It's a tough decision, I know. They're both very good units and I guess it all comes down to personal preference. Just wanted to see which one you guys would pick.

Kenwood KDC-MP522



OR

Pioneer DEH-P7400MP




I've done my research on both, and basically the Pioneer is prettier than the Kenwood and the Kenwood should sound a little better than the Pioneer, not to mention it's about $80 cheaper. I'd just like to know what y'all would go with. If you could tell me why, that'd be great too.

 

Thats a no brainer...the pioneer is far superior in output and clarity IMO. Not to mention how kenwood's lower line likes to fall apart quite easily.

 

go PIONEER! im not sure how it works.... but Pioneer is also Premier. If you havent heard of Premier... its a top notch competition stereo line. I was at a stereo shop once, and i noticed some of these Premier stereos that looked like the Pioneers. I was all "what kinda knock off junk is this?" and the guy told me that those were top of the line! He said that Pioneer is Premiers last year model. So they must be good!

Eclipse is an awesome brand. Did the same thing, i was in a store and i saw these cheezy looking stereos, and he said they were TOP of the LINE! just because ive never heard of them and bc they werent Pioneer, ALpine, KEnwood, etc... i thought they sucked, where in reality, they were soooooo GOOD ive never heard of them! Eclipse are supposed to be realllllll clear. my yota came with an eclipse headunit... older but its great. sounds awesome! looks good too!

 

Kenwood all the way. If looking at others, take a look at Alpine and Eclipse.

 

I don't particularly care for either. If I had to vote (which I did), I'd vote Kenwood. I'd never, ever buy a Pioneer product.

 

That's a tough one for me. I run Kenwood speakers and amps with a Pioneer head unit. Both brands are good. Just comes down to personal preferance. Here's the double-din deck I'm using:

Pioneer deck

 

I say Kenwood......The Kenwood you can add the MP3 music keg to have a total of 2500 + songs on tap at once........

 

I just installed the Kenwood MP522 in my Xterra, and I love it. It sounds great , and it matches my interior nicely

And from what I've read you can't go wrong with the Kenwood.

-Braden

 

I have always been a Pioneer fan, but this last system I put in the 4Runner was a Kenwood. I went with bit of a step up from the one you listed. It has the nice display like the Pioneer and allows you to download different wallpapers and movies. It also plays MP3s. This is the one I got and am happy with it so far.


If you can swing it the KDC-X959 is a nice unit! I kind of went all out and bought the top of the line kenwood Excelon for my entire system, the only thing I am mildly disapionted in is my front component speakers (KFC-XR71p) I think I will probably replace them with some MB Quarts like I had in my previous Runner.

I would definitely go with something from the Excelon line if you do go kenwood or something from the premier line if you go Pioneer.

Good luck

 

I have both in the truck,

Pioneer: Cdplayer, component speakers, 4 channel amp and 5.25 speakers for the rear doors

Kenwood: 600watt amp for the subs, 2 10" kenwood subs at 500 watts each.

 

I sell both at work. Personally I prefer the Pioneer between those two choices but I would take the Kenwood KDC559 with 4.5 volt pre-outs. A huge difference if your running amps. As for the Pioneer Premier........it's still pioneer but their higher end series. Just like Rockford Fosgates Fanatic line and Sony's Explod product line.. Our company did not bid high enough to get exclusive rights to the premier line from Pioneer.

I would look at Pioneers DEHP8400 w/ triple high volt pre-outs.

What kind of price are you getting? I may be able to get you a couple prices to help you out when you try and grind a little on their price.

 

pioneer? panasonic?kenwood?sanyo?alpine?..Its all the same...Now if you want excellent sound and not disco flashing lights and wacky displays. Buy a Nakamichi.

 

tru tru tru! das the shiet...

 

Who doesn't like a few pretty pictures to go along with their music?

I think I'm gonna go with Premier, fellas. Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming if you got it.

 

i love my pioneer stuff , i have pioneer for my house and my truck , pioneer (older) cd player with a 10 disk changer ( does kenwood eve noffer a 10 disk ) and if i really felt the need , i can hook up another 3 10 disk changers in line and have a ton of nonstop music commercial free.

i like the price of the pioneer equipment and the quality. and if you buy a pioneer and want xm radio , if you get the right head unit , you wont have to add another head unit for xm , it hooks up thru the same port as the changer.

airrikk17

 

I voted Pioneer/Premier. I'm not sure about Kenwood, but if your Premier product is installed by an authorized dealer, it comes with a very nice warranty. A friend of mine got his DEH-P730 stolen, and they sent him a DEH-P840 because their "300" series head units weren't in stock from the year before. He didn't lie about it either. That's if you wanted to go for the Premier though.
I considered this when I was looking for mine, but then I found a DEH-P9300 on eBay for $130 and jumped. Since you're in the Tacoma, I'd say it'd be perfect. You can use the head unit to power speakers or use the two 4V pre-outs to add an amp. If I remember correctly you wanted to do a subwoofer, which will need an amplifier, and then you have the choice of adding another amp for the other speakers or powering them off the HU. It's fun to play with too -- figuring out all the buttons.



Zach

 

A lot of companies make higher end stuff.
When I bought my present Sony M650 a few years back, it had the extended warranty on it as it was the higher up model being the ES series.

Sony make some very nice MP3 players, and the one I am looking at now is the MP70.
As far as I know, it's the only deck of it's kind with the CD tray sliding out with a tray just like your PC you are reading this post on.

$350, was $500 the last time I looked at it in person
http://www.cartoys.com/cartoys/showd...roduct_ID=5827

$399 at the Crutch
http://sm.crutchfield.com/S-ojUtYRvY...p?i=158CDXMP70

Crutchfield is not always the best deal.



Here is the deck in Sportedition's rig.
http://pics.montypics.com/rabidgti/2003-03-04/sony2.jpg

A deck must have 3 sets of pre amp outputs for me, as my current one does, and that is the only way to go if you are going to hook up a separate amp for your subwoofer so you can control the volume to it independently of the main volume.

 

I have owned both Kenwood and Pioneer decks and CD Changers in recent years and was impressed with both. However I found my Pioneer gave way better highs and clarity than the Kenwood did when powering the same amp and speakers.

 

This is what I run. A Pioneer FH-P8800. Is is a double din and I have had no problems with it. Just my 2 cents.

 

I voted for the Pioneer. I compared them and the one is better than the other at one thing, and vice versa. So basically, they are about the same. The Pioneer will look better and since I have one, and know that the display really impresses people, I voted for that one! :fireman: