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Dead in under four months!
Pros
Holds 12 discs at a pop, tons of DSP settings & features.
Cons
Poor reliability, hard-to-read display, small buttons.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
I would NOT buy this unit again -- 4 months use, then 3 months in the shop is unacceptable for a "Premier" unit!
I went shopping for an FM-modulated add-on CD changer. I wanted the maximum number of discs, and I bought the Pioneer on a salesperson's recommendation. The shop installed it in my 420SEL with little difficultly. As with most FM-modulated changers, the high-frequencies tend to "splatter" (cymbals, snares, sibiliance in singers, etc.) - perhaps a bit more so with this Pioneer than with others I've owned or auditioned (Alpine, Jensen & JVC). The DSP features are nice, with varying degrees of compression and dynamic bass boost, and the level control helps compensate for some FM front-end overloading.
Also, in the time that it worked, it *never* skipped - even though my car is 12 years old and has worn shocks.
The problem came when the unit died - flat dead, no eject, no LEDs, no nothing - after only four months! I pulled the power leads and tested them with my meter, and sure enough 12 volts was getting to the changer, but it was dead. I returned to the shop, and when I told the tech that I had a dead changer, his response was "don't tell me, it's a Pioneer Premier, right? The 6-disc or the 12-disc?" Further conversation revealed that they had experienced an extremely high rate of return/repair for this unit.
My unit failed with disc #4 in the player, and all twelve slots loaded. Since it was dead and would not reset, the cartridge could not eject, and the unit had to be sent back to Pioneer, including my 12 CD's. Pioneer's repair turnaround estimate is 12 weeks, minimum! Ouch.
Also, in the time that it worked, it *never* skipped - even though my car is 12 years old and has worn shocks.
The problem came when the unit died - flat dead, no eject, no LEDs, no nothing - after only four months! I pulled the power leads and tested them with my meter, and sure enough 12 volts was getting to the changer, but it was dead. I returned to the shop, and when I told the tech that I had a dead changer, his response was "don't tell me, it's a Pioneer Premier, right? The 6-disc or the 12-disc?" Further conversation revealed that they had experienced an extremely high rate of return/repair for this unit.
My unit failed with disc #4 in the player, and all twelve slots loaded. Since it was dead and would not reset, the cartridge could not eject, and the unit had to be sent back to Pioneer, including my 12 CD's. Pioneer's repair turnaround estimate is 12 weeks, minimum! Ouch.
