Pioneer Car stereos & accessories

[Beeman]

As far as i know i have always had a pioneer head unit and speaker systems in all of my cars. However over the last few years the flooding of the market with fake chinese products has made it harder to buy this brand.
Now my question is apart from trusting the shop that we buy the stereos from what are the other ways to distinguish a original speaker or stereo from Pioneer?
ALso what is your favourite brand when it comes to car stereos?

[mohit]

Now my question is apart from trusting the shop that we buy the stereos from what are the other ways to distinguish a original speaker or stereo from Pioneer?

Buy a set that comes with warranty! Pioneer now comes with a two year warranty. The sets are more expensive than what you get in grey but you are assured of a genuine unit. Same goes for speakers and amps.

[mclaren1885]

well u need to look at the fit and finish of the fakes , trust me on careful observation u can make out ..

secondly coming to the favourite brands for the HU its got to be alpine(will buy one someday) .. speakers and subs has to be hertz and alpine .. amps again got to be alpine , audison & JBL ... This is what i have felt are good at a higher budget .. though for a decent budget i vouch for JBL speakers ...

[Beeman]

i just love the deep base tones a JBL system can produce. Ouch!! forgot to put that brand in my poll!

[Buffetfan]

[SIZE=2]are JBL Head Units available in India...never heard of one...I have a Pioneer 7750 With a JBL CS 50.4 and JBL GTO 301.1 amp with JBL speakers all around in my car.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Yes..the sound has a good depth[/SIZE]

[Beeman]

sorry buffetfan was just talking about the component speaker system for cars.

[nitrous]

Pioneer is the undisputed king of Value-for-money Car audio equipment.
Its easier to source spares.Give a lot of features for its price and can live for the car's lifetime.
I've experimented with kenwood,sony xplod HUs too.But,they didnt treat me good.Then, pioneer all the way. I have Pioneer HUs, pio subs,pio amps, pio tweeters,pio 6x9s, pio this and pio that.My next plan is to switch to JBL speakers+Pio HU and check the difference.

[karthik247]

Alpine all the way. I just can't think of another brand thats gonna beat it in terms of sound quality.
Even if the speakers, subs, amps etc are not Alpine...the HU just has to be one

[Beeman]

Wonder if a pioneer and Jbl sound system would gel an alpine hu gets along decently with pioneer speakers but no vice versa

[CaliforniaKnight]

any ideas on the bluetooth enabled car audio from Pioneer?? model number and approx cost of the same??

[Beeman]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaKnight

any ideas on the bluetooth enabled car audio from Pioneer?? model number and approx cost of the same??

What do you mean by bluetooth enabled?!

[SoundManiac]

I can only speak of the systems i've tested. Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood for Head Units. - Pioneer Rocks!!! So many features!!!

As for speakers - I've heard, Sony, Pioneer, Kenwood, Soomoku, Auzo (has anyone heard of it?) and of course JBL. And My choice is JBL!!!
JBL 606 Components speakers are way superior to anything I've heard. And, their 6x9 ovals rock too!

P.S. One factor I've found making a huge difference to the sound quality is the bitrate of MP3's. (with most cars boasting of MP3 stereos and music.) Besides enlightening me about the finer points of a system setup for the car, this forum also educated me about the bit rates of MP3 music. And, i was shocked with the sea of difference. There is a sea of difference between a 128kbps recording and 328 kbps one/WMA/losless formats. Previously an MP3 was and MP3 and I knew nothing about the bitrates!! But now I hate to listen anything below 328. Anything less than 256 is a strict no no!!!! So, if anyone is comparing the music systems, it has to be with the same CD - only then we could say authoritatively.

And having done such testing or rather comparsion -of the brands that I could listen to- I would go with Pioneer HU and JBL speakers anyday.
!

[Sam Kapasi]

I've voted. But honestly, every now and then we have a poll here on which brand is "better"
None are better boys. They are all good. Or all bad. Depending on which side of the wallet you speak from. Buy something you can afford, something that will work well, sound good and there's somebody to back you up if it gets buggered. Buss.

[navin]

SM, try Speakers from Focal, Vifa/ScanSpeak , Infinity, Boston, Dynaudio, and Morel.

try VBR. Rip your MP3s using Exact Audio Copy and LAME Alt Preset Extreme (or Insane) -you'll find a sea of info on www.hydrogenaudio.org and www.freedb.org

Personally I look to a stereo for sound not features. At any price point more features = less sound. The company has to make a profit. They can either sell you button and lights or better DACs

[SoundManiac]

Originally Posted by navin

SM, try Speakers from Focal, Vifa/ScanSpeak , Infinity, Boston, Dynaudio, and Morel.

Originally Posted by navin

try VBR. Rip your MP3s using Exact Audio Copy and LAME Alt Preset Extreme (or Insane) -you'll find a sea of info on www.hydrogenaudio.org and www.freedb.org

Personally I look to a stereo for sound not features. At any price point more features = less sound. The company has to make a profit. They can either sell you button and lights or better DACs

I would love to try all the brands you said Navin, but the moot point is their availability(at least in Hyderabad)!!!
Of the brands you mentioned, I've found onlyBoston available in one shop in Hyderabad. I wonder if any others are available - if they are, I at least am not aware.

As for Infinity, Sam's distributor in AP has no stock! He needs a confirmed order for procurement. Now, I for one would not confirm the order before listening to what any brand sounds like! Why Infinity, this fellow needs at least a week to arrange for even JBL Compos

Waiting for some real good retailer/distributor to come in and provide all the HIgh end brands in Hyderabad. Gunbir, may be, can do something about it.

Moreover, why I particularly mentioned the brands that I tried was to give a proper context to my statement - "My Choice is JBL & Pioneer." (i.e. My choice is JBL & Pioneer from the brands that i have tried). Any third person could infer it as my choice from the brands he (the third person) has tried. And the third person could have tried "n" other brands.
In case of audio experts like you an our other gurus, it is not much of a concern even if the said statement were to be misconstrued. However, in case of general visitor looking for "which brand is best?, which best brand to buy etc....etc...." the said statement could be misleading if not damaging! (Hope I've been able to communicate what I want to!!)