Auto audio

Ebm,

I pulled the trigger and the Pioneer DEH 80PRS was delivered and may get installed this weekend. I'll post some impressions here when the install is finished.

Ohlala, I thought about just buying another Nakamichi, but they don't offer the model CD500 anymore (on-board DSP), and I'm a bit frustrated with the lack of durability of the CD400 I have, so I decided to try a different route.

Stringreen & Jperry, While I agree that I won't get audiophile sound in my car, I've heard awful sound in most cars and I don't want that, either. Hence the search for good mobile audio.

Macdonj, I'm using the DEH 80PRS now. I had the DEX-P9, and DEQ-P9 before that. Unfortunately the 80PRS is not nearly as good as the old P9's. I was tempted to buy the new TOTL Pioneer but did not want to spend that much on car audio this time. Really miss the P9 though.

Sarcher30,

Thanks for the information. The DEX-P9 is available, but way outside my budget. I'm hopeful the DEH 80PRS will be good enough.

I was able to install the Pioneer DEH 80PRS this weekend, but haven't been able to dial in the sound yet (time alignment and EQ adjustments). My kids think it looks cool, so that's something. Even without dialing it in, the sound is pretty good, though. I have hope...

I used a Radio Shack SPL meter and Stereophile test disc to manually set the internal equalizer and have been tweaking for a week or so. The sound is pretty good. The combination of DEH-80PRS, JL Audio 6" drivers and my car don't produce the utmost in bass articulation as evidenced by the loss of detail in "It's For You" from Pat Metheny Group's "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls". The highs have sparkle and shimmer, so cymbals sound good. Of course all kinds of low level detail is lost to road and wind noise, so I won't comment on that.

I like the various DSP modes that create different soundstages. I find "Front" to be the least fatiguing. I tried "Front Left" but it made me feel like most of the sound was hitting my right ear and fatigued me quickly. The listening controls are simple: one button cycles through the available sources sequentially, volume is controlled by a rotary knob, and a "lever" cycles through CD tracks or radio presets sequentially. I haven't tried bluetooth yet, but will. I also haven't connected a phone or I-Pod yet, but my kids will.

I don't like the display. The track information is too small for me to read, so it's useless.