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What makes a good Head Unit?


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Thanks for the specific head unit link. I see a lot of head units with those features so it's nice to see a specific head unit example. Sonic Electronix is where I planned to get my head unit anyway haha. Do you know if certain files are better or if USB is more efficient in sound quality than 3.5mm aux? I was under the impression that USB was the best medium for music to connect to a head unit.

07 Chevy Suburban Lifted

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Clarion NX706

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Thanks for the specific units, although, as stated above I am looking for double dins. One another note for head units and features, a shop here in town suggested I get a kenwood because it has higher volts or something? Would that only matter if I put mids and highs in the head unit and not on an amp? Also...what would produce the greatest sound quality for file/medium selection? Like FLAC files or something else and USB versus 3.5mm aux etc

Those volts they are talking about i think is the rca preout volts. Usually 5v is the highest now days. The higher ur volts from the headunit are, the lower ur Gain can be set and still have ur amp give max output to ur speakers. And it only matters if ur using an external amp. Thats my understanding of the HU volts, im still new lol.

As for asking what source will give u the best SQ......been there lol, dont stress it too much. Just stay away from 3.5mm jacks, anything else is prettygood. CD is great, USB is great. If youre burning CDs make sure ur using the highest resolution u can, and when u rip a cd to ur computer make sure u rip it at the CD quality, which is normally 16bit/44.1k sample rate, use the same resolution when u burn that to another CD. As for FLAC, there arent many that can play BACK the FLAC at its original quality. If u read the fine print of those "plays FLAC audio" headunits, it clearly tells u it will downsample the Flac files to Cd quality, so a lil pointless if u ask me, kind of a gimmic. If u buy those highquality audio files that are 24bit/96k-24bit/192k sample rates, then run it thru those headunits, it will READ the file and be able to play it, BUT it will downsample that file to 16bit/44.1k quality, which means its same as a regular cd. Hope im making sense. CDs and USB you will be fine lol goodluck

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I really appreciate the long and detailed explanation. It makes more sense now and why it's that way...very informative. I'm glad I can forget about FLAC, slash 3.5mm, and stick with USB and look for one with it in the front since I'll be looking for USB with convienance now. As for voltage, I see most are 4v, the only 5v I see are cheap Sony single din and expensive af ($700-1300) Kenwoods, and 6v I see are all jenson for about $350. I don't know the stigma around Jenson good or bad but they're like $300ish with navigation, USB front, 6v, mp3 Id and expandability for stuff most head units do. After what you told me Jenson head units sound golden with every want and need...since I don't know the stigma, is there a reason why I shouldn't go for a Jenson?

07 Chevy Suburban Lifted

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I would not go with Jensen for the same reasons I would not get an audiopipe amp, you really do get what you pay for (to a certain degree) you may get "the same or more" of features X,Y, and Z from Jensen but Kenwood, Pioneer and a few others use quality internals and have a bigger budget for R&D on the operating system, it could be the best of the best $1900 unit but if the user interface reminds you of an ATM from the '90s its going to suck serious balls.

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The pioneers cost the same or less than the Jenson head units though. 6 volts, otherwise I'd have to pay like $800 or $1300 for a 5v kenwood or any price for a 4v. I don't see many options left though

07 Chevy Suburban Lifted

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I've only worked with one Jensen double din, and I was not impressed. The system it used was SLOW. Like playing a CD, press the skip track button, count to 4, and then it would finally start playing the next track. All the touch screen inputs seemed to have a painfully long lag time before the action would actually process.

I again want to point out, I only have tried that one double din from them.

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If ur interested in a Jensen, try to find a shop that carries that brand and go test one out. Dont fall for the sales pitches lol. Or you could look online for one that looks good to you, then find reviews on that exact Headunit from various and multiple places, from the average of all the reviews you can make a little better decision if its what u want or not. Maybe youtube has some reviews and stuff too, do ur research and u should find one you want.

Also just a recommendation look for "capacitive" touch screen units. If they are "resistive screens" then they are those screens that you have to actually press the screen like a button. The capacitive screens are like iphone screens, just requires a touch and not a press. Unless u actually like having to PRESS a touch screen lol then disregard this part.

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The lag was something I never considereded...I'll definetly look into that, more reviews, and try and find a shop in town or YouTube for it. Not a fan of pressing a touch screen for sure haha. All I'm seeing for screens is that most say TFT LCD display? Hopefully all the double din Jensons aren't like that. There is a Jenson 7in single din flip out that i would consider since it's a flip out especially if the double dins aren't as responsive. Normal single din-nah

07 Chevy Suburban Lifted

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I have seen multiple head units with that and although it is a neat feature, I would prefer navigation built in since my data is small every month and Id like a more reliable option for gps besides until my data runs out. If that head unit offers other great features than maybe it's more worth it in my eyes

07 Chevy Suburban Lifted

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Clarion NX706

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