Clarion Vs Alpine Vs Pioneer Vs Kenwood EDIT - Its a Clarion DXZ 785 USB

mustang89 · 25th June 2009, 00:34

hey greenhorn can you post the link here.

abhinav.gupta88 · 25th June 2009, 01:10

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/CLARION-DXZ785USB-CAR-CD-USB-MP3-PLAYER-DXZ-785-NEW_W0QQitemZ400053320218QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Au dio_In_Dash_Receivers?hash=item5d25093a1a&_trksid= p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|301%3A1|293%3A1|294% 3A30

205$

so it would be US 185$ for the item he has got ( not the same link maybe)

Congrats Greenhorn.

greenh0rn · 25th June 2009, 13:41

Thanks Abhinav! Yeah DA, it's US$185 ($159.99 for HU and $25 flat shipping from US to Singapore). I love the fact that Singapore is a free port- so no duties or customs should be payable.

Mustang, I think my seller has no more units left for sale, but here's a similar link for the HU- http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Clarion-DXZ785USB-CD-MP3-WMA-USB-Receiver-W-Remote-New_W0QQitemZ270411966005QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Au dio_In_Dash_Receivers?hash=item3ef5cf2635&_trksid= p3286.m63.l1177&_trkparms=240:1318|301:1|293:1|294 :50

Invinsible · 30th June 2009, 02:05

The time I started this thread I never knew I would be actually going in for the Clarion785, but read a lot of review on these and decided to lay my bet on it. Got my Headunit in 3rd week of march. But it din't take much time for my excitement to die off

I din't realise that the dashkit for the fabia is not avialable in the market. And the lightening struck and shattered my excitement to get the unit installed. It's been a long long wait for me, I started to search around the net to find the dashkit for the fabia, and finally I found the right kit as it wasn't available here.
After a lot of research I came across with the suitable dash kit. That's right, these are not specifically made for fabia but for the Golf GTI 2007+ models. These are avaiable in US and facia adaptor between the Golf Gti and fabia shares the same size. There are two types of kits available one from Scosche and the other from American International. Both cost 15 and 20$ respectively on sonicelectronix.com. It's the same kit that Scosche now sells for 8K over here.
So, I decided to go for the AI kit with antenna adaptor. And finally got the kit and installed it. Yes, the long wait is over. Installed the Clarion few days back and have to say there's a vast improvement in sound. The Morels have finally come alive. The Midbass from the Hybrid ovation are finally kicking and doing the job what they are best meant to be. The bass level from them has gone high up. They are truly kicking the door panels along with the door, which are begging for damping now. There have been no damping accept Scosche CLD Tile behind the midbass. The vocals have improved quiet a lot and the highs are much sweet and smoother, Non-fatigue. Even though I haven't set the TA as yet, the sound has more upstage feel.
But I have tried and tuned something different. I am running them in 3way active mode. How and why? Well, I have comps in front and coax at rear with sub in the boot. Here's what I had in my mind, I wanted to have the crossover setting to be completely precise and right in front. So, here's what I am running the front comps in high setup, with xover frequency HP at 63hz, rear coax are running under Mids, with xover frequency LP 8K and HP 125hz concentrating on adding only vocals, and the sub are usual can be run either LP 63 or 80hz (currently at 63hz) with HP is set to "through". From the rear coax I was wishing to having it play more of vocals than higher frequency and having the flexibility of changing the xover points in front as per the music demands.
For listening to retro music CD I like the front playing for 63hz but once I get the doors deaden I am sure they will can handle down to 50hz. If for a change I decide to hear the bollywood Mp3, best I decide it to play from 80hz for the front.
It does a good job for it from 80 onwards. I did try the sound restorer and it works well with MP3 at 128k.
Setup sounds much cleaner now and I can see that the Morels are begging for more power, as they are very power hungry and Alpine f550 is not doing enough justice to them. So the next upgrade coming up is the amps, anything above 150RMS for each and they will actually sing. The sub upgrade is on its way and is gonna be one of the cleanest subs around. And am sure is gonna add a lot more depth to the front midbass.
Will post more on listening impression in a week time.
Finally Clarion has played it's magic once again.

Cheers!

shreyasma · 30th June 2009, 10:35

Congrats man! Some pics please.

You should do the justice with the pics after this long wait

Invinsible · 30th June 2009, 15:26

Here's a quick pic.

Will post the detail pics soon. The head unit sits back in and is not protruding out, looks neat. Sorry about the pic quality.

shreyasma · 30th June 2009, 16:11

Wow! Looks like OEM fitment

greenh0rn · 30th June 2009, 17:02

Hey Invinsible- this HU really looks neat in your car! I like the non-conventional display/UI, kind of lends it a super geeky and high-tech feel. So are you now spending all your time fiddling with it?

