re: Which Headunit is good?
Guest
Posts: n/a
I found Eclipse (Fujitsu Ten in Asia) is similar to Alpine in terms of philosophy. No flashy overhyped stuff, just well engineered units.
One of the interesting feature is ESN. However, I doubt it works in practice. (Does anybody have experience with the effectiveness of ESN??)
In where I live (Vancouver, Canada) when a thief saw a nice deck I doubt they will look carefully at what ESN means before breaking the glass........
One of the interesting feature is ESN. However, I doubt it works in practice. (Does anybody have experience with the effectiveness of ESN??)
In where I live (Vancouver, Canada) when a thief saw a nice deck I doubt they will look carefully at what ESN means before breaking the glass........
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,019
From: LIC Motorsports
Car Info: 2004 Black/Gold STi
dang thats a lot of money to blow on a HU. id say Alpine and Eclipse have the best shizzle. These are good.
Originally posted by Wrxplaya11
Eclipse CD5444....very good deck
Eclipse CD8443 ...good deck as well
if not those i would go with
ALPINE CDA-7998
ALPINE CDA-9835
Eclipse CD5444....very good deck
Eclipse CD8443 ...good deck as well
if not those i would go with
ALPINE CDA-7998
ALPINE CDA-9835
Guest
Posts: n/a
Eclipse CD5444
Just put this deck in my WRX Wagon along with Focal Speakers front and back and it kicks some serious ***. I've had High end Sony decks, High End Alpines, and nothing can touch these Eclipse decks right now. As someone earlier mentioned, these are very well engineered decks. They have amazing sound that is very clean, and they can read ANY CD you put in them. I wouldn't never buy anything else. Go with Eclipse, you won't be dissapointed.
Last edited by chadwich; Apr 26, 2004 at 03:43 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,019
From: LIC Motorsports
Car Info: 2004 Black/Gold STi
Eclipse definatley has their build quality down. Theyre products are solid when installed properly. My friend has a Clarion and if you tug or pull on any part of it it will NOT move at all. Also the buttons have a nice feel to them.
Guest
Posts: n/a
The head unit is the brains of the stereo system. If you have a subwoofer i would highly recoment going with a Pioneer since they are the only brand that i know of with a FULL equalizer built in to it. If you do not have a subwoofer i would recoment a Eclipse head unit, since they are very good. Things to look out for... if you have a sub then you want a 4 volt pre-out if you dont play to have a sub then a standard 2 volt pre-out would be fine. i personally have the Pioneer 7500MP and i paid $210 online for it brand new. I have recomended this head unit to tons of people and i hold the highest regaurds of Pioneer Electronics
Guest
Posts: n/a
Does anyone know is the Eclipse 8454 any good? It says that it has a 8 volts of preamp output. I have One 10 in JL sub with a 600.1 kicker amp. Do you guys think it will work with it? Also where can you buy eclipse headunits from? I would prefer buying it from stores. Also are the faces of the eclipse headunits detachable?
Located in Chicago
Thanks alot for the infos
Jim
Located in Chicago
Thanks alot for the infos
Jim
Last edited by BlueSti389; Apr 28, 2004 at 07:25 AM.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Check out Eclipse web site and look for an authorised dealer. Check their internet sale policy before you buy on line. My guess is that they won't accept on-line sales and they won't accept your warranty claim if you buy you unit on-line.
Eclipse units don't have detachable face like everyone else. They offer the ESN feature which requires a key disc to be inserted to re-activate the unit should power is cut. Eclipse think it works so well that it is guaranteed from theft for 1 year. Having said that, if theft in your area is rampant then you should definitely take this into consideration. (I live in Vancouver and I would definitely NOT get a Eclipse no matter how good they are, because I know it will be stolen)
What good is your unit if it is stolen?:banana:
Eclipse units don't have detachable face like everyone else. They offer the ESN feature which requires a key disc to be inserted to re-activate the unit should power is cut. Eclipse think it works so well that it is guaranteed from theft for 1 year. Having said that, if theft in your area is rampant then you should definitely take this into consideration. (I live in Vancouver and I would definitely NOT get a Eclipse no matter how good they are, because I know it will be stolen)
What good is your unit if it is stolen?:banana:
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 93
From: Rhode Island
Car Info: 2004 Prodrive Suabru Impreza WRX
Go with the Eclipse
My last sytem I had was in a 99' Galant. I had an Eclipse head unit, JL separates , a JL 12' in a sealed enclosure and a Fosgate Punch amp. This combo absolutely pounded. The Eclipse head unit was flawless (if not a little tempermental) with almost no distortion.
As far as security, when you get your Eclipse deck installed, you pick a CD to act as your "key" disc. It can be any music CD you want. Once the unit recognizes that CD as the key disc, only that CD can unlock it. So if the deck were to removed from your vehicle (or power loss) you would need that CD to unlock it. Also, the unit is keyed to that specific CD. If you were to purchase the same CD (artist/title) and try to unlock it, it would not work. Only the EXACT CD you used as your key CD will unlock the deck. Any more than (3) attempts with the wrong CD will lock the unit. If this happens the unit will have to be sent back to the manufacturer (will proper proof of purchase) to be unlocked.
As mentioned before Eclipse will also warranty the deck for 1-2 years of purchase if (1) it is installed by an authorized dealer (2) the warranty card is filled in correctly by the installer/buyer and returned promptly after purchase.
One of the benefits of this radio is there is no need to remove a faceplate (or leave it in the glove box). My attitude was f@ck it let them steal it, it'll be useless to anyone besides me.
