Stereo & Electronics - Best Head Unit at Circuit City

Help me out, which one of the head units at circuit city is the best? I have a 00 formula with the monsoon sound system, all stock. Best value, sound, plus i want it to play a cd or dvd full of mp3 files.

Any recommendations? Thanks

"Best" is subjective.

What features do you want/not-want besides MP3?
"Nice-to-have" features?
How much are you willing to spend?
Why specifically CircuitCity? (Are you going to have them install it?)

They offer the free install plus i have a 100$ gift card.

I don't have an Ipod. USB would be nice. The main thing i want to do is put the majority of my music on one type of media and never have to change a cd. I will listen to the radio still occasionally. Also I would like the stock speakers to sound better. Right now i have to turn the base all the way down and turn the the treble all the way up to get any voice. Probably don't want to spend more than 200 but if i can get something substantially better for 250 i may go there.

we have the eclipse 3100 for 170, if you dont mind last years model. Other than that the new pioneers are nice but suck to set with the new menu format. The new jvc's are nice, especially the colored screened display one. Also, sony has the 820, which has 4volt preouts and ipod cable included.

From what you describe, something is wrong with your current setup, but I'm not sure where.

Swapping the headunit is a start, but the problem could be elsewhere.

I'm not sure what is the best in the 200-250 range, but there are plenty of options. I'd say look at the various models and try to narrow it down based on available features and reviews. I guess I'm not being particularly helpful at this point, but thats what I'd be doing.

message me before you buy anything me and a buddy have a car audio wholesaler and ill see what kinda stuff i can get you i can kill best buy and circuit city's prices

Yes, but do you accept circuit city gift cards?
:devil:

Honestly what would you recommend? Feel free to email me some prices and what you think will work and I'll definitely consider it.

I am doing the same thing I just want to replace my Head Unit becuase I like my Monsson speakers the way they sound I just want to have MP3 and USB.If Iwas you I would go with a Pioneer, I have always bought Pioneer beacuse of there sound quality, they have so much equilizer controls.

carputer

I have several choices as well. Alpine, Clarion, JVC (Arsenal), Panasonic, Pioneer Premier, some Kenwood, and several others to name a few.
Unfortunately I don't accept gift cards though. I do include mount adapter, harness adapter, and antenna adapter for most models though which they will charge you for regardless most of the time.

IMO, use that gift card to get some door speakers, then get a head unit on line, something like a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X591. I put the 591 in my sons car as a budget headunit (under $180 online) And for the price it's got a lot of features. Yeah, I'm partial to kenwood!...lol....Myself , I've got the Kenwood Excelon KDC-X991.
Just take your time, and chose wisely! :nod:

I have a cheap JVC deck i purchased from Circuit city about a year ago and i absolutely love it. The buttons are red and match beautifully to the pontiac gauges. JVC decks are extremely affordable and come with all the features you could want. I have one in my v6 bird with the stock 4 speaker system and it sounds great. a cheap one can be had for $100 bucks, and i'm looking at one on sale now for only $50 bucks more, with all the bells and whistles, including HD and a 7 band EQ. check out this model: JVC KD-HDR30

I agree, just find someone who is a wholesaler, or find a trustworthy website, then use the gift card for something else at Circuit City. I'm a installer at CC and I bought a head unit elsewhere, and so did the other installers.... mainly because the ones we carry are good but not great.

I'm kinda new, so guys correct me if I'm wrong but as far as suggestions as to whats good, you want hi-voltage preouts, at least 4V is good. And you want 3 pre-outs, 1 for the front, rear, and sub. Also if you can, look for some sort of sound improving tech, make sure it works, not some gimmicky crap. Alpine has their own, Pioneer has the sound retriever which brings out the sound that compressed mp3 files filter out, and the really good units have the Burr Brown DAC converters.

Personally I went on a low-medium budget setup and I have a Pioneer Premier DEH-P600UB and I love it, but I have a Camaro and it has blue lighting so it won't match T/A lighting at all. It has Pioneer's sound retriever, a 7-band EQ (also good) and I can also adjust the high-pass filter and sub frequency to get more bass and cleaner sound. No more distortion! Plus it has a in-line USB cable with an iPod connector at the end so I can use a USB driver or an iPod and its all controlled by the head unit.

Thats good info thanks. They actually sell the pioneer P6000UB at CC though

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Pioneer-DEH-P6000UB-CD-Receiver-DEHP6000UB/sem/rpsm/oid/203091/catOid/-13089/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

CC has crap, best buy is even worse, just got through a wholesaler.

oh and dont get Pioneer unless you get their Premier series. trust me, my Premier > normal Pioneer

CC has crap, best buy is even worse, just got through a wholesaler.

oh and dont get Pioneer unless you get their Premier series. trust me, my Premier > normal Pioneer

whats the difference between a pioneer p5000ub and a premier p5000ub?

I bought one off ebay (pioneer) and on some websites I see that theres some that say premier instead of pioneer

Premier has a better EQ and put out much nicer sound quality.

I believe it also costs a hair (50-100 bucks) more.

Like its been mentioned the EQ is better for more sound quality, and at least for mine I had an internal amp turn-off so if you have a 4-channel amp hooked up, so you won't have double-amplified sound, and instead of just the USB hookup, the Premier version has the iPod sync cable included, which can range from $20-35. Premier units can have the DAC as I mentioned in an earlier post but I don't think the non-Premiers have them.

Usually the price is actually no more than $10-50 depending on the head unit and where you buy it from... between the P6000UB and P600UB it was a $10 difference. Premier head units have a 2-year warranty compared to 1-year for non-Premier ones and I've heard they're built with better components, can't confirm that but I'd tend to believe it, they don't offer than 2-year warranty for nothing. And for my personal preference, the Premier units have an all-black finish with silver trim, which IMO looks cleaner than the non-Premier has black with silver around the rotary dial and silver trim. No brainer for me, for $10 more I got all that.... Premier all the way.

Not to sound elitist or nothing, just trying to help.

whats the difference between a pioneer p5000ub and a premier p5000ub?

I bought one off ebay (pioneer) and on some websites I see that theres some that say premier instead of pioneerThe Pioneer is the P5000UB and the Premier is the P500UB (note: one less zero).

The Premier is $20 more for which you get an included iPod cable, the ability to turn off the internal amp, and a 2-year warranty (compared to 1 year for the standard Pioneer). Otherwise, the two units are identical.

The Pioneer is the P5000UB and the Premier is the P500UB (note: one less zero).

The Premier is $20 more for which you get an included iPod cable, the ability to turn off the internal amp, and a 2-year warranty (compared to 1 year for the standard Pioneer). Otherwise, the two units are identical.

coo thanks didnt know that they had a premier and a pioneer till after I ordered my unit from ebay oh well.

I got it for $100shipped ised but looks real good :D

Actually, now I think I'm going with the Premier.

Wow, never heard of Pioneer Premier HU's...