Invinsible · 30th June 2009, 18:09

Thanks guys. Well already tuned it to my taste, just spent 15mins tuning it, all thanks to going through the manual twice and it was all set to play. Have set the color to the instrument color, green with a bit of red and it matches perfectly. I noticed that highs is kinda doesn't go that high to my taste so have to keep it all the way to the top at level 5. May be the change in Morel xover which was set at -2db for highs initially according to stock unit, will bring it back to 0 or +2db, will add little bit more on treble.
All I do is play around with all the CD's, Pink Floyd and Def lepard is the most enjoyable to listen to.
The best part is the Midbass has come alive which was lacking with stock HU am sure there is scope of improvement on it once I deaden the doors. Can't wait to get it done soon.
By the way what will be better choice between Noise kill or Wurth compared to Dynamat extreme? I plan to get the Wurth undercoating for underbody noise control by using about atleast 5 gallon of it. Hope that helps in cancelling some road noise will driving especially the tyre noise.
One morething coming up will be customizing the daskit to smoothen out the edges, surface and gaps with matching black paint.

mustang89 · 1st July 2009, 22:09

hey congrats invinsible.
though most of the technical stuff you talked about went above my head,but still i can say that you are loving it.

abhinav.gupta88 · 1st July 2009, 22:16

I think All dampings would be doing the same job.
Noise Kill should do the job.
Congrats Abhishek. The HU looks great in the Fabia.
What options do you have in the Hybrid Cross overs?

What amps are you using right now? And What sub right now?

shreyasma · 2nd July 2009, 15:56

1 Quick question...

How do you make the TS99 universal steering remote learn to change folders?

Edit: By the way have, ordered one for myself

nishantgandhi · 2nd July 2009, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by shreyasma

1 Quick question...

How do you make the TS99 universal steering remote learn to change folders?

Edit: By the way have, ordered one for myself

I dont think the TS99 will help. It 'learns' the functions present on the OEM remote. Since folder change option is not available in the supplied remote, how can you make the TS99 learn that feature?

shreyasma · 3rd July 2009, 13:14

Do you think using the remote from any other clarion HU may work?

Can someone try this?

Technocrat · 3rd July 2009, 13:16

We need to find out if there is any Clarion HU which has remote with the ability to change folders. Once we know this(Model), we can try sourcing & trying this out.

25th June 2009, 00:34	#451
mustang89 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: new delhi Posts: 348 Thanked: 0 Times	hey greenhorn can you post the link here.
	() Thanks

25th June 2009, 01:10	#452
abhinav.gupta88 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Delhi , India Posts: 4,090 Thanked: 341 Times View My Garage	http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/CLARION-DXZ785USB-CAR-CD-USB-MP3-PLAYER-DXZ-785-NEW_W0QQitemZ400053320218QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Au dio_In_Dash_Receivers?hash=item5d25093a1a&_trksid= p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=\|301%3A1\|293%3A1\|294% 3A30 205$ so it would be US 185$ for the item he has got ( not the same link maybe) Congrats Greenhorn. Last edited by abhinav.gupta88 : 25th June 2009 at 01:13.
	() Thanks

