Hey guys, I have an older sony head unit (probably 5 years old), that I like because it looks very stock-ish. However, does the sound get much better if I upgrade to a new unit?

I have boston acoustics in the rear, and some pioneers in the front - with a Jl 10 and MTX in trunk.

 

That's an ES, the circuitry is probably pretty decent. If it's not broke, I'd hold on to it until it breaks.

 

I would say that it depends on what your are planning on replacing it with. If you are going to an entry level peice, then I'd suggest staying with what you have now(assuming it works properly). If you want to spend a alittle money and get a really nice unit, the you will definately notice a difference. I would recommend waiting about a month and getting one of the new Eclipse units coming out. I recently went to Eclipse's new product training and the new units are gonna be really nice.

 

Will the new Eclipse units have removeable faceplates?

 

i dont think eclipse will have detach anytime soon since they incorperated their own security network.

 

jdm clock blocker!

(kidding)

 

Eclipse should get rid of esn and just do detachable.

I have had more cars stolen than headunits, so maybe it does not make a difference.

 

The headunit is the first and most important link in a chain. The chain is only going to be as strong as it's weakest link. If you use a old, crappy head with a crappy signal, you are only going to pass on a **** signal to the amps or speakers. Amplifying an already shitty signal is never good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HNDAPWR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The headunit is the first and most important link in a chain. The chain is only going to be as strong as it's weakest link. If you use a old, crappy head with a crappy signal, you are only going to pass on a **** signal to the amps or speakers. Amplifying an already shitty signal is never good.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is too true. Pretty much all the components of a system have to be good (or at least decent). A top of the line HU with crappy speakers will not sound very good and vice versa. If what you have right now works okay, I would just stick with it. BTW, your car looks like it's in pretty good shape. Keep it up!!

 

100% correct, It is truely only as strong as the weakest component. And this includes wiring, there really is a reason to use suffecient wire size, on both power and speaker connections. And those really expensive rcas aren't that expensive because they look cool.

But I will say that it makes no sense to get a crappy headunit. If nothing else it's in the center of you dash so it's something you should be proud of when people see.

 

the new ones play mp3's

 

the mp3's you find on the web today are very low quality and not consistent. . . if mp3's are important to you i would consider THAT your weakest link

 

the thousands upon thousands I already have are good enough for me.

 

but not good enough for people who are **** about sound quality

 

apparently not...I myself think the human ear can really only go so far... whats the next step? stuff a goddamn brass band in your trunk for live music?

 

yeah, MP3's are utter crap for SQ

BTW, I've seen people do very well in SQ competitions with factory headunits - some modified, others not. It all depends on the entire chain - most people's weakest link is their install not their equipment.

Generally speaking, people's installs are poor at best IMO. Again, generally speaking...

 

mp3's are just plain inconsistent, there are so many ways you can screw up an mp3, you can rip it from a cd using questionable software, heck, some people even record things off their tv and turn it into mp3's.

take 10 random mp3's and play em in your car, if you're picky about sound you'll think that you have different sound settings for almost all of those songs. they just sound different because they were recorded different.

not trying to start a furious debate, just statin my opinions through experience

 

they have software that fixes that somewhere...trying to find out if I have it stashed somewhere.

 

The headunit is not the weakest link in most systems. The speakers are.

 

ty vteg
the speakers are the foundation for ANY system
your head unit is fine if you dont want to spend any $$$
even though Sony is (ugh)