I need to know about head units

[Robert8252]

Not with the built in controls, with another piece of equipment such as DSP maybe. I know you're asking when it comes to similar price range will things be the same and I can't necessarily answer that but I know when going from a $300 amp to a $1,200 amp there is a difference in sound. Music is going from a digital file into an analog signal no matter what you. This is why some high end gear will actually use fiber optics from the source to the porocessor all the way to the amp, but in the end from the amp to the speaker is always an analog signal through a positive and negative wire but running fully digital limits the information being lost or changed due to analog components. It's everything that happens in converting the digital song to the speaker that effects the sound. Now I'm not saying either was better or worse, the result being good or bad is always simply a persons opinion since what sounds good to one person might sound like garbage to another.

[Jdon13]

Perhaps my best bet is emailing manufacturers for more info. I'll post my findings. Thanks for everyone who gave input

[dolarbilz]

So what facts do you have that they use the same MOSFETs?

[Souldrop]

Each head unit is different. Could you feasibly get the same sound out of two different decks? probably, but that would require playing with the settings and likely an active processor. With any circuit you will have certain characteristics inherent to that specific circuit and if you get right down to it even the same model can have differences across decks due to different tolerances of components. Look at birthsheets among amps. The same model amps can swing up or down by considerable percentages compared to the average. Mosfets are just a specific type of transistor. All mosfet amplifiers are not the same. Will someone really be able to tell the difference between 2 separate, quality decks at the same price point? The avergae joe probably wouldn't notice much if any difference in sound except the volume that a H/U distorts at, especially in this situation.

You should have clarified with the persona buying that they probably wouldn't have noticed a huge difference at that price point in that setup, and not implied they all had the same internal amps. I would have questioned your ability to help me as well.

[Jdon13]

Ill pull specs from the 3 head units on display and in question in my store.

SONY MEX-N400BT

• Amplifier Section
  • Speaker Impedance : 4-8 Ohms
  • Power Ad Hoc : CEA2006 Standard Power: 17 Watts RMS per channel into 4 Ohms, 4 channels driven from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with less than 1% THD+N.
  • Max power output : 55 watts x 4 at 4 ohms
• Audio
  • Preout Voltage : 2 volt
  • Preout Impedance : 220 ohms
  • Wow and Flutter : Below measurable limit
  • S/N Ratio : Audio Power: CEA2006 S/N 80 dBA
  • Equalizer : EQ10: 10 band EQ with +/- 6 dB adjustment at 32 Hz, 63 Hz, 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 4 kHz, 8 kHz and 16 kHz.
  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio (dB) : CD: 120 dB
  • Frequency Response : CD: 10-20,000 Hz
  • Audio Format(s) Supported : MP3/WMA/WMA files¹
  • Station Preset(s) : 18 FM / 12 AM
  • Tuner Type : Digital Clarity Tuner with RDS
  • Band : AM / FM
  • Tuner Frequency Range : FM: Tuner Frequency Range(MHz): 87.5-107.9
    AM: Tuner Frequency Range(kHz): 530-1710

​PIONEER DEH-X6600BT

Built in amplifier MOSFET 50x4

D/A Converter - 24 Bit

Advance Sound Retriever (??)

Mixtrax - makes the music from an iPhone, iPod, USB device, or certain Android devices and plays it back with added transitions and effects, creating a virtual DJ inside the Pioneer receiver.

KENWOOD KDC-BT318U

Digital Filter (D/A) 8 times oversampling

AMP Full Bandwith Power 22wx4

Sound Reconstruction (??)

Drive EQ - Road noise is the enemy of all audio systems found in vehicles. The inherent

frequencies of road noise masks a wide range of the audio signal found in music,
and this is the reason Kenwood engineers developed Drive EQ. Drive EQ boosts
specific frequencies in the audio signal to compensate the negative impact of road
noise.

[Jdon13]

So what facts do you have that they use the same MOSFETs?

And what facts do you have that theyre not?

[IBleedMusick]

I think you came in here expecting some kind of technical breakdown of the differences between brands and their headunits so it would give you a way to regurgitate that same info to your customers leaving them as confused as when they walked in. As it has been stated previously by myself and others the quality of parts used between 2 companies changes a lot of things, the features of each change a lot and so on, so forth. I gave you a very basic very simple explanation on the quality of the internals and the distortion found in cheaper units. That says enough, I also said no mfg will be able to tell you much with out real experience with different products, all anyone will say is our unit sounds better because we have blah blah blah. No one person here can do that either because it's all biased opinions. I personally love Pioneer and have never had issues with them whereas many will say well Kenwood is the best or some will say Alpine takes the cake. All you can really do is sale a customer the product they want with the features right in front of them. You need to focus on selling them something that will last (I have had more Sony's, Farenheits and JVC's fail on me) and hold up to their needs. There is no point in arguing with a customer because they like a specific brand if that's what they want you sell them that and let them be happy. Who know's if your $120 Kenwood is better then their $130 Pioneer?

You are arguing your own point and proving yourself wrong. Out of the box Unit A for $150 will not sound the same as Unit B for $75. Can Unit B be tuned to sound like Unit A? Probably if you want to spend hours playing with settings and hope to God you never have to change a battery in the car or it's back to square one.

In the simplest of terms Quality of Parts, Quality of Build, Functionality and Reliability.

Just think about it like this, the amps in your car, the HU, the speakers and everything else might sound amazing to you but sound like shit to someone else. It's preference.

[Souldrop]

Well just for sake of CEA 2006 rating the pioneer claims 14W rms, the sony 17W RMS, and the kenwood 22W RMS. Funny if had same internal amps they all would get on board with the highest rated for advertising purposes.

[IBleedMusick]

So what facts do you have that they use the same MOSFETs?

And what facts do you have that theyre not?

Fact is cost. No company is going to take an L to sell more units, to circumvent the savings you get most places use cheaper more cost effective parts. Other companies say sorry we don't want to make it cheaper than it is because we do XYandZ to give you a product that will hold up to the test of time.

[dolarbilz]

So what facts do you have that they use the same MOSFETs?

And what facts do you have that theyre not?

The customer told you your wrong pretty much nobody on here agrees with you..I'm no electrical engineer but do know enough not all things are the same..your trying find facts to back up your stampment of they all are the same to shove in your managers face to make you look better.its not going to happen

But I'll be waiting for videos of you discussing the how all decks in same price range will hear no difference and you can tune to the same.dought it.