As far as security, when you get your Eclipse deck installed, you pick a CD to act as your "key" disc. It can be any music CD you want. Once the unit recognizes that CD as the key disc, only that CD can unlock it. So if the deck were to removed from your vehicle (or power loss) you would need that CD to unlock it. Also, the unit is keyed to that specific CD. If you were to purchase the same CD (artist/title) and try to unlock it, it would not work. Only the EXACT CD you used as your key CD will unlock the deck. Any more than (3) attempts with the wrong CD will lock the unit. If this happens the unit will have to be sent back to the manufacturer (will proper proof of purchase) to be unlocked.
As mentioned before Eclipse will also warranty the deck for 1-2 years of purchase if (1) it is installed by an authorized dealer (2) the warranty card is filled in correctly by the installer/buyer and returned promptly after purchase.
One of the benefits of this radio is there is no need to remove a faceplate (or leave it in the glove box). My attitude was f@ck it let them steal it, it'll be useless to anyone besides me.
Forester Specialist
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,985
From: Sonoma County
Car Info: '98/'04 Foresters (S & XT)
Another Alpine Vote
Here's my system from Kanga II
This head unit:
Connected to:
That is driven by:
Which powers:
in the front, and these in the rear:
and this is mounted in the rear left of the Forester:
This head unit:
Connected to:
That is driven by:
Which powers:
in the front, and these in the rear:
and this is mounted in the rear left of the Forester:
I had been an Alpine deck fan for a long time but......I've kind of gotten away from them. In the early-mid 90's they made awesome stuff.....then the quality dropped as well as their service. The last couple years the quality has come back but I ended up going with a Kenwood x869 which I've been quite happy with (although its likely I'll get a Nakamichi at some point). It was between Alpine and Kenwood. Very comparable price, features, SQ but Kenwoods service is awesome and the xcelons come with 2yr warantees.
If you don't care about looks and features, just pure SQ get a Nakamichi. Some may say you cant tell the difference, believe me......you can hear the difference!
If you want something well rounded get an Alpine, Kenwood, or maybe an Eclipse.
IMO Clarion and Pioneer has a few offerings that might be worth looking at, but Clarion just isnt what it used to be
I'd stay away from Sony and I've never been a fan of Blaupunkt.....
If you don't care about looks and features, just pure SQ get a Nakamichi. Some may say you cant tell the difference, believe me......you can hear the difference!
If you want something well rounded get an Alpine, Kenwood, or maybe an Eclipse.
IMO Clarion and Pioneer has a few offerings that might be worth looking at, but Clarion just isnt what it used to be
I'd stay away from Sony and I've never been a fan of Blaupunkt.....
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 245
From: SF, CA
Car Info: 04 WRX STi - Aspen White
go with Eclipse.
i have the 5444 in my STi, it is clean, crisp, does not miss a beat.
I had high end Sony, and as far as sound quality the Sony does not compare at all.
The usability of the sony was a bit nicer.
here is my set up
Head Unit Eclipse CD 5444
Speakers Front Focal Polyglass 165v2
Speakers Rear Focal 130cv
Amplifiers JL 500/1 & JL 300/4
Sub JL CVS110RG - W6v2
i have the 5444 in my STi, it is clean, crisp, does not miss a beat.
I had high end Sony, and as far as sound quality the Sony does not compare at all.
The usability of the sony was a bit nicer.
here is my set up
Head Unit Eclipse CD 5444
Speakers Front Focal Polyglass 165v2
Speakers Rear Focal 130cv
Amplifiers JL 500/1 & JL 300/4
Sub JL CVS110RG - W6v2
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 293
From: Westminster, Colorado
Car Info: 2004 Impreza WRX
Pioneer Permier 860MP .. You will not be disappointed, It has more features then any other non AV head unit out there. At times it can be kind of confusing with the Time Correction, Stereo Balancing, Speaker Response, Cross Over, Equalizer, and things I don't even know what they do yet. But this is what makes it so cool. You plug in the microphone that comes with it and velcrow it to the back of your seat where the head rest is, press a button and a 10 second count down starts to let you get out of your car and it will run a series of tests and tweak your system for you.
Guest
Posts: n/a
Everyone seems to be saying "5444" over and over...
I have been looking for a new stereo and well... I really really WANT to like the Eclipse 5444... But I just can't from a usability standpoint. The smallish rubberized ***** with the little bumps around the outside ring just don't seem to function well for me. Has anyone else noticed this?
Also it's kinda strange that you can control the illumination color of only a few of the buttons. Why bother?
Other than that it seems like a great unit, excellent sound quality, very sturdy construction including the flip open face... and I would love to get one... I keep trying to convince myself to get it but I just can't do it based on the stupid *****.
Someone will have to talk me into getting a 5444 or I'm going to go with an Alpine head unit. Looked at the Clarion too but the lighting on the face just kills me... Don't care how much you can change it... It just looks wrong.
I have been looking for a new stereo and well... I really really WANT to like the Eclipse 5444... But I just can't from a usability standpoint. The smallish rubberized ***** with the little bumps around the outside ring just don't seem to function well for me. Has anyone else noticed this?
Also it's kinda strange that you can control the illumination color of only a few of the buttons. Why bother?
Other than that it seems like a great unit, excellent sound quality, very sturdy construction including the flip open face... and I would love to get one... I keep trying to convince myself to get it but I just can't do it based on the stupid *****.
Someone will have to talk me into getting a 5444 or I'm going to go with an Alpine head unit. Looked at the Clarion too but the lighting on the face just kills me... Don't care how much you can change it... It just looks wrong.