[james]

Hi Guys,

Ive been contemplating changing my Pioneer 5850 HU with a gtx333. The Pio is getting old and throws up error codes every now and then plus if refuses to play most of the CD's i put in.

I am not really an ice person but i would like to hear some good music on drives thus my budget is restricted to around 4-5k.

What i liked most in the my pio is the ability to increase the loudness from low-mid-high at the press of a button along with the ability to tune the bass and treble to my liking.

The car is a baleno and the setup is as follows:

Pioneer 5850 MP3 player
Scosche EFX 6.5" Component Speakers
Alpine Type S 6"X9" 3 way speakers
JBL 12" Sub woofer in sealed enclosure (1000w only)
Scosche HD4300 4 channel Amplifier
Sony Xplod 2 channel Amplifier (222W)
Scosche EFX Amp wiring

Now the Scosche HD4300 amp runs the front components and the sub whereas the Sony runs the rear 6x9's.

Sadly, being a 2rca HU, the front and rear speakers are connected to the "front out" of the HU and the sub is connected to the "rear out". So basically, i cant turn on only the rear or only the components as and when i want. I could work around this but i would prefer a 3rca HU.

What im looking for:
1. I need to be able to play music off a pen drive or memory stick. I dont need a CD player.
2. I need to be able to adjust the front/rear speakers and Sub individually.(this comes in handy when im driving my folks around- i prefer running only the front speakers then)
3. I need to be able to increase the bass and lessen the treble or vice versa as per the song playing.(quite important)
4. I need the HU to fit in my sad disgraceful budget!

The HU is going to cost me 3.9k fitted with bill and warranty. I know that i can get it for 3.7k on the net but i prefer picking up stuff locally if the difference is less than 500/-

I am open to picking up slighty used HU's as well. So what could i look out for in that budget?

Well, that's pretty much it. Inputs are most welcome.

Thank you!

[navin]

Please note that the 333 cannot play CDs. If you want a JBL unit that can play CDs you'd need to get the 555.

If you do not the ability to play CDs the 333 is a great option (especially for the money). Also note that the 333 is not Ipod compatible. You can use the headphone out of your ipod to the Aux in but you cant control the Ipod from the 333's front panel.

But given your short list the 333 seems a perfect fit.

[esteem_lover]

I would suggest the 333 too. Ever since I bought my clarion with the USB i have never played any CDs, so it is actually redundant. navin, does the 333 has 3 pre-outs ?

[james]

Thanks for the inputs , navin and esteem lover. I am aware that the 333 doesnt play cd's and thats what i liked about it! It has reduced moving parts that could conk off!
Will probably go in for it this weekend!

I noticed that the HU has just a single cable for the amp whereas the front and rear speakers have 2 cables each. Is the amp cable mono or something? Will this affect the amp output?

Cheers!

[esteem_lover]

Does it have 3 pairs of RCA outputs. The cables must be for speakers, PS and antenna.

[rm_arjuna]

Gt-x333 does have 3 rca and got decent options for tuning and aswell plays upto 16bg sd card . i have the same in my scorp and pretty happy

[james]

Arjuna, What is you ICE setup like? Do you have amps/subs?

[punto_]

hey james sorry for using your thread, am planning for the same HU. My current setup is rockford components in the front doors and rockford coaxials in the rear doors. My car is punto, currently using the default HU. Planning to add sub and amp later on. Is x333 good or Jvc kd-dv5506? jvc has only one 1 rca.

[james]

No issues mate! whatever it takes to get some helpful replies!
If you want to add the sub and amp, id suggest a 2rca at the very least!

[rajanprash]

James, I have the x-333 on my ritzy and its awesome. It does have 3 rca outs and subwoofer control. It does not have time alignment and has bland looks, apart from that it is a winner.
Punto, the jbl x-333 goes very well with the punto. It looks retro-fit in the single din and the orange-ish backlight also camouflages very well with the interior backlighting of the consoles and switches. I will try to take a pic of my friends car and post it.

[blueraven316]

The GTX 333 when connected to speakers sounds very average, with an amp in the equation it does improve a lot, but looking at your equipment I feel it is underkill, I myself have had the same efx component speakers and the amp in my car earlier.
If budget can be expanded look at the Pioneer 6390sd at least for your setup.
If you are not willing to spend that much then buy the GTX555, it will cost just Rs 1000 more and you can have a cd player too.

[punto_]

Does the X555 have better sound output than X333? I am planning to change the HU today. Can anyone suggest?

[k2max6]

Originally Posted by punto_

Does the X555 have better sound output than X333? I am planning to change the HU today. Can anyone suggest?

The sound output is same.It may only differ if you play audio cds on the x-555 which obviously have better sound quality than the mp3's you would be playing on the x-333 which cannot play cd's.

[punto_]

I bought Pioneer DEH-6390SD.. sad that I cannot keep the internal color Amber.. this has blue backlight. However, I m happy with the customization it has to offer.