Clarion CX501

Excellent

Great headunit for the price. The iPod/iPhone USB support is great. Charges my iPhone 4 properly and plays great quality audio. Bluetooth Phone and Audio connect are also superb. I've had the unit a week now and all my calls incoming and outgoing are clear and of great quality. I've been streaming Pandora and the MLB at Bat App and the audio is just great.

I have installed a Sirius SCC1 with this as well. Also very easy to hook up (just a single wire to the headunit from the SCC1. Sound quality is okay, but that is the SCC1's fault, NOT THE CX501's.

My only gripe is, the USB port is in the front. Would've loved for it to be in the back for easy routing of the iPhone cable to my glove box, but I can live with it.

I have a 2009 Toyota Corolla and the install was easy with wiring harness. Did the wiring harness at my kitchen table night before the install. Install took me total of about 25 min to get in the car, take out old radio and install the new one.

If you're looking for a headunit without the GPS/DVD(besides who needs that stuff when you have iPhone and iPads and Droid's and such) then get this headunit. I can't rave enough about it. The only thing i dislike so far is the front USB, just wish it was in the back! 4.5/5 Stars from me!

Good choice for a Nissan

I bought this unit about a week ago and recieved it on Friday. I installed it Saturday in an 05 Xterra because the factory unit quit working. So far I am very pleased with it. I had a couple of fears after reading other reviews but went ahead with the purchase. I have heard a lot about the screen being too dim but if you turn the contrast all the way up to 16 it might take care of the problem. It worked for me. I wanted something that would be iPhone compatible, match my dash lights, and have pre-amp outputs for front, rear, and sub. this also has the bonus of being 4v outputs too. The menu is easy to navigate but it is not as easy to set once you find what you are trying to adjust. If you set it and leave it this wont be an issue but if you are a tweaker it could be very frustrating till you get the hang of it. They other thing I really like is that the style was similar to my factory look. It has round preset buttons and I like the Center volume knob. The transaction with Sonic Electronix was great. I saved about $35 or $40 over C********* price. The only strange things were I got a free Metra dash kit that wasn't required for the install and I payed an extra $4 for an antenna adapter that was also not required. The 05 Xterra is the first year of the second generation so I think that maybe a few things are different between them and the newer models or something. Anyway, I have a couple of things left after the install that were not required. Other than that everything was perfect. Thanks Sonic for making my Christmas.

Awesome stereo for the money

Great stereo for the money. Close to stock but with many more options. Sound is even better than the stock head unit. Glad I bought it.

Great product

Great radio. Installed in 2001 Ford F-250. Also got the speakers. Clarion products are a major difference in the sound in the truck. The only negative thing to say is the volume control is very easy to turn. Sonic was great in all dealings getting this setup. Absolutely the best.

Cheap for a reason

Installed in a Honda Ridgeline. Not a bad unit, sounds ok but has a low rent feel and look.
Pro: Lots of options, plays usb, bluetooth very easy install.
Con: Display looks like 80s VCR, Bluetooth sync problems, Does not play Mp4 files.

attractive unit

all in all...I am fairly pleased with the unit. My only knock would be that it does not have a true channel scan on the radio. When you push the forward arrow it will only advance to he next channel. So while you are driving you have to continually push the button a million times to locate a station.

Installed to 2008 Nissan Altima

I really like this radio! My 1st Clarion!! Clear, loud sound better than factory radio. One of the main reasons of purchasing this head unit because it looks so much like the factory radio. Big volume knob in the middle!! The aftermarket kit the Sonic Electronics provided was all perfect! Scosche wire harness, power antenna and dash kit....It totally looks factory!! Still using the factory speaker which plan to upgrade soon. Also purchased and installed the Axxess ASWC and it works better than factory controls! I can now shut off the radio from the steering wheel just by holding down the source button. Can REW/FF songs from my phone via Bluetooth also from the steering wheel controls!
Reading the many reviews before purchasing this and the most complain is display not bright enough and ease use. Which I can agree to a very little degree. Night time illumination is perfect, daytime I just adjusted the contrast to highest brightness.... and with direct sunlight on the unit it's very readable!
Now, navigation of menu and options is some getting used too but it will become familiar very soon. Moderate learning curve but not hard at all! I definitely recommend this product if using double din size because all of it's great features and price value! I believe that speaks in volumes on how much this product is very well liked in the radio aftermarket community!!

Good electronics, Lousy interface

Got this primarily so I could use my bluetooth phone in a hands-free mode in the car. Works like a charm. It auto connects when I start up, calls come through very well, the car speaker transmits the sound at good volume, and the built-in mic picks up my voice without problems. AM and FM reception is good (have trouble with some fringe FM stations, but I know they have lousy signals). The USB and CD functions work well - don't have Satellite radio, so have no idea how that works.

The problem is the interface is so complicated, I have to roll out the manual every time I want to do something new (or something I haven't used in a long time) - and some things (like some BT setups) are hard to figure out even with the manual.

I installed it myself in my Subaru (in place of the Subaru multl-CD unit) - took a little time, but found good instructions on the web.

I'm not a big fan of its appearance (sort of cyclops like look), but that's not important to me.

Jasman

This unit rocks pretty darn good. For the money you can't go wrong. Only thing I've seen is the color on the screen malfunctioned after a month of use, but still effective. Very easy to navigate thru and set up.

Good Upgrade for Toyota Rav4

Installed this unit in my daughter Rav4 (2004). Sound quality is much better and with more bass than stock radio. Handsfree phone pair works well. Best is streaming music from her iphone 5 to play over the stereo, and the next button on radio changes iphone to the next song.

I liked this unit as it has one large round volume control and 6 preset buttons much like an OEM stereo would have. So it looks good in the dash.

I set the illumination to red/orange to match the OEM dash colors. It also has a setting to change colors on the radio every 5 seconds. My daughter likes this.

Great expandability with subwoofer out, and frequency tuning of the lows, mids, and hi's.

Adjusting simple bass and treble controls is a bit cumbersome and slow advancing through the menus...

Overall, I'd buy this again and again. Streaming radio and songs via iphone is soooooooooo cooooooooooool.