Quadcam

Not to knock the Eclipse deck by any means, and you're very helpful suggestion, but I've never actually heard of that brand. I have however heard of Pioneer and Alpine for car audio, and didn't know if they are comparable to the Eclipse (obviously depends on what model), or if they aren't that favored in car audio anymore. It's been suggested to me by a couple people to get and Alpine deck, and others on here have mentioned Pioneer.

Any suggestions with these three brands taken into consideration would be appreciated. As said, I've never heard of Eclipse, so I don't know if the quality is on par with the aforementioned brands. No disrespect intended.

Thank you

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

As a dealer of many lines over the last 22 years, I have sold pretty much all of them. I stock Pioneer, Kenwood, Kenwood Excelon and Eclipse. Eclipse being my high end choice. Eclipse was only available to specialty retailers, they tried their hand with big box and it was just not a good product fit for them. The big box generally likes the lower price units, Eclipse was the higher priced higher end units. I am sure that there are many others on this very forum that will recommend this great model and many of the members on this forum have purchased it from me.

Quadcam

I've read that there is no 24 bit dac in this deck, is that true? From what I've read, it's a fairly important feature for good audio playback of MP3s etc. from storage devices like my Zune.

Thanks again

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

Don't get hung up on a d/a convertor, there is much more to a solid head unit than a d/a. To my ears the Eclipse sounds far better than the 24bit d/a of the Kenwood Excelons. If tonal response is ideally that important, you will get far superior results by changing speakers over any changing of a d/a in a cd player. If the d/a is really that important of a feature to you, I will recommend the Kenwood Excelon line, the Pioneers as well for the most part will need to not be recommended at all due to their primary use of 1 bit d/a. If Bluetooth and 24bit d/a and a solid unit is what you are after, the Kenwood Excelon KDCX993 is the unit to choose but it is going to blow your budget. Stay the course with the Eclipse I am recommending, it will not dissappoint you. If it does, send it back to me and upgrade into the Kenwood Excelon.

Quadcam

Does the Eclipse remote have the ability to add an extension cable to it so I would be able to utilize it (similar to what another user previously posted about Pioneer decks)? I'm assuming that I would be able to control it with my Zune anyway? I'm just exhausting all my options.

Thanks,
Cam

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

Cam, I will call my store, have my guys go buy a extension USB cable, see if I can find a Zune or Ipod and give it a try. Will that work for you?

Quadcam

Actually, I just read this online- "But what if you have a Zune or another MP3 player. NO PROBLEM! While you won’t be able to control the device from your radio, you can easily pipe your tunes through the CD5030 with the addition of a $10 RCA-headphone adapter."

I found that info here . It's a face bookpage, so hopefully it will open for you.

You are an extremely nice man to offer such a thing, but don't go to the trouble. So based on that description of the unit, it can only be controlled via the Zune. That is one downside because nobody else would be able to control it via the deck if I have the Zune at the back of the van.

I wonder if this happens with other brands also. Stupid iPod! Yet another reason why I will never purchase i anything!

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

Well, looks like we have solved your problems and found you a great cd player. If you would like a quote on it with the kit and harness necessary for installation, I will PM you a quote. As long as I have ball caps left instock, I will send one along as well.

Quadcam

Well, I just got off the phone with Pioneer, and the agent said that their decks are only compatible with iPod also (assuming he actually knows what he's talking about because he is just a customer service agent after all). He said that the Zune (never heard of one) would have to control the deck.

Err

Quadcam

Hello Rob,

If you could PM me a quote, that would be great.

Thank you very much,
Cam