Hi there,
So I'm currently shopping for a new car deck for my 04 coupe to replace my stock one. As I'm looking at ones at places like Best Buy and Future Shop (I'm in Canada), I can't really seem to tell the differences between all of them; to me they are all pretty much the same. So why are some $300, while some are $100? What should I look for when I'm shopping for car decks?

Thanks

 

go with alpine or pioneer. i work car audio at a minnesota best buy and to me pioneers are better for the price, although alpine does have a better name but i havent had any problems with mine, alpine is much more aimed at ipod or mp3, some of their decks dont ever come CD ready, i would look at a pioneer p5100 or 5000 thats a good model or go to bestbuy.com and compare the models. good luck lemme know what u get

 

I prefer Eclipse myself. Crutchfield.com might work as well.

 

Alpine and Eclipse are going to be just the all around best. but there are other good quality brands such as Pioneer, JVC, or Kenwood.

the main difference that you are looking at between the cheap radios and the expensive radios is the features that they are capable of.
-The cheapest radio will usually be just basic AM/FM with CD radios. it might have a front AUX port, but they don't do much else.
-The middle level radios will have all the previous plus being Satellite radio ready, hd radio ready, bluetooth ready, and ipod ready. possible usb input.(being "ready" means that you have to buy additional parts to make it work). some have different forms of ipod inputs.
-The highest radios will have all the previous plus usually a better looking display, and some in this range will have built in hd or bluetooth, and better, faster ipod interfaces.

 

Well I don't really need much. I really only NEED an AUX port which is why I'm upgrading from the stock headunit. So in that case would any one ~$100 be okay?

and bmac, I found this on the bestbuy.CA website. Is this the one you were talking about? http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...14&catid=21981

I also posted this same thread in another forum and got this response:
Is this true? Anyone care to expand on this information?

Thanks

 

For you, i feel that one of the ~$100 radios would do everything that you need.

as far as the other information, its kind of irrelevant for the level of radio that you are considering.

- most radios output at 50watt x 4.
- i've never seen a radio that was not able to produce all the frequencies in the range of what speakers can produce.
- and all quality brand radios in the price range you are looking at will have about the same signal to noise ratio so thats not really an issue.

here are some radios I would recommend to you: (prices are approx. retail. you might find them cheaper somewhere)

Alpine CDA-102 ($150)
Pioneer DEH-1100MP ($100)
Pioneer DEH-2100IB ($120) this one comes with an ipod cable
Kenwood KDC-MP142 ($100)
Kenwood KDC-MP242 ($120) has satellite capabilities
JVC KD-R200 ($100)
JVC KD-R300 ($120) has a pretty color screen and buttons than is fully adjustable to whatever color you want

 

thanks a lot man, i appreciate it

 

I had a Pioneer that I got from Ultimate Electronics for about 90 bucks after tax that had iPod input, an aux in, as well as a USB port so I could just dump music on a USB drive if I was stuck without my ipod cable. I've also had really good luck with JVC's in the past, though the iPod management was much slower as far as navigating through the menus.

 

You also want to get one that is HD ready. It will make FM stations sound like CD quality and there is no reason that all head units don't have it now because my head unit from 4 years ago had it. Unfortunately, they all don't so that is a feature you should get. Maybe even a remote.

 

i prefer clairion they are really good radio's