Aftermarket head units?

[broncojunkie]

Ok, I have a basic question that I can't seem to find an answer to. My wife has an older work car she uses (06 Highlander). The factory stereo was garb, so I added a basic single-din JVC. This did a couple things. She now has bluetooth (for music and calls) and also the dash kit has a handy little pocket to store her phone. What I didn't plan on was the absolute HUGE improvement in sound...even with the factory speakers. I did choose jvc because I knew their mosfet models are based at 22w rms per channel, which is noticeably better than the average 10-14w most other brands produce. Kenwood is also 22w, I believe.

So here's my question. I'm looking at Pioneer head units, also mosfet, and their website states "22w continuous, 14w rms". I always thought rms and continous were the same thing. All 3 companies list "Max" power as 50w per channel. Does Pioneer have the same power or less than jvc & Kenwood? I like Pioneers interface better and thinking about picking one up for my ol commuter car or one of the mustangs.

 

[Erkenbrand]

I'm going to say the Pioneer has the same power as everybody else. It's a pretty standard power rating among head units. I have no idea why they're using 2 different ratings for continuous and RMS. Unless they're saying you can run it at 22W for a safe max, 14W for all the time. And of course 50W is just nonsense. That's a momentary peak that's going to make the unit very unhappy.

I've used Kenwood, Pioneer, Alpine, Sony, and others, and never really noticed a huge difference. The Pioneer should have a more quality sound than JVC.

I'm running a tape deck in my Mustang. I found one on ebay - NIB. And, what I couldn't believe, it has an auxiliary input on the back. I'm adding a bluetooth receiver. I feel a need to be period correct.

I just helped a friend of mine add a Kenwood head unit to his Lexus SUV (I can't remember what model). It sounds great, and he didn't add any amps.

 

[broncojunkie]

I'd say you're correct about the amp power being the same. I hate that it's so hard to figure out just what the heck you're buying. I thought we were past this lol!

I've used 22w head units before and really didn't notice any improvement in sound quality at all. Now that I've been around the block a few times, I believe the difference lies in the sensitivity of the speakers. Older cars had pretty lousy quality components. The newer cars may not have high-end stuff, but speakers are, at the very least, slightly better these days...in power handling and sensitivity. Back in the olden days of yore, a cheap speaker had good sensitivity or good power-handling, but not both. They could sound great for a minute or two or lousy for years lol!
And I know what you mean about retro stuff and these cars. Definitely a cool way to go! The 79 cobra I'm restoring still has what appears to be a high-end Alpine cassette deck. Looks to be in good shape, but the car sat since 90s I believe. I know it had a system in it at some point. There was amp/sub wiring from battery tray to hatch area. It also had an alarm/anti-theft system of some sort (that should be fun to deal with when I get to the wiring stage)