Head Unit SQ Today VS Back Then

[Tony F]

Having listened to various members of this group for quite a while now, I
accept that modern-day HUs are made so well that they all sound pretty damn
good.

However, about 12 years ago or so I was the proud owner of an Alpine
CDA-7939. It was Alpine's flagship unit at the time. MSRP was $800 I
believe. My local retailer talked me (reluctantly) into trying an Eclipse
5303R. The MSRP was $550, and Eclipse was farily new and without much of a
reputation back then (at least in my head), so I could not for the life of
me conceive why this cheaper, unheard-of-brand sound as good as the dealer
said it would (he claimed it beat the Alpine hands down).

Anway, after having the Eclipse in my car for a while I sold the Alpine.
From what I can remember, I noticed a distinct warmth to the Eclipse (making
the Alpine sound tinny) and a hugely widened soundstage.

So. My questions:

1) Was this difference in SQ all in my head?

2) If it wasn't, when did this modern-day HU revelation come into being?


Tony


--
2001 Nissan Maxima SE Anniversary Edition
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure

2001 Chevy S10 ZR2
Pioneer DEH-P9600MP (Just gettin' started)

[MOSFET]

> 1) Was this difference in SQ all in my head?
>
> 2) If it wasn't, when did this modern-day HU revelation come into being?
>
>
> Tony

I had a 7939, too!! It was stolen, but I still have the faceplate for it.
I liked that deck alot, but I guess I never cared for the volume knob thing.
It was like a compromise between buttons and knobs, but I never liked the
way you couldn't turn it really fast like a regular knob (you know what I'm
talking about).

I don't think the sound difference was all in your head. It seems to me
that 10 years ago the differences between HU's was greater. In fact, I
rememebr very clearly trying to decide between the Alpine 7939 and the
Pioneer DEX P-99 (it had just come out and had all kinds of DSP functions
like EQ, X-over, etc., very ahead of it's time). Despite all the features
the P-99 possesed, I went with the Alpine because I remember clearly the
sound quality of the Alpine was superior to the Pioneer.

Today, however, I can't hear any differences between HU's. But, I may not
be the best judge because my wife tells me I definately don't hear as well
as I used to. She says I have spent too many years with my subwoofers and
the Bass Mekanik. Nah!

MOSFET

> --
> 2001 Nissan Maxima SE Anniversary Edition
> Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500
Amplifiers,
> Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
> Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure
>
> 2001 Chevy S10 ZR2
> Pioneer DEH-P9600MP (Just gettin' started)
>
>

[[email protected]]

MOSFET wrote:
> > 1) Was this difference in SQ all in my head?
> >
> > 2) If it wasn't, when did this modern-day HU revelation come into
being?
> >
> >
> > Tony
>
> I had a 7939, too!! It was stolen, but I still have the faceplate
for it.
> I liked that deck alot, but I guess I never cared for the volume knob
thing.
> It was like a compromise between buttons and knobs, but I never liked
the
> way you couldn't turn it really fast like a regular knob (you know
what I'm
> talking about).
>
> I don't think the sound difference was all in your head. It seems to
me
> that 10 years ago the differences between HU's was greater. In fact,
I
> rememebr very clearly trying to decide between the Alpine 7939 and
the
> Pioneer DEX P-99 (it had just come out and had all kinds of DSP
functions
> like EQ, X-over, etc., very ahead of it's time). Despite all the
features
> the P-99 possesed, I went with the Alpine because I remember clearly
the
> sound quality of the Alpine was superior to the Pioneer.
>
> Today, however, I can't hear any differences between HU's. But, I
may not
> be the best judge because my wife tells me I definately don't hear as
well
> as I used to. She says I have spent too many years with my
subwoofers and
> the Bass Mekanik. Nah!
>


Well you can't hear the clear difference from Alpine to pioneer to
Jensen
to Sony because they are mostly from made in China or mexico. I checked
out the manufacture label I hardly find Made in Japan or Germany. I was
shocked
when I saw the Made In China label on alpine and Pionner speaker.
Their sound is just same. Today the car stereo lovers just paid out big
buck for made in China label on $399 Pionner CD player. What the heck
$399
for? Just making big profit I guess.

[Tony F]

wrote: "Well you can't hear the clear difference from
Alpine to pioneer to Jensen to Sony because they are mostly from made in
China or mexico. I checked out the manufacture label I hardly find Made in
Japan or Germany. I was shocked when I saw the Made In China label on alpine
and Pionner speaker. Their sound is just same. Today the car stereo lovers
just paid out big buck for made in China label on $399 Pionner CD player.
What the heck $399 for? Just making big profit I guess."

Did you even READ what I said? Did you even READ my questions?

Don't respond to ANY of my threads. Your comments and/or advice are not
welcome.

