# Good quality budget head unit?



## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

I used to be into stereo's big time, but have been out of it for several years.

I am building a mild system for my Corolla.

I just ordered a 15" series one Punch, probably all the car can handle. ATM I have a 6.5" Bazooka tube and that rattles the mirrors :O. 

I have a pair of 6.5" Infinity Kappa components.

I have an old school Hafler MSE80di. Currently ran in 3 channels, bridged for the sub. I have an old MTX Thunder pro amp if the Hafler can't power the Punch.

The problem area I have is the head unit, I have an old cheap Pioneer DEH-P3900MP. It never sounded great. I am thinking I might buy a passive eq, or buy a new head unit. I don't need anything real fancy. I am short on funds, so $100 would be about max, although I might buy something used. Any suggestions on this? Do you think and eq could get the highs sounding better? Or should I get a different head unit?


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

If you're interested, I've got a nice Eclipse deck for sale real cheap that has a basic three-band eq:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/classifieds/98782-f-s-eclipse-cd1200.html


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## biglip (Feb 18, 2011)

try ebay, i picked up a pioneer double din for 300 shipped which retails for 600 plus at retail stores.

if you can, try stepping up ur budget to 150, you can get a nice pioneer, i wish i still had the link, this guy was selling a MVH-8200BT for 160 and its counterpart without bluetooth for 110, i purchased to of them, THEY SOUND AMAZING, considering they retail over here in canada for 350 each, i sold them both for 250 each.

it comes down to what you prefer, you can get a good deck for under 100 bucks, but you get what you pay for. spend a few bucks more and get something that will last longer


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## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

Man, I tell you. I got the 15" sub, that thing sounds horrible! I remember when Fosgate was one of the best. I obviously received a bad speaker, it makes a "mechanical" sound like the voice coil is burnt. I can only turn it about 2/3 the way on the little Hafler amp. I am sure the Hafler is not able to power it, the 15 is not much stronger than my 6.5 Bazooka tube! I might break out my old MTX amp.... but then why bother when the sub sounds bad!

FWIW the Hafler tested at 110watts on a single channel, so while it isn't driving the sub hard, it is beyond the halfway point.


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## JayinMI (Oct 18, 2008)

Series one was RF's cheap line....many years ago.
AFAIK they haven't made them since the 90's.

Jay


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## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

Not a series 1 Fosgate, I had some 12" of those in the ancient days, and they sound better than this. It is P1s415


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

jpierce55 said:


> I used to be into stereo's big time, but have been out of it for several years.
> 
> I am building a mild system for my Corolla.
> 
> ...




Wow, old school Hafler, it's been years since I've seen one....can you post a picture of it...please

For the amount of money you have to spend stick with Pioneer, you can get a hu for under $100 with a usb input...try Amazon


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## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

trojan fan said:


> Wow, old school Hafler, it's been years since I've seen one....can you post a picture of it...please
> 
> For the amount of money you have to spend stick with Pioneer, you can get a hu for under $100 with a usb input...try Amazon


Well, the speaker does not like the box. It must be the shape. I took it out of the box and no rattle. The box seems air tight. I sprayed it with some silicone spray and stuffed a little foam in the bottom and it sounds better. Perhaps I should try a total fill and see if it improves.

Here is the amp, it is roughed up a little, but still sounds good. I think my seat frame nailed it once.

For any pups out there seeing the wires hanging out, these old things did not use terminals, so it is hard to keep clean.


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## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

sigh, yeah that 15 is going back to Amazon. I did the poly fill, wrapped the wire to make sure it was not rattling, the box is sealed tight. The sub does not make a grinding noise when you push in, but it rattles insanely loud. I hope it is a bad one, I am thinking I might trade in on a cheap Planet Audio or Lanzar instead, not good but mercy! The little 6.5 tube sounds much better.


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

I don't think replacing a cheap head unit with another cheap head unit will dramatically increase sound quality unless the old head unit has developed a serious problem or the new head unit had some additional options for tuning (don't expect that on a $100 unit). I suggest that hold off this purchase for a few weeks or months, research head units and figure out what you may suit you. An impulse buy will not do much good.

For sound quality on a budget, I'd recommend to look into the following possibilities:

1. Sony and Kenwood (e.g. KDC x994, x995) have a bunch of head units with time alignment feature. Even though its not a true "active" time alignment, using it to align the front speakers for your cabin noticeably increases sound quality.

2. JVC R900 has 5V preout, which helps to keep your amp gains low. 

Still, any of these options will cost closer to $200. I also warn you that most of $100 head units have only 1 or 2 sets of preamp outs.


Regarding the sub, I suspect that putting 15 inch sub in Corolla is a little extreme. I don't doubt the SQ of 15 inch subs, but a 15 inch sub requires a big box, either sealed or ported to sound best. Too big for Corolla IMHO. The sub in general should be matched carefully to the box and amplifier to sound best. First, decide what's the most space you want to give up for the subwoofer, then find the subwoofer for such box size that works best with your amplifier. I don't know how much power you have, but if your amplifier is power challenged, perhaps a subwoofer along the lines of RE Audio REX series would work well (rated for less than 200watts RMS and it's a quality company).


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## allstock (Jan 11, 2009)

what don't you like about your highs right now? is it too bright? did you try adjusting things w/the eq (i think yours is similar to my old pioneer head unit, and it has a 3-band parametric eq)? is your loudness feature on?

i agree w/zakoh, the RE Audio "RE" or "REX" line is a great budget sub. i ran 2 RE8's (older ones, not the newer REX) in a spec ported box and it slammed for 8's. i also had an RE8 in a bazooka tube and it's output surprised me as well.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

You should be able to get one for right around $100. Look for the Clarion cz300 on eBay. Good sq and decent features esp for the price.


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## jpierce55 (Mar 2, 2011)

The Pioneer does not have good quality mids and highs. I don't hear good detail on vocals. Lower mid sounds are fine, upper tweeter sounds are fine. It could just be the nature of my interior. You are right, it is a 3 band eq.

FWIW the rattle is the subwoofer itself, it does it outside the car, outside the box. I have about 110watts on my bridged channel. I am not trying to have an end all of end all systems. 6.5's and 8's don't hit a good range of frequencies imo, not saying they can't put out loud&low bass.


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## Kadar (Jun 29, 2020)

A high quality car stereo means a lot for the music. But as I know, few car stereos is lower than $100. Even if there is, the sound quality maybe not good. So would you consider to get a car head unit at about $200 or above? I had used one XTRONS double din car stereo without any big issues.


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## Bayboy (Dec 29, 2010)

Ummmm you do realize this thread is over 9 years old? I'm quite sure something was chosen by now and a lot more has changed since then. 

Man & Machine... Power Extreme!


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## opekone (Mar 24, 2020)

Is it XTRONS' guerrilla marketing?


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