Pioneer DEH-P3500 Car CD Player
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Similar in In Dash Receivers
- Anti-Theft Protection: Detachable Face Panel
- Player Type: CD
- Controlled Devices: XM Ready
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Pioneer puts out another good one
Pros
Great adjustability, very durable, more options than similarly priced units, remote.
Cons
Dimmer doesn't dim much. Internal amp is hyped up (like all decks).
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Definitely recommended, lots of standard features not found on other decks of this price, loads of adjustability, Pioneer's legendary reliability.
I have always been a fan of Pioneer head units for their reliability and the adjustability of the eq. When I went looking for something to replace my factory deck in my S-10 there wasn't too much question about what brand I was going for. I checked out Eclipse, Panasonic, Alpine and a few others, but non could match the options on the Pioneer for close to the same price.
Use
This is where the 3500 takes some time getting used to. Normal functions like changing from radio to CD, changing tracks, presets, etc is all very simple. But when you want to start tweaking the sound it takes some time to sit and get used to. The eq has your standard low/mid/high, but you can also adjust what frequency each of those occur at, and how wide a range of frequencies around that center they each adjust. I've been playing with mine for weeks now, and it seems every few days I can take a couple of minutes and make is sound just a little better. The other sound setting like loudness, sub level control, high pass filter, and the like, also take some time in tweaking. Although this can seem to be a pain at times, it's also VERY nice to have the range and capability that it gives you. A deck that only had bass/treble cannot match this unit in the sound you can get out of it, to do that you'd need a separate equalizer, which brings up costs, complicates the install, requires an external amplifier, etc.
The adjustability for the subwoofer outputs is very nice as well. I can change my level, crossover frequencies, bass, and the frequency the bass control effects, all without moving my seat and getting out the screw driver to tweak the amp. Actually, all those can be controled from the remote that is included with this model. At first I thought a remote would be worthless in a small truck where the head unit is right there, but it is actually very handy. The best is when traveling on very poor/rough roads. Instead of bouncing around trying to hit the right buttons on the deck you can just easily push buttons in your hand. It's a very welcome feature that surprised me with it's convienence.
Performance
So far, flawless. The deck is very difficult to skip, although I have done it. I drive a slightly lowered truck, and live around some on the worst roads anywhere. I have to bottom the truck out very uncomfortably hard before this cd player will skip a beat, so it's not something that happens often (twice so far, and that was driving too fast on a 2 track).
The internal amp isn't all it's hyped up to be. No decks out there push what they claim without TONS of distortion. But still, I never listen to my music at levels where that is a concern, so if my Memphis highs are only getting 6 watts and sounding like that, it's fine with me. I may someday amp my highs, but for now I'm not going through the trouble because it sounds just dandy to me.
I don't listen to the radio much at all. The reception is better than my factory head unit's, but it's hard to say is it is good or not. I live in a very hilly area and reception of any station is poor in places. I can actually be less than 2 miles from the college campus and not pick up their radio station at times. But by the same means I can be 65 miles away from WMQT and get a crystal clear reception because it's coming straight across Lake Superior. So again, it's very hard for me to judge radio reception. Setting presets and using best station memory is a breeze, anyone could learn it in under a minute.
Looks
It may not be an organic el or any other fancy "video" screen, but that's just fine with me. I don't need or particularly want a head unit that fancy, so this one suit me fine. It does have some things going on, like rotating bars that move with the music level, and enough symbols to tell you everything you need to know times three. The place I am disappointed is the dimmer. This deck is very bright, and with the dimmer on it seems to only become a very, VERY slight amount dimmer. It far outshines the gauges in my truck, and I would like it better if it were a good 25% dimmer at night. But other than that it suits me fine.
Install
Installing this deck was as easy as any other that I have done. I got an install kit and a wire harness adapter, and an antenna adaptor. My S-10 uses GM's famous mini-pin antenna, so it cannot be plugged directly into any aftermarket deck. Other than trying to find all of the many screws and clips that holds the dash bezel in place the install was a breeze. I've had it apart and together a few times running new RCA's, I am guessing I could repeat the install in about 30 minutes now (as opposed to the hour or so it took). I needed the adaptor plate to install this because my truck uses a 1.5 Din size stereo, where as the standard for aftermarket decks is 1 Din. I needed the plate to fill the extra space.
