car stereos best brand

[KayakPanic]

the only Pioneer I was able to see broken, was bought used at a pawn shop, and worked great...until a tourist T-Boned (and blindsided me, possible the only concussion of my life) and pushed my '80 2wd sr5 with BRAND NEW REBUILT ENGINE IN IT up onto a 5 foot tall snow bank. I crawled out the passenger side window and nearly attacked the ...(the driver door was punched in about 14", almost hitting my shoulder in the process and wouldn't open)

his vehicle was a rental Sheetvee Blazer...his kid went to the hospital in an ambulance on the first day on the va-ca...way to go dad!

of course his insurance would neither compensate me for the broken stereo (no new reciepts), nor the new engine (even though i had reciepts)...
i even saw the first truck i ever owned myself, on the way to the junkyard on a flatbead. oh and no they would not sell the truck back to me for the rebuilt 20R.

but after cussing the same insurance person out for 1-2 months...i upgraded to a 1980 sr5 4x4 on their dime! way to go me, cuss words turned $650 into $2000!!!

(end of rant)

i do not have much experience with Alpine (green displays rock though), but have lots of good musical experiences with Pioneer...

 

[mwood5]

if you really want the ultimate in quality....look no further....

McIntosh MX406

...if i had the cash, this is what I'd go with in the dash.

m

 

[specialk396]

Alpine

Alpine, the more 9's in the model number(CDA-9859), the better. I've never had a bad one, have used them almost exclusively for 20 years.

 

[NYFJ62]

Always used alpine but just put a pioneer in my 62 and am very happy with it. The controls are a little hard to get used to, but getting a head with a remote helps that a alot.

The one I picked up has a front usb jack that charges my ipod, bluetooth that works really well despite the noisy interior of the 62, an aux jack so I can plug a laptop in and watch a movie with the sound over the speakers, and of course the remote. The unit sounds as good as any can with the stock speakers and no amp, but could be a killer setup if you throw new speakers/sub/amp in.

The pioneer also allows you to plug your ipod to it via usb while also being able to control the music from the ipod itself. Every alpine i've had requires that you browse your music library through the head which is a serious pain in the A** in my opinion. This was actually the main reason I went with the pioneer.

 

[pcperks]

A lot of this is going to be personal opinions, but there is some room for what you are going to be using it for. If you just want some tunes playing while driving around and not a really big sound person, then the majority of inexpensive name brands are just fine. Obviously if you are a really big sound afficianado and need that really clear precise sound, you are going to have to spend that extra money.

For those that are doing heavy duty off road, kicking up lots of dust and hitting bumps at high speed, you are going to want something a little bit tougher then your standard stereo as well.

When I get to doing my stereo, I am actually going to go with the Sony Marine products because they are very well encased, with some protection against shock, and virtually impervious to dust or water getting in to the critical parts. I'm running a full Sony Marine system in my boat including head unit, two amps, 4 6 1/2 speakers, and 2 10 inch subs (and 4 stock speakers running off the head unit). They have been doused in water, banged around in rough conditions, and not a single issue in 2 years. Oh yeah, and they don't cost very much either if you get them on eBay.

 

[mmw68]

I've always used Alpine, and they have held up for ever. I've also gone digital with all my music on my iphone, so I went with the Ida-X305. I got it of ebay for about $275.

I'am very impressed with it, very easy to use and sounds good. It does not play CD's, that was a bit strange. But I would miss call because of not hearing the phone over road noise and the radio, and when a call comes in the radio mutes. It a cool feature.