posted
A little background first: my '98 SS came with the stock stereo unit, which at the time was an AM/FM Stereo Cassette. (When I bought the car, I planned to have the whole stereo system redone.)
Back about 3-4 years ago, I replaced the head unit with the Alpine CDA-855, which is a one-and-a-half DIN unit with BBE technology. However, I've found that the CD part of the unit is extremely touchy on bumps, and apparently doesn't have any kind of memory buffer built into it. This has become especially apparent since I stiffened the car up with SFC's. So I'd like to replace it - what 1.5 DIN CD units are worth looking at?
-------------------- Jim Mac '98 Silver SS #108 Posts: 1907 | From: I hope I'm not repeating myself. Again. And Again. Stop picking on me! Waaahhh!! | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Alpine has a nice head unit that i am wanting to get. but i can't remember the model #. if you go to www.crutchfield.com you can find out all sorts of info.
Posts: 1579 | From: Portland, OR. | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Lots of questions come to mind here. Do you want MP3 or CD-RW compatibility? Do you want CD/Cassette player? Do you have an amp or run the speakers off the head unit? Are you happy with the current head unit's sound quality? How much do you want to spend? The last question is probably the one you want to pay most attention to. You can get head units for $100 or for $500 and you typically get what you pay for.
Alpine is a great brand. Pioneer actually makes pretty good products for good prices and they have a unit that fits in the oversized openings in the Camaro but you said 1.5 DIN so that doesn't matter. I would look at the Alpine CDA-9805 and 9807. The CDA-7995 and 7998 are cool but pricey.
Crutchfield does have a lot of good info but there are much cheaper places to buy the equipment. I suggest researching on Crutchfield and then finding what you want at a good price somewhere else...even your local stereo shops can have decent prices or places like Best Buy.
-------------------- Mark H.
Whoever said you couldn't run away from your problems obviously wasn't driving an SS. Posts: 942 | From: Santa Barbara and Ventura, CA | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by mhayman: Do you want MP3 or CD-RW compatibility?
No, either of these aren't that important to me. I run a DJ Service on the side, so all of my music is from Commercial CD's. I suppose CD-RW wouldn't be bad to have, but it's not a requirement.
quote:Originally posted by mhayman: Do you want CD/Cassette player?
CD Player - don't need a Cassette player.
quote:Originally posted by mhayman: Do you have an amp or run the speakers off the head unit?
I currently run the speakers off of the head unit. I need to check the specs, but I believe that the CDA-855 has increased power capability - I want to say it was putting out 40-45 per channel. It's definitely more than the stock speakers could handle. That was one of the big sale points for me back then. The other was that I wanted a head unit with a non-powered subwoofer output, as I planned (and am still planning) to put a stealthbox in the back.
quote:Originally posted by mhayman: Are you happy with the current head unit's sound quality?
Yes - the sound quality is excellent - it's just that it skips or pauses way too often. With the increased stiffness of the car due to the addition of the SFC's, it will not skip or pause at every little bump for some of the older/cheaper CD's in my collection. Extremely annoying.
quote:Originally posted by mhayman: How much do you want to spend?
I'd like to not go above $500 for the head unit. I believe I spent around ~$400 for the CDA-855.
quote:Originally posted by mhayman: Alpine is a great brand. Pioneer actually makes pretty good products for good prices and they have a unit that fits in the oversized openings in the Camaro but you said 1.5 DIN so that doesn't matter. I would look at the Alpine CDA-9805 and 9807. The CDA-7995 and 7998 are cool but pricey.
I know that Pioneer makes the oversize (1.5 DIN) units and according to Mike Bonte, so does Jenson. But I don't think that Alpine does that anymore - their units are all 1 DIN now.
Posts: 1907 | From: I hope I'm not repeating myself. Again. And Again. Stop picking on me! Waaahhh!! | Registered: Feb 2000
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If you are really wanting the 1.5 DIN size then you are really limited in choices. As I mentioned before, Pioneer makes them and I think Clarion is the only other unit I have seen in that size. I have looked myself at larger head units as I don't like the cheesy look of the smaller unit with the block off plate but it seems that if you want a good quality head unit you have to get the smaller sized one.
Let me know if you find anything else available and good luck!
Posts: 942 | From: Santa Barbara and Ventura, CA | Registered: Feb 2000
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One thing that none of these units seems to have (or maybe it's just not mentioned) is a memory buffer for the CD player, to avoid skips and pauses caused by bumps. Is this something only available in a high-end unit?
Mark, I got a kick out of that link you posted: that store lists the peak power handling as the units power "MOSFET45 (45Wx4-Channel High Power)" instead of the RMS power. That's a typical tactic that these stores use.
Posts: 1907 | From: I hope I'm not repeating myself. Again. And Again. Stop picking on me! Waaahhh!! | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I don't think I have ever seen any head units with a memory buffer, like a personal CD player has. I think most head units are made with a swivel type mechanism that allows the CD tray to "float" inside the head unit. Most cars don't have the jarring ride that you have when walking or running and don't need that memory buffer as the swiveling action is sufficient.
Hey Jim, maybe you should shop for springs and shocks instead of a head unit.
Oh PS - not only is the unit I showed above listing the peak power vs. RMS, but it is overpriced. The same unit on Sound Domain is about 220. The only reason I posted it was to show it to you. I just did a Google search for Pioneer 1.5 DIN so I could show you a pic of it.
[ 25. April 2003, 01:25 PM: Message edited by: mhayman ]
Posts: 942 | From: Santa Barbara and Ventura, CA | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Like you, I ordered my SS with the base system and I planned on putting a nice system in there. I didn't plan on getting into it as much as I did. I've had three headunits, and I'll be switching out my 4th amp next week.
There are some decent in dash kits for putting a regular din head unit in your car.
I've had a Alpine 3 disk change in my SS, then I had a Nakamich MB-100, now I have a Eclipse 56060 (the Nak and the Eclipse being 6 disk in dash changers). The only thing with the HU's I used is that you need to have a amp to run with them. I have had no skipping problems.
You may want to try the electronics forum on LS1.com. The guys in that forum are helpful and the FAQ there is fantastic, a definite read.
Posts: 1296 | From: Saginaw, MI | Registered: May 2000
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