Tony


--
2001 Nissan Maxima SE Anniversary Edition
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure

2001 Chevy S10 ZR2
Pioneer DEH-P9600MP (Just gettin' started)

[sq4u]

AHHHH, the infamous HU question......here's the answer tony. as mosfet was stating......Between ALL decks.......albeit clarion, alpine, pioneer, eclipse, blah blah blah you know the brands.......as an amp is judged by its internals, a deck, is deemed "that sounds good" by what the Manufacturer offers, say like the dsp that SONY has in ITS technology, clarion offers an EQ adjustment of THIER own, i cant remember what its called...but The Head Units will all sound different, brand to brand, I had an old ALPINE 7803s detach......i loved that cd player.........stolen...arrrrggghhh.......but moving on to the days of ALPINES new MX sound shaping and time correction, it WILL sound different than all others in the same class. Notice high dollar decks dont even offer bass, treble, ......they use a technology all thier own.......how simple it "used" to be to just down the bass a wee to eliminate distortion, and just up treble a bit......it isnt that simple anymore. Now, we almost have to be college professors to operate the darn radio in some of these HU's. But dont fret, the more time you spend fine tuning your available sound options will put you in the drivers seat. no pun intended. Until your battery goes dead.....and we have to do it all over again arrrgghh. So, the Sony, kenwood, eclipse, will never ever sound the same as one another. point proven, they dont make 'em like they used ta.

[MZ]

> AHHHH, the infamous HU question......here's the answer tony. as mosfet
> was stating......Between ALL decks.......albeit clarion, alpine,
> pioneer, eclipse, blah blah blah you know the brands.......as an amp
> is judged by its internals, a deck, is deemed "that sounds good" by
> what the Manufacturer offers, say like the dsp that SONY has in ITS
> technology, clarion offers an EQ adjustment of THIER own, i cant
> remember what its called...but The Head Units will all sound different,
> brand to brand, I had an old ALPINE 7803s detach......i loved that cd
> player.........stolen...arrrrggghhh.......but moving on to the days of
> ALPINES new MX sound shaping and time correction, it WILL sound
> different than all others in the same class. Notice high dollar decks
> dont even offer bass, treble, ......they use a technology all thier
> own.......how simple it "used" to be to just down the bass a wee to
> eliminate distortion, and just up treble a bit......it isnt that simple
> anymore. Now, we almost have to be college professors to operate the
> darn radio in some of these HU's. But dont fret, the more time you
> spend fine tuning your available sound options will put you in the
> drivers seat. no pun intended. Until your battery goes dead.....and
> we have to do it all over again arrrgghh. So, the Sony, kenwood,
> eclipse, will never ever sound the same as one another. point proven,
> they dont make 'em like they used ta.

They'll sound the same only if their EQs are off and their tone controls
flat and if they're being used only for their preamp output. But, as you
correctly point out, that isn't the case all the time. There are so many
features nowadays, with internal crossovers, EQs, etc that it's difficult to
get two to sound alike unless you disable all that stuff.

[MZ]

> In theory you would be correct, but they don't. I have owned prob. 15
> decks in the last 10 years. Same speakers, same volume-use a spl meter-
> same amps, wiring, no eq, HU's do not all sound the same. I don't know
> why people try to argue they do. I don't know enough about the
> circuitry or electronics to tell you exactly why either.

Gotcha.

[[email protected]]

In theory you would be correct, but they don't. I have owned prob. 15
decks in the last 10 years. Same speakers, same volume-use a spl meter-
same amps, wiring, no eq, HU's do not all sound the same. I don't know
why people try to argue they do. I don't know enough about the
circuitry or electronics to tell you exactly why either.

[Tony F]

MZ wrote: "They'll sound the same only if their EQs are off and their tone
controls flat and if they're being used only for their preamp output. But,
as you correctly point out, that isn't the case all the time. There are so
many features nowadays, with internal crossovers, EQs, etc that it's
difficult to get two to sound alike unless you disable all that stuff."

Agreed. But one of my questions was, has it always been this way? My 7939
did not have any elaborate EQs...just bass and treble...as did the 5303R.

Has it always been the case that all HUs sound similar, or was there a
difference "back then"? And if there was, when did it change?

Tony


--
2001 Nissan Maxima SE Anniversary Edition
Eclipse CD8454 Head Unit, Phoenix Gold ZX475ti, ZX450 and ZX500 Amplifiers,
Phoenix Gold EQ-232 30-Band EQ, Dynaudio System 360 Tri-Amped In Front and
Focal 130HCs For Rear Fill, 2 Soundstream EXACT10s In Aperiodic Enclosure

2001 Chevy S10 ZR2
Pioneer DEH-P9600MP (Just gettin' started)