High-End Vehicle CD Receivers Going Away?

[95burban]

Thats a Sundown Audio X10 in 1.5^3ft net tuned to 32hz with port ratio of 16^2in/^3ft and I have a DD Audio DMF 2800 with a run of 1/0 from the Alternator......

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that’s extremely nice! I thought I was doing good with my Arc Audio subs but you sir have a nice set up

 

[Wh4t3v3rs]

that’s extremely nice! I thought I was doing good with my Arc Audio subs but you sir have a nice set up

Thank you sir, your compliments are kind! Arc Audio...
Chip Foose's line he developed for his Overhauling show. I believe some of the engineers and R&D guys were from Zapco. Super nice stuff!

 

[df2x4]

I just went looking for a second Alpine CDE-HD149BT a couple days ago to find out it's no longer available.... The DEH-80PRS is gone too??

Yup.

It looks like that Kenwood KDC-X704 is just about the only comparable thing on the market now.

 

[thebigcar]

Just outta curiosity, why would someone wanna downgrade from CD quality to Mp3? If you have to convert formats, stick with a .flac! If your radio doesn't play that format, that might be the universe telling you to get a new radio....

Because,
A. most human ears cannot tell the difference between CD quality and MP3
B. ALL human ears cannot tell the difference while listening in a noisy environment like inside of a truck as its driving down the road
C. your factory sound system is more MP3 quality than CD quality capable.

 

[Wh4t3v3rs]

hmmmm..... if you experience A & B then your system is LACKING! As far as C, when did FACTORY OEM RADIOS get brought up. The title of the thread literally contains the words "High-End Vehicle CD Receivers"..... If you're an MP3 guy, then by all means use them, but don't try to convince me to settle for an inferior format!!!

 

[Martin Evans]

What about mountain goats?

I have never listen to music while driving. My Chev came with a strong radio receiver, but I only used it back in the day for traffic reports. When I used to fly small aircraft, I was constantly listening for engine failure. Nothing but bush here, nowhere for an Off Airport Landing. Well at least up in the skies I did not have to worry about moose or deer taking me out. LOL

 

[thebigcar]

hmmmm..... if you experience A & B then your system is LACKING! As far as C, when did FACTORY OEM RADIOS get brought up. The title of the thread literally contains the words "High-End Vehicle CD Receivers"..... If you're an MP3 guy, then by all means use them, but don't try to convince me to settle for an inferior format!!!

Most modern systems have factory amps (with built in, system specific onchip dsp to compensate for factory mediocre drivers) downstream of the head units so just replacing the receiver is going to do nothing for you with respect to sound quality - you may get some loudness because the signal is going to be hotter coming from the new head unit but your response curve is going to be distorted .... if you're going to want to listen to CD quality sound (44.1k, 16bit) in an environment that's NOT conducive to it, you'll need to start by gutting your entire system and building from scratch.

 

[df2x4]

Most modern systems have factory amps (with built in, system specific onchip dsp to compensate for factory mediocre drivers) downstream of the head units so just replacing the receiver is going to do nothing for you with respect to sound quality - you may get some loudness because the signal is going to be hotter coming from the new head unit but your response curve is going to be distorted .... if you're going to want to listen to CD quality sound (44.1k, 16bit) in an environment that's NOT conducive to it, you'll need to start by gutting your entire system and building from scratch.

No disrespect, but the ancient Pioneer head units in my trucks that I'm considering upgrading do auto RTA EQ and time alignment with an included microphone and a built in test procedure. The rest of the systems were built with that thought in mind, especially in the red truck. We're not really talking about factory systems here. I assure you, I can hear a difference between CD or FLAC file and an MP3 in my red truck.

Also the factory amps in the GMT400 platform were in either the Tahoe/Suburbans and only powered the middle door speakers, or in the Bose equipped Escalade/Denalis. I don't doubt that newer stuff is more complicated, but most of these trucks had no signal altering processing to deal with except what was built into the factory head units.

I didn't intend for this thread to become an argument between CD and any format of digital media, as all have their place IMO. I just prefer having the option to play CDs as I still have a pretty substantial collection. I'd be open to the idea of a digital media receiver with no CD player if it played FLAC files had features comparable to what I have now, but like I mentioned in the first post, the only one I'm aware of is $1400 and also has many features I don't need.

 

[Wh4t3v3rs]

Most modern systems have factory amps (with built in, system specific onchip dsp to compensate for factory mediocre drivers) downstream of the head units so just replacing the receiver is going to do nothing for you with respect to sound quality - you may get some loudness because the signal is going to be hotter coming from the new head unit but your response curve is going to be distorted .... if you're going to want to listen to CD quality sound (44.1k, 16bit) in an environment that's NOT conducive to it, you'll need to start by gutting your entire system and building from scratch.

The name of the thread is "High end vehicle cd receivers!!!!' You literally are the only one speaking about OEM equipment!

Anyways, good topic with some good discussion. Sorry to the OP for the threadjack.

 

[df2x4]

Sorry to the OP for the threadjack.

No problem! No matter where the discussions drift here it's always interesting.

I've still been looking around for a cheaper single DIN digital media receiver that does time alignment besides the Sony. I haven't found one yet. I wish Crutchfield or somewhere similar would give the option to sort by super detailed features like that. Kind of like how Newegg does for some computer hardware. I've just been looking through all the big brands product catalogs and then finding the user's manuals. Works, but pretty time consuming.