Pioneer includes indepth directions on how to properly install the deck, both in terms of wirings and support. Even a beginner should be able to learn to do it easily. No one should have to blow their money on having a shop put a cd player in for them (unless install is free with purchase, then why bother with your own time).
Use
This is where the 3500 takes some time getting used to. Normal functions like changing from radio to CD, changing tracks, presets, etc is all very simple. But when you want to start tweaking the sound it takes some time to sit and get used to. The eq has your standard low/mid/high, but you can also adjust what frequency each of those occur at, and how wide a range of frequencies around that center they each adjust. I've been playing with mine for weeks now, and it seems every few days I can take a couple of minutes and make is sound just a little better. The other sound setting like loudness, sub level control, high pass filter, and the like, also take some time in tweaking. Although this can seem to be a pain at times, it's also VERY nice to have the range and capability that it gives you. A deck that only had bass/treble cannot match this unit in the sound you can get out of it, to do that you'd need a separate equalizer, which brings up costs, complicates the install, requires an external amplifier, etc.
The adjustability for the subwoofer outputs is very nice as well. I can change my level, crossover frequencies, bass, and the frequency the bass control effects, all without moving my seat and getting out the screw driver to tweak the amp. Actually, all those can be controled from the remote that is included with this model. At first I thought a remote would be worthless in a small truck where the head unit is right there, but it is actually very handy. The best is when traveling on very poor/rough roads. Instead of bouncing around trying to hit the right buttons on the deck you can just easily push buttons in your hand. It's a very welcome feature that surprised me with it's convienence.
Performance
So far, flawless. The deck is very difficult to skip, although I have done it. I drive a slightly lowered truck, and live around some on the worst roads anywhere. I have to bottom the truck out very uncomfortably hard before this cd player will skip a beat, so it's not something that happens often (twice so far, and that was driving too fast on a 2 track).
The internal amp isn't all it's hyped up to be. No decks out there push what they claim without TONS of distortion. But still, I never listen to my music at levels where that is a concern, so if my Memphis highs are only getting 6 watts and sounding like that, it's fine with me. I may someday amp my highs, but for now I'm not going through the trouble because it sounds just dandy to me.
I don't listen to the radio much at all. The reception is better than my factory head unit's, but it's hard to say is it is good or not. I live in a very hilly area and reception of any station is poor in places. I can actually be less than 2 miles from the college campus and not pick up their radio station at times. But by the same means I can be 65 miles away from WMQT and get a crystal clear reception because it's coming straight across Lake Superior. So again, it's very hard for me to judge radio reception. Setting presets and using best station memory is a breeze, anyone could learn it in under a minute.
Looks
It may not be an organic el or any other fancy "video" screen, but that's just fine with me. I don't need or particularly want a head unit that fancy, so this one suit me fine. It does have some things going on, like rotating bars that move with the music level, and enough symbols to tell you everything you need to know times three. The place I am disappointed is the dimmer. This deck is very bright, and with the dimmer on it seems to only become a very, VERY slight amount dimmer. It far outshines the gauges in my truck, and I would like it better if it were a good 25% dimmer at night. But other than that it suits me fine.
Install
Installing this deck was as easy as any other that I have done. I got an install kit and a wire harness adapter, and an antenna adaptor. My S-10 uses GM's famous mini-pin antenna, so it cannot be plugged directly into any aftermarket deck. Other than trying to find all of the many screws and clips that holds the dash bezel in place the install was a breeze. I've had it apart and together a few times running new RCA's, I am guessing I could repeat the install in about 30 minutes now (as opposed to the hour or so it took). I needed the adaptor plate to install this because my truck uses a 1.5 Din size stereo, where as the standard for aftermarket decks is 1 Din. I needed the plate to fill the extra space.
Pioneer includes indepth directions on how to properly install the deck, both in terms of wirings and support. Even a beginner should be able to learn to do it easily. No one should have to blow their money on having a shop put a cd player in for them (unless install is free with purchase, then why bother with your own time).
