Meltdown07 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Guys, I'm looking for an aftermarket double-din headunit with Nav. I've done some searching on the internet, and wanted to know any good recommendations you guys may have, even if its a slightly older model that I might have to ebay to find. Here's what I want: -Double Din -Nav that either uses its own DVD slot or runs of an external box. I want to be able to play a CD and use NAV at the same time, and not have to worry about 'caching' and switching DVDs all the time. -A good Nav program, one that dynamically reroutes if you miss your turn, rather than having you turn around (U-turn). -AUX-in -Sirius capability -Prefer a screen with a motorized Tilting function -I prefer a red button backlight, or a switchable button backlight, but I understand this might be something I have to give up. Any suggestions? Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repsak Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 alpine or pioneer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Eclipse..... http://www.eclipse-web.com/avn/index.html http://www.eclipse-web.com/avn/avn6610overviews.html JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighlineCA Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Definately the Eclipse 6610. This is the only one that uses a dual DVD slot. It shares almost everything with factory Toyota/Lexus navs. The Eclipse and Kenwood are the only DD I know of that have 5v outputs on the RCAs. Others that we like: Pioneer AVIC Z1 - HDD nav Kenwood with 510 Nav - External HDD nav Alpine W200 with nav - External DVD nav We our an authorized dealer for Eclipse, and have it specially priced for the GB (we are also an authorized dealer for Pioneer and Kenwood). Thanks, Rich @ HCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Kenwood has all of those features. I'm using last years Excelon model DDX-8017. The NAV is done by Garmin, one of the most intuitive interfaces around, IMO and is outboard hardware, non DVD based. Because its one model year out, you could probably pick the combo up for cheap on eBay. And as Rich@HCA mentioned, it has 5V preouts which was a feature I was not willing to give up as part of my audio system. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 Yeah the kenwood looked pretty good to me too. I'm between that and the Eclipse I think. I like the pioneer too, but its a bit more expensive for the HD NAV. I ALWAYS have CDs in my player, so if I have to remove a CD to use the NAV I'm not going to be happy. I kind of ruled out the alpine I think. I read some poor things about their NAV functionality. Thanks for the advice guys, any other suggestions? Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted December 11, 2007 Author Share Posted December 11, 2007 Kenwood has all of those features. I'm using last years Excelon model DDX-8017. The NAV is done by Garmin, one of the most intuitive interfaces around, IMO and is outboard hardware, non DVD based. Because its one model year out, you could probably pick the combo up for cheap on eBay. And as Rich@HCA mentioned, it has 5V preouts which was a feature I was not willing to give up as part of my audio system. Question for you then, so you can listen to a CD and use the NAV at the same time then, right? Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Question for you then, so you can listen to a CD and use the NAV at the same time then, right? Yes, CD, DVD, radio, iPod, Aux-in.. all can be the primary source while the NAV is on the screen. NAV audio features mute the audio source before playing. That can be turned off as well. Also of some interest, all safety lockout features can be software disabled on the Kenwood, meaning, all input features on NAV are available while the car is in motion. Some other headunits use internal gyros for motion lockout. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighlineCA Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Yes, CD, DVD, radio, iPod, Aux-in.. all can be the primary source while the NAV is on the screen. NAV audio features mute the audio source before playing. That can be turned off as well. Also of some interest, all safety lockout features can be software disabled on the Kenwood, meaning, all input features on NAV are available while the car is in motion. Some other headunits use internal gyros for motion lockout. All units can play anything while the nav is in route. Only unit that uses internal gyros is the Pioneer. Although I hear there is a way around that. The Alpine needs a PAC TR7 to make it possible, and the Eclipse and Kenwood need nothing. Rich @ HCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leizodirge Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Yeah the kenwood looked pretty good to me too. I'm between that and the Eclipse I think. I like the pioneer too, but its a bit more expensive for the HD NAV. I ALWAYS have CDs in my player, so if I have to remove a CD to use the NAV I'm not going to be happy. I kind of ruled out the alpine I think. I read some poor things about their NAV functionality. Thanks for the advice guys, any other suggestions? As an owner of both Eclipse nav unit and Alpine units, the Alpine wins hands down. As far as user friendliness and accuracy, you can't go wrong w/the Alpine. Granted the Eclipse unit I have is a stock Toyota E7009 (on my Tundra) but I know it's made by Eclipse and it's about a year old. That thing has frustrated me a couple of times. What is cool about it is that it does have a dedicated nav slot and a 4cd changer so there's no cd swapping. The screen tilts also. As far as the interface, it takes a while to get used to so keep your manual handy. The wife hates it. My friend has a straight up Eclipse in his ride and it's virtually identical. The nav unit on my wife's Acura '05 TL is miles ahead of the that Eclipse and it's about a year older. We also had a '06 MDX and that unit was just like the TL's only better, w/voice commands making it easier to put in destinations and such. Both these units are made by Alpine. I've rarely had any kind of problems w/both those units. I recently installed an NVE-N872A on my LGT and that thing's almost identical to both Acura units only slightly cooler in the graphics dept. Very nice and the voice commands are way to cool. Very nice user interface. The only problem I've found w/the Alpine stuff is that they're kinda expensive and the stereo menus are pretty bland. They're stand alone dvd based systems, so the HU and the screen are usually seperate components. I have hear crappy things from their Blackbird units but the newer DVD based units very very cool. I can't comment on Kenwood or Pioneer but from what I've seen, they look pretty cool. Their stereo menus are alot prettier then the Alpine's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 All units can play anything while the nav is in route. Correct. I was getting at the fact that because the Kenwood system does not rely on a DVD drive for NAV data, it can continue to recalculate or enter new destinations while a CD or DVD is playing in the drive. Compeltely independent systems. