The audio store i shop at sells Eclipse and Panasonic products exclusively. I have used some Eclipse products in the past and was satisfied with them. When it comes to car audio I have never gone all out on a system. With the STI i want to though. I have seen everyone talk about lots of different brands but nobody has ever mentioned Eclipse. I want to get my audio stuff from this shop cause i know all the people there. But then again i wanna get really good products for this car. So I guess what i am asking is what do you guys think of Eclipse products? Pros and cons would be cool. Is eclipse better or on par with the alpine products everyone on here talks about? Also if you guys had say 2k to make the best audio system(no dvd, monitors, etc. just music) what would you put in your STI? Thanks in advance for all your help. Peace!!
How do you audiophiles rate ECLIPSE products?
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sorry, but i'm old school car audio so...
back in the 90's eclipse was a medium level player in the car audio competition world.
i mean to me, the source is the lowest part of the chain.
speakers first, then amps, then source.
with that, here's what's going into mine:
sony:
xrc-900 head unit (old school ES head)
xdp-210 processor
xm-xt1 xm tuner hideaway chassis
2 soundstream REF 300 amps
9+ year old MB quart 218's for the front doors ONLY
jl audio sub
back in the 90's eclipse was a medium level player in the car audio competition world.
i mean to me, the source is the lowest part of the chain.
speakers first, then amps, then source.
with that, here's what's going into mine:
sony:
xrc-900 head unit (old school ES head)
xdp-210 processor
xm-xt1 xm tuner hideaway chassis
2 soundstream REF 300 amps
9+ year old MB quart 218's for the front doors ONLY
jl audio sub
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861 Posts
oops... forgot to answer rest of your questions:
$2k...
hmmm....
start with high quality 2 way components in the front doors. can i recommend MB quarts?
kick ass 12" sub. JL makes some nice ones.
4 channel amp. xtant is something i would get these days.
head unit? unfortunately, i cant recommend sony here. they dumped their ES mobile line and their XPLOD line just plain sucks...
expect to drop about $300-400 here. btw, try lookin at other makers.
$2k...
hmmm....
start with high quality 2 way components in the front doors. can i recommend MB quarts?
kick ass 12" sub. JL makes some nice ones.
4 channel amp. xtant is something i would get these days.
head unit? unfortunately, i cant recommend sony here. they dumped their ES mobile line and their XPLOD line just plain sucks...
expect to drop about $300-400 here. btw, try lookin at other makers.
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861 Posts
oh one more thing, if you'll let me rant...
lately, manufacturers are making head units with more and more "show" rather that go.
i have been going to the CES show in vegas for the past 10 years. and i can see the slowly decline of quality of head units. they tend to make things with builtin hard drives and various other "gadgets" instead of just make a kickass cd player. instead you see heads with tons of flashy lights and other things that could have been made to play better that SHOW better...
even the top of the line stuff these days would like to include a navigation unit.
i just want a head unit WITH NO BUILT IN AMP!!!! stuff better DACs in there instead. who wants a friggin 4x50 "max" power amp in a head unit? i'm gonna end up using external and WAY better amps anyway... they just create heat... wasted heat....
[/rant]
lately, manufacturers are making head units with more and more "show" rather that go.
i have been going to the CES show in vegas for the past 10 years. and i can see the slowly decline of quality of head units. they tend to make things with builtin hard drives and various other "gadgets" instead of just make a kickass cd player. instead you see heads with tons of flashy lights and other things that could have been made to play better that SHOW better...
even the top of the line stuff these days would like to include a navigation unit.
i just want a head unit WITH NO BUILT IN AMP!!!! stuff better DACs in there instead. who wants a friggin 4x50 "max" power amp in a head unit? i'm gonna end up using external and WAY better amps anyway... they just create heat... wasted heat....
[/rant]
Eclipse....I couldn't possible want to stay further away from them. I have a ~4 year old unit in my Celica and the thing is anything but a quality item. CDs skip way too often and there are some serious bugs in that baby. For no reason, it'll turn on the telephone mute for days on end, and then it will just magically turn off.
Eclipse used to be a nice unit.....I don't believe it anymore.
Eclipse used to be a nice unit.....I don't believe it anymore.
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32 Posts
I went to a local Car Audio place that also sells Eclispe. I listened to some of their units and they didn't sound bad, but then again I'm not a big car audiofile. I ended up going with a JVC unit that plays my MP3 discs. Plus I have cool animations of my STi while I drive!
Most people won't be able to hear any difference in head units in a store. The biggest differences that end up costing the bucks are the power, how clean it is, outputs, all the bells and whistles, and things like imaging. Other than that, most products anymore are just more flash and bang for the general population. Personally, I think the speakers themselves and the power sent to the speakers is the most important issue in a system. Who cares how good the HU is if the speakers just spout out crap.
