anyone know about boss audio?/recomend a good head unit to me.

I am going to be getting a deck for my car in the near future.

Since the last time i looked at head units, Boss audio came out with a claimed 80Wx4 head unit at a rediculously affordable price.

anyone use them? they seem way too good to be true.

no one has reviewed them online, which i am pretty sketched about... but 80Wx4... tempting.

Boss is along the same lines as Dual as far as I know...

I'd go for a nice affordable Pioneer. There is a JVC in my 91, and it isn't bad, but I am a Pioneer guy.

only thing I have from Boss is 1 one of there amps powering 2 alpine type R 12's the old version works very well and amp is one of there old riot series.

Boss, heheeheeee. Reminds me of the old Pyramid amps.

Never dealt with them but I'd go name brand. Maybe I'm just old like that.

I've had a head unit. It was the biggest pile of crap I've ever had the misfortune to lay my hands on.
I'm assuming that Boss Audio in the USA is the same company as in the UK.

edit: It seems that there is Boss Audio, of which I have no experience, and then there is this junk

I think you get what you pay for, if you want a good headunit you are looking at a fair few bucks!

personally i'd go with Alpine, the 4x60w top spec ones about ?350 ($600-700?) i've recently upgraded from my Sony and the difference is emmense!

mine is a CDA-9857R, last years model but still awesome.

heh,

i baught a sony on an impulse yesterday after work and put it in last night.

MOSFET 17W RMS 52W peak.

it was $140 with a 4 year warranty.

and sounds infinately better than my stock crap.

and sounds better than my last CD deck which was a 50Wx4 AIWA unit.

its coupled to 5.25" cerwin vegas in the back doors and 6.5" rockfords in the front doors.

i am happy.

In my experience I'd either check out Blaupunkt or Pioneer - for headunits of a reasonable price , useability and functions.

I'd take them power figures with a pinch of salt too - 4x50w rated headunits are peak figures, and usually around 25w rated power - my 4x50w external amp is certainly FAR louder than my 4x50w headunit

hmm... well I have this one:



And I really like it, no problems with it, etc.

Why are aftermarket head units so crappy these days? Sure, they sound great, but they aren't ergonomic at all and are ugly as hell. The buttons are all so small because they want the biggest screen they can fit in... functions are confusing to use... Why can't they make an OEM-style radio - with big, useful buttons and a screen with ONE color. I have a early '90s Blaupunkt that fits in pretty nicely, all black, green display, big buttons, but it scratches my CD's to hell...

Ebay is GREAT for used stereos. I just picked up a used Clarion Pro Audio CD player for about $35 shipped. Fold down face, simple layout, 4V, 3 sets of pre-outs, large screen, etc. Super high end for a deck a few years old. Not flashy at all so it goes well with our dashes. One thing that people overlook is how the deck will look when installed in their cars. You wouldn't buy an ugly ass wheel that weighed 10lbs so you shouldn't buy a deck that has tons of bells and whistles but looks like ass next to the stock lighting and gauge faces.

I just bought an entire new button set from Clarion for $20 shipped so now I have basically a brand new looking stereo for about $50 that would now retail for over $300 with the same specs.

Craigslist is great too. Last week I bought an Alpine V12 amp for $40. A little scratched up but I'll just repaint it if it bothers me too much.

"Dealtree" on ebay has awesome electronic close out specials as well. Most are open box, returns, or just plain overstock and everything has been tested. Picked up 6.5" Alpine Type-S 2 ways for $21 and they let me pick them up. They retail for about $100. The deals are out there if you're willing to look around a bit.

I picked up one of these to replace the Sanyo in my car only to find out it wasn't the radio.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-06-CLARION-...ryZ50558QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
For $120 it's a good deal, plus it has USB input & aux input on the front.

sony for teh complete and total lose

Well, I won't say sony's the best, but it'll get the job done if you are ok with average audio stuff. If you aren't trying to win a competition, then sony's fine (well, I won't buy it, but you can make it sound good enough).
'
Eamon

I'll never buy a Sony because of theire DRM bull**** if for no other reason...

I actually don't like their headunits, but I do have one of their subs. It does the job (and for $50 I think it is fine). But I always found I could get the headunits to skip by closing the door or something.

Eamon

Ugh...

Last year when I had my old 240, I had a midrange Boss Audio head unit installed. Owned it for about 8 months.


...And had it in the car for 2.


Everything in that hunk o' junk head unit that could break, did. I'd definitely recommend against them. I learnt the hard way that no-name = no-work. (Currently quite pleased with my Blaupunkt Monterrey unit)

agreed on something from clarion- but not form this year- they're kinda flashy.

I have a Clarion that's about 1.5 years old- plain flat black with some gloss black accents, comfy, solid volume KNOB, not buttons. Very ergonomic, you can set the display to a nice dark green and the deck looks almost stock. Nice and clean and solid.

Forget implied power outputs or whatever other BS- that's what good power amps and speakers are for. Get something that is solid and built well and has a clean faceplate. You use it every day, so something garish or cheesy will just piss you off.

Pioneer=most bang (or boom in my case ) for your buck

in any case,

This headunit Produces a broader frequency specrum than i thought possible from a head Unit amp:



P.S. it is wired into 5.25" cerwin vegas in the back that have magnets almost as big as the cone and 6.5" rockfords in the front.