Asking for suggestions: New Head Unit

[TahoeJim]

Christmas came early in the form of some cash from my better half with which to buy a new head unit for the Tahoe. It's been 20 years since I did anything with aftermarket car audio (good old original days of Orion, Precision Power, Hifonics, etc) and I have to admit it, I'm a bit lost as I've read so much about how the various companies have been bought and sold, products cheapened to death, etc. I'm not trying to get back into SQL competition but don't want to make any blatant mistakes either.

The head unit at first will be powering 2 sets of Hertz Dieci 6.5's I bought for the doors. Later, I'll be adding another set of dome or ribbon tweets if I need a bit better imaging up front. Next will be a small 5 channel amp (Precision Power Sedona 580.5 ?) and a sub or two.

The head unit...

USB - front panel would be nice so I could plug in a 16gb flash drive with a good amount of music on it. Or an ipod or other music player.

CD - all the formats including MP3, WMA, etc.

Satellite Radio Ready - would be nice, I miss Sirius that came with my Jeep for free and could see myself getting a new subscription.

Bluetooth - no idea, would it be a benefit that I just can't envision right now?

6 pre-outs: front/rear and sub. Or with front/rear both being in doors close to the same volume, with the exact same speakers, do I really need to worry about balancing output? I would guess that with stock speaker locations, the 2nd row would be attenuated enough that the front row is sufficiently dominant for staging and I could get away with possibly running those 2 sets in parallel (2 ohms at the amp).

5 band EQ - I'd rather have a head unit that has a 5 band built in EQ, parametric (or at least decently centered frequencies) so I don't have to purchase a 1/2 DIN EQ to mount below the head unit.
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So, in what direction does that point? Kenwood's Excelon series? Alpine? Something from Sony? The brands I would go with don't even exist for the most part....Nakamichi, Eclipse and other "classics".

 

[BigDaddy13440]

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/viewcat.php?category_id=472&sort_order=price_desc

 

[sumo]

i going for the alpine ina 900bt. Has everything your looking for + Navi

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ina-w900/

 

[SunlitComet]

This will fit without mod and what is not included can be added with seperate modules for a lot of features.

I would reccomend this for any without double din opening and you can add a seperate nav module but they also have a Double Din
with the nav module built in if you want to mod your dash. Bothew are kenwoods Excelon's

http://www.crutchfield.com/s_113KVT696/Kenwood-Excelon-KVT-696.html?tp=20220

# DVD/CD receiver with internal amp (22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels)
# motorized 7" touchscreen
# Variable Color Illumination
# fits single-sized dash openings
#
Audio/video features:
# plays DVD, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD, CD-R/RW, CD-ROM, DTS-CD, VCD, and MP3/WMA/AAC files on disc
# high- and low-pass filters
# 3-band parametric equalizer with 8 preset EQ curves
# speaker size matching
#
Expandability:
# built-in iPod audio control, but you'll need an adapter to view video content
# works with Kenwood Bluetooth adapter, HD Radio tuner, satellite radio tuner, and navigation module
# inputs: rear USB input, rear A/V input, rear camera input
# outputs: A/V output, 6-channel preamp outputs (5-volt front, rear, subwoofer)

---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 PM ----------

i going for the alpine ina 900bt. Has everything your looking for + Navi

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ina-w900/

Don't think that will fit.

 

[blueflamed03]

if you can, wait about another month. CES ( Consumer Electronics Show ) in Vegas is in early Jan. and all new stuff comes out...wait and see whats new...

 

[TahoeJim]

No real rush, just starting to assemble bits and pieces. The whole motorized oversized screen/dvd units are not what I'm looking for. I'm not into video and all that in my truck, I just want music. I already have a GPS for use in all my vehicles as well so I don't need to reinvest in that as well.

 

[sumo]

actually if you can hold out, Consumer Electrionc Show is Jan 6-9. Bunch of vendors will be releasing new stuff. Might be worth it to wait.

 

[blueflamed03]

if you can, wait about another month. CES ( Consumer Electronics Show ) in Vegas is in early Jan. and all new stuff comes out...wait and see whats new...

actually if you can hold out, Consumer Electrionc Show is Jan 6-9. Bunch of vendors will be releasing new stuff. Might be worth it to wait.