I had Eclipse speakers, exclusively in my Honda Passport. The head unit was Alpine. The speakers were great! The best part was that Eclipse has designed what they call "point source". I did not want to do anything to the dash so I installed "point source" speakers in the doors. These are basically , how you say, dual source? Anyhow, they were a 6" speaker with the center being tweeter, but they weren't coaxial...if that's the right term. The 6" speaker actually had the center "cut out" and the tweeter was a second component that sat in the center so the sound from both came from the exact same point basically. They never clipped nor did I ever have any other problems. I have to agree with everyone else here on the Eclipse head units though...not good at all.
badges
Is it just me or are the headunits that are all "fancy" with the imaging and all that completely ugly??? I think they look great in the store and everything...and it is a cool idea....but when something like that goes in any normal car that doesnt have neon everywhere it stands out like a sore thumb.
I agree with the earlier posts....give me an HU that looks "smooth" and "quality" without the flashy lights and all that crap so that it fits with the car. No amp is also a plus. I will be powering all my components with external amps anyways.
Please people...dont ruin the look of your STi with a rediculous looking head unit.
Is it just me or are the headunits that are all "fancy" with the imaging and all that completely ugly??? I think they look great in the store and everything...and it is a cool idea....but when something like that goes in any normal car that doesnt have neon everywhere it stands out like a sore thumb.
I agree with the earlier posts....give me an HU that looks "smooth" and "quality" without the flashy lights and all that crap so that it fits with the car. No amp is also a plus. I will be powering all my components with external amps anyways.
Please people...dont ruin the look of your STi with a rediculous looking head unit.
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861 Posts
shoe,
that's exactly what i was ranting about, especially the sony heads.
my past 3 head units from sony, going 12 years back were always non powered units. all were ES MOBILE heads. and i loved each and everyone one of them. 1 was stolen, 1 i retired when the changer with it died and i wanted to go with the UNILINK bus system. that was over 5 years ago with my daily driver then, a toyota truck.
when i got my wrx 2 years ago, i went and searched. nothing matched the simpleness of my sony. so i went ebay and found a refurb for about 1/6 the orginal price of the head when i first bought it for over $600.
that's exactly what i was ranting about, especially the sony heads.
my past 3 head units from sony, going 12 years back were always non powered units. all were ES MOBILE heads. and i loved each and everyone one of them. 1 was stolen, 1 i retired when the changer with it died and i wanted to go with the UNILINK bus system. that was over 5 years ago with my daily driver then, a toyota truck.
when i got my wrx 2 years ago, i went and searched. nothing matched the simpleness of my sony. so i went ebay and found a refurb for about 1/6 the orginal price of the head when i first bought it for over $600.
I just finalized an entirely eclipse system today.WrxWhat said:
8012 cd/monitor head unit 1000.00
8083 8-disc changer 300.00
Component 6.5 inch speakers for front 350.00
Point source 5 inch speakers for back 160.00
10" sub box enclosure 240.00
1000 watt 5/3 channel amp 510.00
+ dynamat kits, lightning and monster cable wiring, plugs etc.
over 3k installed. Goes in next week. Then i spend a week tuning it after that. Peace!!
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Above it was referenced how nice it would be to have a head unit with no amp.
I had a clarion last year that had this. Honestly, I was impressed with it.
But, it was installed in a boat, and one day it got wet, and no more clarion.
I then bought a Kenwood b/c the salesman told me that his father had it in a boat and it didn't skip (clarion skipped over every wave).
Knowing me I of course didn't get it at the store but online (saving $$$),
and this Kenwood blew away the clarion in every way. It looked great, sounded great, gave major control for my sound, and I could turn off the internal amp as to avoid the heat factor.
Now I'm a big Kenwood fan. It only skipped twice all summer, and I hit really huge waves! If are bouncing so much that your drink gets spilled and your cd doesn't skip, you've got a pretty good unit.
It was of course the Excelon line, which is way above the normal stuff.
I'm now looking at cool Kenwood units for my STi when it comes in.
I had a clarion last year that had this. Honestly, I was impressed with it.
But, it was installed in a boat, and one day it got wet, and no more clarion.
I then bought a Kenwood b/c the salesman told me that his father had it in a boat and it didn't skip (clarion skipped over every wave).
Knowing me I of course didn't get it at the store but online (saving $$$),
and this Kenwood blew away the clarion in every way. It looked great, sounded great, gave major control for my sound, and I could turn off the internal amp as to avoid the heat factor.
Now I'm a big Kenwood fan. It only skipped twice all summer, and I hit really huge waves! If are bouncing so much that your drink gets spilled and your cd doesn't skip, you've got a pretty good unit.
It was of course the Excelon line, which is way above the normal stuff.
I'm now looking at cool Kenwood units for my STi when it comes in.
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892 Posts
Wow, I'm a bit late on this thread, but let me just say to you, X-Japan, that you have bought great equipment. Everyone here seems to be on the Alpine bandwagon and I don't know why. When you listen to Alpine v. Eclipse the difference is obvious. Alpine is just for the F&F crowd who likes flashy stuff anyway 
.
Your system is going to be great. Enjoy it.
.Your system is going to be great. Enjoy it.
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