[Zak]

This will be my first car stereo system and I have to admit that I'm
pretty much clueless, I have been working my butt off researching all
over the internet

I have been looking at these two particular head units

Kenwood KDC-X591

Pioneer DEG-P5900I

When I was comparing these two I realized that the pioneer only have a
signal to noise ratio of 94 dB where the Kenwood has a signal to noise
ratio of 110 dB

Is there really going to be an audible difference between the two?

Also, I was looking at Alpine decks but I noticed they only have 18w
RMS, is there going to be a big difference in sound quality and
clarity between 18 and 22w RMS?


Should I make sure the head unit has 4V pre amp out as opposed to
2.5V?
Or does it really not make a difference

I'm looking at getting Alpine type R (300w peak power) speakers, are
they any good? And what head unit would go best with them?

Help would be much appreciated,

[Member02[_6_]]

hey man, come over to soundillusions.net, we'll help you out better.

you have to register to view or post, but you'll never see any spam or
junk,


--
Member02

[GregS]

In article .com, "Zak" wrote:
This will be my first car stereo system and I have to admit that I'm
pretty much clueless, I have been working my butt off researching all
over the internet

I have been looking at these two particular head units

Kenwood KDC-X591

Pioneer DEG-P5900I

When I was comparing these two I realized that the pioneer only have a
signal to noise ratio of 94 dB where the Kenwood has a signal to noise
ratio of 110 dB

Sometime companies use different rating systems. 110 db is
over twice as loud. For the most part , you should forget about these ratings.
in the old 8 track cassette tape world, SN was very important.

Is there really going to be an audible difference between the two?

Also, I was looking at Alpine decks but I noticed they only have 18w
RMS, is there going to be a big difference in sound quality and
clarity between 18 and 22w RMS?


Forget about it. They all have about the same power. Only special units that have auxiliary
power supplies can get over 20 watts.


Should I make sure the head unit has 4V pre amp out as opposed to
2.5V?
Or does it really not make a difference

4 volts is nice, and I would think all units would have that capibility by now.

greg

I'm looking at getting Alpine type R (300w peak power) speakers, are
they any good? And what head unit would go best with them?

Help would be much appreciated,

[John[_11_]]

Zak;674576 Wrote:
signal to noise ratio

Is there really going to be an audible difference between the two?

Some would argue, but I really don't think you'll notice a significant
difference.

Zak;674576 Wrote:
Also, I was looking at Alpine decks but I noticed they only have 18w
RMS, is there going to be a big difference in sound quality and
clarity between 18 and 22w RMS?

No, very few headunits reach their full rated potential without
distortion.

Zak;674576 Wrote:
Should I make sure the head unit has 4V pre amp out as opposed to 2.5V?

Another one to argue, but a higher voltage is better to avoid noise and
distortion in the simplest of terms. I say go with 4v to be safe, most
amps accept this. You can have higher voltages but it is not always
needed, and sometimes
does not work well.

Zak;674576 Wrote:
I'm looking at getting Alpine type R (300w peak power) speakers, are
they any good?

I was guessing at first you were talking about subwoofers here, but I'm
not sure, as I think some of there comps and what not has a rms rating
of 150w. You didn't mention an amp, so I'm guessing you were talking
about components or some similar speakers.

You may to consider a small amp for this, it will be much more clear
and clean than powering off the headunit.

John

Soundillusions.net & Carstereos.org
Feel free to visit and sign up, they're one in the same, we can help
you more extensively and in depth there. There are also much more
knowledgable members that will help you, especially if you are on a
budget.


--
John

[Mariachi]

On Apr 12, 3:25 pm, "Zak" wrote:
This will be my first car stereo system and I have to admit that I'm
pretty much clueless, I have been working my butt off researching all
over the internet

I have been looking at these two particular head units

Kenwood KDC-X591

Pioneer DEG-P5900I

When I was comparing these two I realized that the pioneer only have a
signal to noise ratio of 94 dB where the Kenwood has a signal to noise
ratio of 110 dB

Is there really going to be an audible difference between the two?

Also, I was looking at Alpine decks but I noticed they only have 18w
RMS, is there going to be a big difference in sound quality and
clarity between 18 and 22w RMS?

Should I make sure the head unit has 4V pre amp out as opposed to
2.5V?
Or does it really not make a difference

I'm looking at getting Alpine type R (300w peak power) speakers, are
they any good? And what head unit would go best with them?

Help would be much appreciated,

When you are looking for head units, I suggest do not put too much
emphasizes on specs, especially the power of the head unit. A head
unit is best used as a pre-amp to an external amplifier (4-channel, 2-
channel)... Even if the head unit says it can get 26 watts RMS per
speaker, it will probably only pump out 18 watts without distortion
because of various factors, including small power factory wires.

Signal to noise ratio... don't put too much emphasis on this either.
Just because one head unit has a 120 dB SN ratio, and another one has
a 90 dB SN ratio, does not mean that the 120 dB SN ratio head unit
sounds better. In actuality, the 90 dB head unit might have better
quality than the 120 dB one.

When you are looking for head units, you need to ask around to see
what brand of head units have the best sound quality. And another
thing is, what all do you want on your head unit? Compatibility for
satellite radio, hd radio? Number of pre amp connections, does it
look cool, does it play mp3 aac wma, is it reliable, does it have an
internal hard drive, etc...

Have fun