Pioneer HU experiences?

[Brad]

I am considering replacing my stock HU with a Pioneer DEH 3400. Yeah, it's a cheaper model, but probably better than the stocker. My wife saw the Pioneer DEH-P6400 and liked it. Anyone know anything about either of these other than what the spec. sheets say? Any first-hand experiences? Thanks! Brad

Well, i had a Pioneer Deh-p2300 in my 01 se, and it kicked ass, way better than the stock. Theyre really powerfull and got lots of bass, even using the stock speakers, i like the way pioneers look too. You wont be disapointed if u get Pioneer, at least i wasnt

[qwik99gt]

Pioneers are probably the best deal HU in car audio. They sound great, hold up great, and have lots of useful options. I had an old school DEH-955 (I said it was old, like 1996 old!) and my fiancee had a base DEH-1100 (cheapest CD player model) Both worked great. Hers got stolen and mine is in my drag/show truck collecting dust. Never had problems with either one. I have a Rockford purely because I wanted red backlit controls and a silver face.

[BMOBYLE]

Pioneer rocks you won't be disapointed but is that the din1/2 you rattled off or what? The din1/2 pioneer is what I got. Not a big model # knower but if you check my nbody it will tell you which one i gots! Love it to death added a rockford 10" xlc w/ a rock 160 amp and it sounds pretty damn good!! Stock speakers on mine sound 4 times louder and clearer than stock

[AmIGrand]

I never liked them until recently, I am now forced to admit they build something well worth owning. I still think they have a lot of useless and redundant features, though, and are harder to use than they should be. Just my pennies....

[qwik99gt]

Pioneer DEH 3400

Pioneer DEH 1400 (revised version of the 1100)

Can't find any pics of the 955, but it was the best Pioneer available at the time. It was a single din, flip-down face, CD player with RDS. Pretty high tech at the time.

[Knappy1]

I've owned several...currently, both of my cars are running Pioneer decks, mtx amps, and JL subs. Makes a good combo.
Rob

[grandGTR]

Well I have put Pioneer in all my vehaciles and Loved everyone! I recently had a problem with my motorized screen, but ended up being the alarm install bent the frame and the face plate was sticking. . That little motor did not even break. What a good product. : )



Not sure the options on the specific model, but Pioneer does offer a lot of options when it comes to Headunits. If you plan to build a aystem with subs then pick out a model that has the variable sub output. You can control the boost (volume) and turn your amp on and off right from the hu. A few other brands do this, but none with the same features.

[shawn2ktats]

i have the new pioneer deh-8400, the new one with the flipdown face, its the best deck ive seen its got every option you can think of plus everyone likes the motorized flipdown face

[Brad]

Wow! Thanks for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it! I have never owned anything Pioneer before, so I was wondering about them. So far, I like the two that I mentioned earlier. Guess I just have to save a bit more and make my decision. The DEH6400 has a cool graphic faceplate with pics on it that change. Not sure if it's worth the extra money. Both HU's have the better supertuner inside. I'm looking for more sensitivity for radio reception. My stock HU looses stations at times and these are stations within 20 miles of where we live! I know all about FM fading, multipath propagation, different signal probs, etc. as I'm a ham radio nut and know a bit about VHF... but what I'm experiencing is rediculous! I also have been bugged by the weird things my volume knob is doing... another story there! Again, thanks for the input. Anyone else? Brad

[grandGTR]

Originally posted by Brad
Wow! Thanks for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it! I have never owned anything Pioneer before, so I was wondering about them. So far, I like the two that I mentioned earlier. Guess I just have to save a bit more and make my decision. The DEH6400 has a cool graphic faceplate with pics on it that change. Not sure if it's worth the extra money. Both HU's have the better supertuner inside. I'm looking for more sensitivity for radio reception. My stock HU looses stations at times and these are stations within 20 miles of where we live! I know all about FM fading, multipath propagation, different signal probs, etc. as I'm a ham radio nut and know a bit about VHF... but what I'm experiencing is rediculous! I also have been bugged by the weird things my volume knob is doing... another story there! Again, thanks for the input. Anyone else? Brad

LOL my oem HU had a mind of its own. I tured the volume down and it went up and all sorts of annoying stuff. .