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted December 12, 2007 Author Share Posted December 12, 2007 Awesome. Thanks for all the tips guys. lots of good decks out there, but that helped a lot! Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakgwai Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 how about the panasonic strada? how does that compare? it sure is cheap thou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 how about the panasonic strada? how does that compare? it sure is cheap thou I dont know anything about it. I saw it while I was looking around, but kind of wrote it off. Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repsak Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 Im just waiting for the Clarion MAX973HD...will be worth the wait. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awddkqf0TF4]YouTube - MAX973HD High End HDD Navigation from Clarion with 3D menu[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 I have a few more questions I was hoping you guys could help me with. Thanks for all the help you've been so far. fweasel, I really like your set up, your HU seems to have all the bells and whistles I would like, as well as 5V RCA preouts. I've been looking for that or something similar, but I cant seem to find the DDX-8017 and KNA-G510 nav unit together for less than $1000, which is a lot of money for something used. That and refurbished stuff scares me. So I started looking at other options as well. I'm not looking to amp my speakers in the LGT, but I currently do have Polk DB620s in all the doors, and in large I am happy with the current volume level in the car, I just dont care for the frequency response of the factory headunit. I do currently have a sub hooked up in the trunk to a LOC behind the dash to the stock HU. Which brings me to my first question: Are 5V preouts important to me if I dont plan on amping the speakers? The Eclipse stuff looks nice, and has all the features I would like. However shots of the nav screens look.... dated and kind of unsightly compared to the clean, crisp, and colorful graphics of the Kenwood, which has me leaning that way. I was looking at the Kenwood DNX7100 which has built in NAV and can play back mp3 cds/dvds a big plus. The price is also more reasonable compared to what I want to spend (<$1000). I've seen these online brand new for about $950. However, the DNX7100 only has 2V RCA preouts. However, the Pioneer Avic Z2 also caught my eye, because it has harddrive based navigation, AND also allows you to use 10GB for music storage, which would also be a big plus, since to be perfectly honest, I listed to a lot of the same music in the car time and time again. I can find a brand new Z2 online for around $1000. However, the Z2 also only has 2V RCA preouts, and also requires me to do whatever reprogramming so it can be used while moving. What do you guys recommend? Thanks again for the help! Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cino135 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I just purchased the Pioneer avic d3 last night and Im now running into install problems for the head unit/ faceplate install. The eclipse is tight, but expensive IMO Im an Alpine fan, but got a great deal on the Pioneer and couldn't pass it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmarko Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I just purchased the Pioneer avic d3 last night and Im now running into install problems for the head unit/ faceplate install. The eclipse is tight, but expensive IMO Im an Alpine fan, but got a great deal on the Pioneer and couldn't pass it up. Hmmm, I just got my AVIC-D3X yesterday from Crutchfield (haven't installed yet). Do you have an LGT or one with the manual HVAC controls? What kind of problems are you running into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meltdown07 Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 I have a LGT, but I purchased the highline 2-din mod, I just havent installed it yet. Nothing against you guys, but the D3X isnt an option for me. I need something where I can listen to a CD and use the navigation route at the same time. Like the eclipse the AVIC D3X is DVD nav based, but unlike the eclipse it has only one media slot, so it wont work for my purposes. Go Cardinals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Are 5V preouts important to me if I dont plan on amping the speakers? Technically, no. The whole reason you go with high voltage preouts is to ensure the signals sent to the amps are as clean as possible. If you are not going to use amplifiers in your system, its a moot point. However, higher voltage preouts are usually a sign of betterd build quality vs. models with lower voltage outputs. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighlineCA Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 The Kenwood DNX7100 will fit your bill nicely. Under $1k, definate better graphics than the Eclipse, and a HDD based navi. All other options, except the Pioneer, are over $1k (unless used or refurb). fweasel is absolutely right. Higher voltage, more features and build quality come with a price tag. The Eclipse's cost considerably more than any other radio and has a fantastic build quality. Melt - Get ahold of me if you are interested in any of them. Thanks, Rich @ HCA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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