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Good Head Unit
Pros
all the cool features, price
Cons
older, you won't find one new
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
recommended
I bought this head unit used off eBay. It's a few years old, but back in the day it was top-of-the-line, retailing for around $600. It doesn't have a lot of fancy bells and whistles like some of the newer unit, but what it does it does well.
Features
- 50w x 4 high power (has the DC-DC power converter)
- CD Changer Controls
- Front, back and sub 4v pre-outs
- Remote control
- Drop down face to load CDs, plus detachable faceplate
- Front-panel Aux input
- A bunch of spectrum analyzer patterns
- Anti-shock memory
- 3-Dimensional Surround & Super Bass
- Little blinking red light when you take off the faceplate
The Power
First off, this unit has power. Not many head units are as powerful as this one with it's 50x4 power amp. This was helpful before I had my RF Punches installed.
CD Changer
You can buy a Panasonic CX-DP801 8-CD changer and it will hookup perfectly with the unit. For now though I'd rather save the $200 and swap out CDs by hand. Still for those who like changers I'm sure it's a cool feature.
Pre-Outs
Ah, another great feature. Front, back and sub 4V RCAs. Why do you need a sub pre-out, you ask? Well, it saves me the trouble of spending $100 on a crossover. 4 volt power means it cuts nicely over my vehicle's electrical noise.
Remote Control
Sadly I don't have the remote control. The previous owner lost it. I could shell out $30 to Panasonic to get another one, but the controls are already easy to use from behind the wheel so I think I'll pass.
The Faceplate
Push a button, it drops down to load CD. Push another button, it pops off for safekeeping. There's a little red light that I'll be telling you about in a minute too.
Front-Panel Aux Input
The one reason I had against getting a CD player for my car was that I still have a bunch of tapes that I listen too. The Aux input lets me connect my Walkman to the CD player. Problem solved.
The Display
Since the CDs are loaded from behind it leaves a rather big display to be filled. So Panasonic stuck a 8 band spectrum analyzer on it. There are 6 different patterns that it'll bounce around too. Plus the display has super-bright technology that is 10 times more powerful than conventional LCDs. There are 3 levels are brightness that can be accessed by the pressing of a button.
Anti-Shock
The car bounces, the CD doesn't. One of those things you kinda forget about until you hear you friend's skipping head unit.
3-Dimensional Surround & Super Bass
I think this was supposed to be the cool technology at the time. It makes AM broadcasts sound like stereo by doing weird eq on the front speakers and turning the back ones into all bass. Extremely strange feature. You have to hear it. More of a gimmick than anything else.
The Little Blinking Red Light
Ok, when you take off the faceplate this little red light blinks. Why? Well, the manual say it's a security light to let you know you took off the face plate. Well, gee I have the faceplate in my hand I think I know I detached it. I think the real reason for it is so that a thief sees your car and looks inside it to steal stuff, he thinks you have an alarm installed and runs away. When all you have is a little blinking red light.
In short, this is a fine head unit and was well worth the $170 I paid for it. I'm glad to have it at the head of my 800 watt system.
EDIT: February 2005. Yes this head unit is still going strong. It is now in my third car, a 1995 Honda Civic. The only probably it has is the display sometimes gets messed up and you have to reattach the faceplate to fix it.
Features
- 50w x 4 high power (has the DC-DC power converter)
- CD Changer Controls
- Front, back and sub 4v pre-outs
- Remote control
- Drop down face to load CDs, plus detachable faceplate
- Front-panel Aux input
- A bunch of spectrum analyzer patterns
- Anti-shock memory
- 3-Dimensional Surround & Super Bass
- Little blinking red light when you take off the faceplate
The Power
First off, this unit has power. Not many head units are as powerful as this one with it's 50x4 power amp. This was helpful before I had my RF Punches installed.
CD Changer
You can buy a Panasonic CX-DP801 8-CD changer and it will hookup perfectly with the unit. For now though I'd rather save the $200 and swap out CDs by hand. Still for those who like changers I'm sure it's a cool feature.
Pre-Outs
Ah, another great feature. Front, back and sub 4V RCAs. Why do you need a sub pre-out, you ask? Well, it saves me the trouble of spending $100 on a crossover. 4 volt power means it cuts nicely over my vehicle's electrical noise.
Remote Control
Sadly I don't have the remote control. The previous owner lost it. I could shell out $30 to Panasonic to get another one, but the controls are already easy to use from behind the wheel so I think I'll pass.
The Faceplate
Push a button, it drops down to load CD. Push another button, it pops off for safekeeping. There's a little red light that I'll be telling you about in a minute too.
Front-Panel Aux Input
The one reason I had against getting a CD player for my car was that I still have a bunch of tapes that I listen too. The Aux input lets me connect my Walkman to the CD player. Problem solved.
The Display
Since the CDs are loaded from behind it leaves a rather big display to be filled. So Panasonic stuck a 8 band spectrum analyzer on it. There are 6 different patterns that it'll bounce around too. Plus the display has super-bright technology that is 10 times more powerful than conventional LCDs. There are 3 levels are brightness that can be accessed by the pressing of a button.
Anti-Shock
The car bounces, the CD doesn't. One of those things you kinda forget about until you hear you friend's skipping head unit.
3-Dimensional Surround & Super Bass
I think this was supposed to be the cool technology at the time. It makes AM broadcasts sound like stereo by doing weird eq on the front speakers and turning the back ones into all bass. Extremely strange feature. You have to hear it. More of a gimmick than anything else.
The Little Blinking Red Light
Ok, when you take off the faceplate this little red light blinks. Why? Well, the manual say it's a security light to let you know you took off the face plate. Well, gee I have the faceplate in my hand I think I know I detached it. I think the real reason for it is so that a thief sees your car and looks inside it to steal stuff, he thinks you have an alarm installed and runs away. When all you have is a little blinking red light.
In short, this is a fine head unit and was well worth the $170 I paid for it. I'm glad to have it at the head of my 800 watt system.
EDIT: February 2005. Yes this head unit is still going strong. It is now in my third car, a 1995 Honda Civic. The only probably it has is the display sometimes gets messed up and you have to reattach the faceplate to fix it.
