Best head unit/sound quality

Just thought I would ask to see if anybody had any Ideas on were I can go to find out different specs on a variety of different head units. such as reliability/sound quality/ things to look for when purchasing one etc. any Ideas would be appreciated, or maybe just some opinions.--zx9r

I have a kenwood kdc-x599. It is the cat's a#@. If you are looking to add a amp look for high volts on the pre amp output of the amplifier. That will improve you s.q. if you add an amp. There are a lot of good head units that will give you good performance besides kenwood. My personal rule is you get what you pay for. Just read the list of featurs that the head unit will perform and make sure it matches what you want to do. If you don't need a mp3 and dvd player, etc. don't buy one that has those features. Keep it simple if that is what you want. You should be able to aquire a good unit for about 300-400 bucks that can get the job done.

I have always prefered Alpine headunits. I ran on for over 7 years before the CD player finally died. Unfortunately money was tight and I replaced it with a POS Sony xplode. Don't get me wrong, the Sony gets the job done, but no where near the quality of the Alpine. Hopefully I'll be able to replace it within the next year with either another Alpine or RF. Donkason is right about getting what you want feature-wise. But also think into the future before you buy. Future upgrades (primarily amps) can be done easier if you have the right base to start from (ie. 1, 2, or 3 sets of RCA pre-outs, amplified vs. non-amplified outputs, etc...).Squirrel

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My personal rule is you get what you pay for. not always true in the world of SQ...you can spend alot of money on the flagship Panasonic head unit, but you will still have a deck that sounds like ass... https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=12962&PN=1 take a look there for some of the best sounding decks man has made so far...

Eclipse! They put a lot of money into their research and develpment team. If you really do care about SQ, I believe Eclipse is the way to go. 55Ohms 8V unbalanced 16V balanced pre-amp output.

pre-out voltage isnt the only thing to look for in an SQ deck... you would have to look more at DACs and processing than pre-out voltage in an SQ system...

Well as a head unit I had ba experience with the following : JVC , Panasonic , SONY. Good Experience with: Kenwood , Pioneer , Alpine I am running now with a Pioneer and I love it but I think actually Kenwood was a bit better at sound quality even if it does not have so many functions and adjustments like the Pioneer. I'll go for Kenwood or Pioneer.

My personal prefrence is Eclipse or Alpine.