25th June 2009, 13:41	#453
greenh0rn BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 427 Thanked: 153 Times	Thanks Abhinav! Yeah DA, it's US$185 ($159.99 for HU and $25 flat shipping from US to Singapore). I love the fact that Singapore is a free port- so no duties or customs should be payable. Mustang, I think my seller has no more units left for sale, but here's a similar link for the HU- http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Clarion-DXZ785USB-CD-MP3-WMA-USB-Receiver-W-Remote-New_W0QQitemZ270411966005QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Au dio_In_Dash_Receivers?hash=item3ef5cf2635&_trksid= p3286.m63.l1177&_trkparms=240:1318\|301:1\|293:1\|294 :50 Last edited by greenh0rn : 25th June 2009 at 13:42.
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 02:05	#454
Invinsible Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,257 Thanked: 62 Times	The time I started this thread I never knew I would be actually going in for the Clarion785, but read a lot of review on these and decided to lay my bet on it. Got my Headunit in 3rd week of march. But it din't take much time for my excitement to die off I din't realise that the dashkit for the fabia is not avialable in the market. And the lightening struck and shattered my excitement to get the unit installed. It's been a long long wait for me, I started to search around the net to find the dashkit for the fabia, and finally I found the right kit as it wasn't available here. After a lot of research I came across with the suitable dash kit. That's right, these are not specifically made for fabia but for the Golf GTI 2007+ models. These are avaiable in US and facia adaptor between the Golf Gti and fabia shares the same size. There are two types of kits available one from Scosche and the other from American International. Both cost 15 and 20$ respectively on sonicelectronix.com. It's the same kit that Scosche now sells for 8K over here. So, I decided to go for the AI kit with antenna adaptor. And finally got the kit and installed it. Yes, the long wait is over. Installed the Clarion few days back and have to say there's a vast improvement in sound. The Morels have finally come alive. The Midbass from the Hybrid ovation are finally kicking and doing the job what they are best meant to be. The bass level from them has gone high up. They are truly kicking the door panels along with the door, which are begging for damping now. There have been no damping accept Scosche CLD Tile behind the midbass. The vocals have improved quiet a lot and the highs are much sweet and smoother, Non-fatigue. Even though I haven't set the TA as yet, the sound has more upstage feel. But I have tried and tuned something different. I am running them in 3way active mode. How and why? Well, I have comps in front and coax at rear with sub in the boot. Here's what I had in my mind, I wanted to have the crossover setting to be completely precise and right in front. So, here's what I am running the front comps in high setup, with xover frequency HP at 63hz, rear coax are running under Mids, with xover frequency LP 8K and HP 125hz concentrating on adding only vocals, and the sub are usual can be run either LP 63 or 80hz (currently at 63hz) with HP is set to "through". From the rear coax I was wishing to having it play more of vocals than higher frequency and having the flexibility of changing the xover points in front as per the music demands. For listening to retro music CD I like the front playing for 63hz but once I get the doors deaden I am sure they will can handle down to 50hz. If for a change I decide to hear the bollywood Mp3, best I decide it to play from 80hz for the front. It does a good job for it from 80 onwards. I did try the sound restorer and it works well with MP3 at 128k. Setup sounds much cleaner now and I can see that the Morels are begging for more power, as they are very power hungry and Alpine f550 is not doing enough justice to them. So the next upgrade coming up is the amps, anything above 150RMS for each and they will actually sing. The sub upgrade is on its way and is gonna be one of the cleanest subs around. And am sure is gonna add a lot more depth to the front midbass. Will post more on listening impression in a week time. Finally Clarion has played it's magic once again. Cheers! Last edited by Invinsible : 30th June 2009 at 02:13.
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 10:35	#455
shreyasma BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bang! Posts: 652 Thanked: 6 Times	Congrats man! Some pics please. You should do the justice with the pics after this long wait
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 15:26	#456
Invinsible Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,257 Thanked: 62 Times	Here's a quick pic. Will post the detail pics soon. The head unit sits back in and is not protruding out, looks neat. Sorry about the pic quality. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 16:11	#457
shreyasma BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bang! Posts: 652 Thanked: 6 Times	Wow! Looks like OEM fitment
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 17:02	#458
greenh0rn BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 427 Thanked: 153 Times	Hey Invinsible- this HU really looks neat in your car! I like the non-conventional display/UI, kind of lends it a super geeky and high-tech feel. So are you now spending all your time fiddling with it?
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 18:09	#459
Invinsible Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,257 Thanked: 62 Times	Thanks guys. Well already tuned it to my taste, just spent 15mins tuning it, all thanks to going through the manual twice and it was all set to play. Have set the color to the instrument color, green with a bit of red and it matches perfectly. I noticed that highs is kinda doesn't go that high to my taste so have to keep it all the way to the top at level 5. May be the change in Morel xover which was set at -2db for highs initially according to stock unit, will bring it back to 0 or +2db, will add little bit more on treble. All I do is play around with all the CD's, Pink Floyd and Def lepard is the most enjoyable to listen to. The best part is the Midbass has come alive which was lacking with stock HU am sure there is scope of improvement on it once I deaden the doors. Can't wait to get it done soon. By the way what will be better choice between Noise kill or Wurth compared to Dynamat extreme? I plan to get the Wurth undercoating for underbody noise control by using about atleast 5 gallon of it. Hope that helps in cancelling some road noise will driving especially the tyre noise. One morething coming up will be customizing the daskit to smoothen out the edges, surface and gaps with matching black paint. Last edited by Invinsible : 30th June 2009 at 18:16.
	() Thanks

1st July 2009, 22:09	#460
mustang89 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: new delhi Posts: 348 Thanked: 0 Times	hey congrats invinsible. though most of the technical stuff you talked about went above my head,but still i can say that you are loving it.
	() Thanks

1st July 2009, 22:16	#461
abhinav.gupta88 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Delhi , India Posts: 4,090 Thanked: 341 Times View My Garage	I think All dampings would be doing the same job. Noise Kill should do the job. Congrats Abhishek. The HU looks great in the Fabia. What options do you have in the Hybrid Cross overs? What amps are you using right now? And What sub right now?
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 15:56	#462
shreyasma BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bang! Posts: 652 Thanked: 6 Times	1 Quick question... How do you make the TS99 universal steering remote learn to change folders? Edit: By the way have, ordered one for myself
	() Thanks

3rd July 2009, 13:14	#464
shreyasma BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bang! Posts: 652 Thanked: 6 Times	Do you think using the remote from any other clarion HU may work? Can someone try this?
	() Thanks

3rd July 2009, 13:16	#465
Technocrat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: GTA Posts: 14,765 Thanked: 2,705 Times	We need to find out if there is any Clarion HU which has remote with the ability to change folders. Once we know this(Model), we can try sourcing & trying this out.
	() Thanks