What's better than Nakamichi?

[Jesda]

I'm considering upgrading my 1999 Alpine head unit to something a bit newer. Is there anything out there that sounds better and cleaner than Nakamichi?

[mrzabala]

Bose, but overpriced. Lol you got the guy from star trek on your enron dance...

[PoorManQ45]

Bose, but overpriced. Lol you got the guy from star trek on your enron dance...

Wow, I seriously hope that "bose" was a joke.

Denon makes a HU better then Nakamichi, but it's going to cost you around $2k.

LOL

I'd go with one of Nakamichi's ~$400 preamp units. These look pretty much stock, but offer awesome sound quality. You'll need an amp to drive the speakers though

[AZhitman]

Head unit is less critical than everything downstream.

Nakamichi = best OEM system I've heard (besides the ML system in the new L****).

[audtatious]

Speakers (plus installation location and positioning for imaging) are more important.

[yelnatsch517]

Wow, I seriously hope that "bose" was a joke.

Denon makes a HU better then Nakamichi, but it's going to cost you around $2k.

LOL

I'd go with one of Nakamichi's ~$400 preamp units. These look pretty much stock, but offer awesome sound quality. You'll need an amp to drive the speakers though

Seriously LMAO about the Bose. They spend more on marketing than anything else by far. Why Bose sucks

Nakamichi's are pretty good. There are certain professional grade stuff out there that cost an arm and a leg, but besides those, the Nakamichis should do just fine. Not to mention, their styling probably suits you Jesda

[mrzabala]

Lol it was a joke. I think I read that article but from a different site.

[jmaxima]

Honestly the Bose is probably better than the Nak, at least more reliable and noise free. But Bose doesn't make headunits. . . I'd stick with Eclipse, Alpine or Clarion. I didn't realize Nak was still in business, but they were pure garbage about 5 years ago and no customer service.

- James

[audtatious]

Clarion _is_ Bose......

[yelnatsch517]

Honestly the Bose is probably better than the Nak, at least more reliable and noise free. But Bose doesn't make headunits. . . I'd stick with Eclipse, Alpine or Clarion. I didn't realize Nak was still in business, but they were pure garbage about 5 years ago and no customer service.

- James

Reliable and noise free? That should be a non-issue with HU $400 (not much). What we are looking for is a flat curve, something no Bose can provide.

Anyhow, read the article I linked.

[PoorManQ45]

Screw it. Just go buy a damn JL Audio Cleansweep.

That'll make any HU you get have a razor flat frequency response, it'll boost the preout voltage, and it'll give you an auxilary input that doesn't even pass through the HU.

Seriously though, jmaxima is correct about the Naks being garbage about 5 years ago.

This was when they were first bought out by a company in china. Hong Kong IIRC. So they switched over to all different equipment. The failure rate was something like 25~40%.

The problem wasn't the HUs preamp section, it was that damn CD player mechanism. They kept trying to make it ultra quiet and smooth to the point where IIRC the read mechnism just broke. LOL

I personally would buy one of Nakamichi's Preamp only HUs with nothing but a AM/FM tuner built in. IIRC it has Three preamp outs and two or three inputs.

Sinse it's Jesda more then likely all that he needs is a plug for his Sat radio, and maybe another one for an MP3 player or something like that.

I personally would just buy an Alpine unit. IMO they have the best integration on add-on equipment. They can control the Sat radio with the buttons on the HU, and it's intuitive. They can also control an Ipod very easily.

I'd look at the ~$150~$250 models.

[Jesda]

Nakamichi sound quality is still top notch, and thats the only thing that matters. Also, their head units don't look like a gay pride parade.

The CD-35/45 series have a solid reliability for reputation. I'm aware of the read problems with the CD-300/400/500. I had a fantastic CD-35Z in a Mazda five years ago, and miss it tremendously.

Alpine isn't what it used to be, but Pioneer Premier is a worthy alternative.

[PoorManQ45]

The pioneer's have that gay damn display though.

Note: I currently have a Nakamichi CD-45z residing in the dash of my Buick

[PoorManQ45]

The only problem with the Nakamichi is that it only has a sstandard auxilary input.

So no specialized controls for satelite or an ipod.

I'm considering changing to an Alpine unit once I finish up my fiberglass sub box in the rear

[audtatious]

Depends on the Pioneer. The 4800 I have is pure "Plain Jane" from a display standpoint and it has all the "bells and whistles" that are needed. I may have gone with Eclipse but they have really screwed up those display panels where they look like pawn shop radios from the later 80's. Kenwoods are simply dorky looking. I've never been an Alpine fan.