Well I have the 9300 With the organic display. Man is it fun to lay with, but by no means worth the money just for that. **** I can never even see it when the sun comes out. I have to prop my hand over the top of the face plate to block the sun. It i snot the sun on the HU, but the sun on the shifter and center consul reflecting on that screen.

[AmIGrand]

the whole volume down = up thing is pretty common on our stock decks. The rheostat or pot or whatever it is gets static built up and does this. Pull the knob off and clean it, it goes away for a while, but it'll be back, don't you worry....

i run a premier p720..great deck for the cost..3 years with no probs whatsoever

yeah pioneers are good decks for the money. Probably the best budget buy. Out of 4 years of selling them ive only seen 2 come back needing fixed. one was the button was fading- big issue. and the other was just bad out of the box. must have been made on a monday . Id say thats a pretty good record. Just as long as you buy the cd player from an authorized dealer.

Dont buy the walmart line pionner. we had a issue on this earlier before the server crash and i got a flame war started, nobody seemed to agree with me but pioneer does in fact make a B grade for walmart, that makes the prices cheaper than the local stereo shops so walmart can keep their "discount prices" status. But also the quality goes down. I talked to the automotive person at my local walmart one day and was like hey do you ever have any returns with your pioneer cd players because ive only had 2 and the guy said at least 5-6 a week. pretty shocking. but thats another issue that i would not like to begin again.

[Brad]

Again, thanks for the replies and info., especially the stuff about WalMart and the "B" grade stereo thing. I've never heard of that. I'm saving up a bit for the HU and getting info. on the install kit from a dealer. I think we have the mini-antenna plug, so I will likely need an adapter. Again, thanks everyone. Just another example of the great people here. Brad

[papiogagt]

i just put a pioneer deh-p4400 in my other car (bone stock '94 accord), and it is great. although i do need to replace the speakers now because w/ the higher power and my love for very loud hard rock, they are shot! but i love the hu!

[SilverEcstasy]

Pioneer all the way. I promise you. I'm running a Pioneer 7200 (last year high end model) with all stock speakers. People have asked numerous times what kind of subs I have. You should see the look on their face when I says "None" With Pioneers FIE (front image enhancer) and the 00 gagt speakers and tweets I ripped off and put on my front doors with some customizing, the FIE program, when turned on, runs highs, mids and very minmal lows to the front, while the rear 6x9's handle all bass. Sounds incredible. it rattles my trunk, no lie

[AmIGrand]

So basicly what you're saying is that the speakers from the newer GA's are pretty good.

The FIE is a neat trick, but all it really does is fade a little to the front, and add a little hp filtering and a slight 4k boost to the fronts. he same could be accomplished with a couple capaictors and the fader.

Not knocking the Pioneer, it' a god deck, but I really wish manufacturers would go back to easy to use basic decks, and let signal processing be handled by signal processors.

Just MHO....

Originally posted by AmIGrand
...Not knocking the Pioneer, it' a god deck, but I really wish manufacturers would go back to easy to use basic decks, and let signal processing be handled by signal processors.

Just MHO....

I totally agree with a hearty HEAR HEAR, although I'm focusing on front design! Gosh, I wish they'd simply the user interface to aftermarket units. Try changing the time! My OEM head is a '99 factory unit, so I have no idea about the Monsoon, but with my unit, hours and minutes are right THERE.

The aftermarket rig I have in my '99er is a Kenwood 8017. Nice, though a boring unit. But it is a solid rig with a dumb blue light button that everyone wants to push. The lettering on the front is about the size of what you see for a name in the telephone book.
The buttons are smaller than Chicklett (sp?) chewing gum tablets.

My OEM rig has nice BIG buttons.

Other than having to use the manual to figure out how to see the password, my OEM rig was so straight-forward. Not so with the Kenwood. Yup, me and the manual became best buddies for a few hours, and finally, I became a bud one-in-the-universe with my Kenwood.

Anyway......... sorry about the vent! Now, back to the regular thread.

[AmIGrand]

Car & Driver said it pretty well when they test drove the Mazda Protege MP3 - in describing the audio controls of the Kenwood deck "...absurd..." ::