed and compass screen is nice to have. GPS speed as primary and toyota speed wire as secondary. The alpine is nice also. I was alpine only for 20 years, but times are changing. I'm sure either one is just fine.
I think pioneer dominates the boards as far as how much info is out there.
My gripe is the pioneer boot time. Other than that I like the pioneer.

The ilx 207 does not play CD or DVD. I guess that right there doesn't make it worth 600+, to me at least.

one other thing, those sonys have hard RCA inputs, that means you have to add mount depth for the unit plus the hard RCA plugs if using am amp. That's a deal breaker on later model, not sure on the early 100s
 
I have the JVC KW-230 Double DIN from Crutchfield. The screen response is slow and it is very difficult to see with the glare. It takes a good 10 seconds to boot up. I am afraid to put in a backup camera because I won't wait that long to pull out. I chose not to buy a navigation because I use the WAZE app on the iPhone and have a phone mount. I would recommend something without the glare that responds faster.
 
I have the Pioneer AVH-X3700BHS. It's a higher end model from the lower end double DIN range of products. It lacks Apple Carplay and Android Auto, but has all the good audio features (13 band eq, i think, Time correction, etc...).

My biggest gripes with it are the following:

1. No separate antenna power out. Most receivers I've dealt with had an antenna out feed that switched with the radio source, not car power. The antenna goes up when you turn on the stereo, not when you turn on the radio. That's annoying and I didn't even think to check for this functionality.
2. The USB input takes FOREVER to index itself and search through files. I'm talking 56k-downloading-video slow. It will seriously take MINUTES to refresh as you search through 30GB of music. It's unacceptably slow.
3. No Android Auto

On the bright side:

1. The bluetooth is incredibly clear on both ends.
2. Audio quality is good - better than I expected for a sub $400 head unit. I'm running power directly from head unit to speakers with an Alpine 8" type R with 250W amp in lieu of the factory sub

If you budget allows, I'd aim for the higher end Pioneer units with capacitive screens.
 
yup, I had an avh once also. Same gripes. Supras one two and three don't exist on the 8200

I'm suprised JVC doesn't have a, I guess I'd call it a back up trigger boot interrupt output for the cam, that's weird.
 
jerryb said:
yup, I had an avh once also. Same gripes. Supras one two and three don't exist on the 8200

I'm suprised JVC doesn't have a, I guess I'd call it a back up trigger boot interrupt output for the cam, that's weird.
Click to expand...
You know it may. I never considered that. I could call crutch field and ask because if it does I would install a camera
 
I have the alpine 107.
pros. apple car play. nice screen clarity, simple to use, clean install, good sound.
cons. NO VOLUME BUTTON!!!!, little short on features, microphone quality(I am still working on it's final placement which may fix that)

For an economical unit, I recommend this one. Not sure if the 207 is as good.
 
I watched some videos. Boot times for jvc seem pretty good in you tube tests from Sonic. Pioneer isn't that great, but tolerable. I can deal with it. Pioneer doesn't aquire gps signal in first boot. Those tests on you tube we're gps times. So I don't know. I'd bet your jvc boot time is comparable to others. Not sure though.

Get a ten dollar cam and check it out. I though you meant you already tried. I'd bet the back up cam should show in one it two seconds. Especially without going through any other processors.
 
Roswell Cruiser said:
The Avic-8200 looks awesome and has a million functions, but $1200 is probably too steep (in my opinion) for the upgrade vs. what the others can do for half the cost. Any feature in particular that sold you on the Avic-8200?
Click to expand...

I like the capacitive touch sensor which is the same technology what apple phone uses. I will provide a very smooth GUI experiences, which is big in my opinion. Less frustrating in my book. The screen resolution is also top notch. Also I like the the fact its a loaded unit in most cases you never have to upgrade again. It also has the smallest dept mount 6.5" vs 7.0" and the RCA/connections are recessed which is important with the LX (not sure if that's an issue with LC). I'm a firm believer of pay now and forget about it. You get what you pay for......
 
I have the JVC KW-V820BT and I will say that the glare on the screen makes it difficult to use at times. Sound is great and ApplePlay is great (a must have for my wife) but personally I would prefer something like the Sony that has a few buttons for frequently needed functions like volume and forward and back. Those are tricky for me on the JVC but why wife says she has no problems and that it is just my sausage fingers!

Another interesting thing with the JVC was that the stock brackets put it at a weird angle. I had to use washers to creat a spacer of almost 1/4" on the driver side in order for it to fit correctly, but after that it look so great.
 
I definitely recommend going to a store and playing with the units. I've been a Kenwood fan, but the user interface was very laggy compared to the Pioneer. I ended up with the AVX-4200 NEX. I've been very happy with it. I do wish Pioneer had an antenna power output like other brands, but I just keep the antenna in the down position and it's not too bad.

Boot up time is okay, not instantaneous, but when I put it in reverse, it switches to camera pretty quick, even though it hasn't passed the warning screen yet, so that is a good feature. Warning screen automatically goes away after a few seconds, not all brands/models do that, some require some sort of acknowledgement or action to clear it.

Mine is a resistive screen, and the touch feel is good. It does not feel like those old ones with a spongey feel. The capacitive screens were glossy and I worried about too much glare since our cabins have such great visibility, and therefore not much shading from the sun.

I use Android Auto sometimes which is great for maps/navigation and also podcasts. Of course navigation is via the phone's Google maps, so only works if there is cell coverage. But the voice recognition is good. "okay Google, navigate to..." and I'm off and running. Same with voice replies to texts.

I also have about 15GB of MP3s on an SD card and it took a little while for the unit to build its library initially, but is pretty snappy browsing the library now that it's all loaded.

I miss having a volume knob, and I don't have steering wheel controls, but the volume buttons on the face of the unit are easy enough, and it has individual volume adjustments for each source. I wish it had speed sensitive volume, but this is not a Nav unit, so not really an option. Don't know if the Nav units have that ability.

No complaints about XM.

Bluetooth has been super reliable and connects quickly. I've been told that the hands free audio sounds great on the other end, so the factory mic and audio processing is good.

It has a second camera input, so I've seriously thought about putting a forward looking camera underneath the truck. Coming over a rise it's super tough to see what's in front of the truck and a second camera could certainly help, or even in the front bumper...

Just some things to consider. I've been happy with the Pioneer, no experience with recent Alpine or Sony units.
 
jerryb said:
the 8200 is seven hundred something.
Click to expand...

From Crutchfield "This item is no longer available." but the new 8201 is for $1200
 
TXSunDevil said:
I have the JVC KW-230 Double DIN from Crutchfield. The screen response is slow and it is very difficult to see with the glare. It takes a good 10 seconds to boot up. I am afraid to put in a backup camera because I won't wait that long to pull out. I chose not to buy a navigation because I use the WAZE app on the iPhone and have a phone mount. I would recommend something without the glare that responds faster.
Click to expand...
I have a JVC as well. Long boot time and the screen is useless during regular daylight. I got it cheap, but it was still a bad purchase.
 
jerryb said:
I don't buy from them. It's out at sonic also. But the 8201 is 949 there. I'd look elsewhere, it's not as if no one has any.

pioneer 8200 nex - Google Search
Click to expand...


Plus pioneer is offering $150 gift card rebate. Check their website. Not sure if only thru their website but it's worth looking into.
 
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