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| Review written by John from Lynn Haven, FL As an amplifier and CD deck, this head unit is very close to flawless; the built-in amp uses MOSFET transistors, producing very clear, even sound (the difference between this and cheaper in-unit amps is night and day) and disk sound quality is superb, owing to the product's fairly large response range and great overall construction; it's very difficult to make the deck skip, even when on bumpy roads. It also features CD-text reading, which means that any albums that you burn with supported software (iIunes, WMP, and msot other burners) will have track and artist names that show up directly on the deck's LCD screen, a feature that you won't really appreciate until you've used it.
The unit is also feature-packed in the area of customization and settings; the built-in EQ is fairly good, and the obligatory "bass boost" also works well, even in systems lacking a subwoofer. The unit's remote is great, providing quick access to most necessary actions, including volume, audio source, attenuation, EQ settings, and more. In addition, the unit's rear outputs (2 pairs) can be configured to run either as pure pre-amp outputs or as subwoofer outputs, utilzing a built-in lowpass filter (with a customizable cutoff frequency) which removes the need for a dedicated Sub crossover. The audio level for each individual audio source (FM/AM, CD, iPod, and Aux) are all adjustable, saving you the trouble of dramatically adjusting volume every time you change sources. In addition, the unit has a whopping 16 FM presets, more than enough for any location, and supports auto-searching and signal binning for increasing quality in low-reception areas, and supports pop-up antennas and steering-wheel controls through standard interfaces. Unfortunately, you may need a converter to connect the deck to your speakers, power, and ground...thankfully, SE sent me one for free with my purchase!
The deck's ipod connectivity, while certainly very good and quote useful, has some annoying traits: it is somewhat difficult to navigate the iPod's folders and directory structure using only the head unit's four directional buttons. The unit does not offer indirect control when using the iPod jack; that is, you can't actually use the iPod's buttons or screen while it is connected to the deck; all commands must come from the unit's buttons or the remote. However, you can solve this problem by connecting the iPod to the deck's front Aux input (rather than the dedicated iPod jack). |
