I'm finally ready to tear out all the Bose crap and was originally going to use my old Pioneer Premier DEX/DEQ-P9 but 1) I dislike the way a single din unit looks in a double din opening, and 2) I could make the little woman happy by giving her my TomTom if I had another NAV source (no factory NAV, oh well).

My top two choices right now are the Pioneer AVIC Z110BT and the Eclipse AVN726e. I haven't been "current" in the car audio scene in many years (hence the old DEX/DEQ-P9 set up, my previous HU was a DEX-M88 if that gives you a timeline). When I was last up to speed on car audio, Eclipse was very well respected and the installs I did for folks using them sounded great. The top Premier units were also good and rock solid for the most part in terms of sound, support, and quality. I will not be going with JVC or Kenwood, I know that they're popular on the boards and I won't knock them, but I've had bad enough experiences with both companies in the past that they just won't find their way into my ride. The pricing between each of the units is relatively close online so that's almost a null issue, but I haven't priced out the optional modules (iPod control, backup camera, Sat Radio, etc.).

My priorities, roughly in order, are Sound Quality (I have an old A/D/S crossover but if either has a digital plug in pre-amp processor that would be ideal, I loved the DEQ-P9, unfortunately it's not compatible), Navigation (Accurate and cheap/free updates would be great), BlueTooth phone control (can't drive on military bases with your phone, the MPs are annoying like that), and iPod control (I know all modern units do this, I will be using a 120GB Video iPod rather than a Touch or iPhone if that matters).

With those desires in mind, and knowing that I live in an area that doesn't have much worthwhile in the way of car audio shops to experiment with each unit ahead of time, which would you all recommend and why?

Thanks for all the help in advance!

Brian

 

I decided to go with the Eclipse AVN726e it should be here tommorow and im getting it installed this week ill let you know how it goes. I wanted the Pioneer AVIC Z110BT but I just couldnt justify dishing out the extra money so oh well the Eclipe has everything I need anyways.

 

The iPod interface and control in the Pioneer units is top-notch, particularly the Z110BT. The voice control works excellent.

As far as free navigation updates though (not counting adding your own POIs via SD card), without an extremely hackable unit (F90BT) you're pretty much out of luck.

My wife uses an F90BT in her car with a 120gb iPod, and she loves it. I expect to get a Z110BT if nothing later & greater comes out in a year when I'm back stateside... Or just do a full CarPC build so I can have everything.

 

Syphen, any luck getting your install done?

Wrathernaut, thanks. I will be using the iPod more than other music sources so that is good info to have.

Also, any other opinions from users of the above DDs?

 

nah I let the shop where im getting it installed at order the Metra kit because they could get it cheaper so still waiting on them. All the stuff is sitting in my room bothering the hell out of me :P

 

i am in the same boat, damn bose unit sucks in the cold, mine skips like crazy, was looking at the same 2 units.

Also was wondering if anyone here has purchased a hu off ebay before, because the price is staggering from crutchfield. There are ones on ebay from legitimate looking sellers for like 890, and crutch field has theirs at 1399

 

If you're talking of the Z110BT, it's been down to under $950 on amazon before from authorized resellers (if it's not from an authorized reseller, you get NO warranty), but it's currently up to $1400 from authorized dealers again.

Pioneer Demo'd a X920BT at CES a few days ago, should be under $800 on the street, and looks like all-new equipment, instead of the X910BT which was just an F900BT with minor hardware changes.

 

I went Pioneer too- loved the display on it and it was lightning fast. Unfortunately, it's probably sitting in a box in the shop that will install it next week sometime so I have no objective or subjective feedback... I was originally going to go eclipse because it had 2 drives and could simultaneously play a dvd and nav too. I think the flash / SD and one DVD is the better way to go. It probably helped that the Eclipse was discontinued (at least at the store I was at) so they didn't have it. From reading a lot of forums in here, Eclipse seemed to be the favourite. I've done a lot of product research on this pioneer model as well- and all of it (minus some REALLY small points) was really positive.

I'll let you know what happens post install if you still haven't made up your mind.

Eno

 

I still haven't made up my mind so I'd love to hear your post-install feedback. Thanks for the input man, hope the install goes well and the Pioneer works out well for you!