Are Clarion decks any good?

[canadian_hustla]

I undertand that clarion is not as popular/not as good as alpine, premier, etc..

but is the sound quality any good? (reason I ask is that you don't see many clarion decks around)

thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.


PS - are kenwood decks any good as well? I am choosing between a kenwood or a clarion

[403Gemini]

there was a time when clarion was a VERY good brand. Id buy them, my friend had one and it was awesome.

I like sticking w/ Alpine, pioneer, or clarion

[teggypimp95]

ALpine ftw

[canadian_hustla]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
there was a time when clarion was a VERY good brand. Id buy them, my friend had one and it was awesome.

I like sticking w/ Alpine, pioneer, or clarion

yeah I have the same mentality, I used to own a 9811 and then a 7700mp, and now I am looking for something double din. Unfortunately double din Alpines are out of my budget, and double din pioneers are pretty ugly..

Clarion has a few good choices, and I have a feeling I should be staying away from kenwood stuff.

[teggypimp95]

I got a nice audiovox flip out dvd deck if your interested.

[rc2002]

I don't know why everyone insists on buying Alpine. Some people are really strongly set on buying only Alpine. I personally think the decks are hard to use - small buttons and lots of them, plus they all look the same to me.

I've had all kinds of head units, and they're all the same. None of them have ever broken down on me - they become obsolete before they die usually.

Just stay away from the bargain brands.

[Weapon_R]

I am one of those Alpine fanboys. I've bought so many decks (from Clarion to Sony to Alpine) and none of them have the same type of build quality, reliability or sound quality as some of the mid and high end Alpine decks. I guess you stick with the same product when there isn't any reason to switch, and none of the alpine stereos ive had ever failed me on any level.

That said, most decks are about on par with each other in terms of features and longevity. Kenwood and Clarion offer just as many features and are both solid manufacturers.

Stay away from budget brands such as Audiovox, Jensen, Blaupunkt, and other no name brands. These companies rarely replicate the sound quality of the bigger brands and their products are poorly put together. One thing that really irks me is when the buttons on a stereo feel loose, and almost all of these cheap decks have that same problem. I made a mistake of buying a "DUAL" motorized faceplate stereo - it looked incredible but it only worked for 4 days before the mechanized system broke. I took it apart to find that the gears were made of plastic :thumbsdow

[hussein]

:werd: Get an Alpine. :love:

Seriously though, I bought an Alpine, CDA-9815. Its a couple years old now, but I have never had a problem with it, has lots of features, and I wouldn't have gotten anything different. But yea, as long as your buying a brand name deck, and test listen and read the reviews off the internet, you should be fine. :thumbsup:

[thinmyster]

alpine 9855 for me. the glide bar is kind of annoying but they've gotten rid of it in newer models. The thing is amazing though

[KoukiS14]

Ive been a hardcore Alpine Head user for 7 years now. However my next head unit will NOT be an Alpine. They have decided to take alot of the good features i am looking for and package this all in a unit that is in the $1000+ range. Clarion and Eclipse are much better for the money imo.

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by KoukiS14
Ive been a hardcore Alpine Head user for 7 years now. However my next head unit will NOT be an Alpine. They have decided to take alot of the good features i am looking for and package this all in a unit that is in the $1000+ range. Clarion and Eclipse are much better for the money imo.

:werd: I've owned nothing but Alpine headunits since the mid 90's, have never had a problem spending big bucks on their products till now. The 9855 was a letdown, and their product line is severely lacking imo. They have gone mainstream and have taken all of the features associated with their mid to high end decks, and reserved them for the top models only. Eclipse will be my next choice for sure.

[GTS Jeff]

Wow, there's a lot of Alpine fanboys in here. Don't you guys know that newer Alpines suck balls? Here's why:

-less and less features every year (time correction, xover control, parametric eq, etc)
-more and more bullshit every year (oooh bluetooth)
-over-rated specs (the preouts suck)
-newer decks have 2V preouts
-shitty internal amp - distorts like crazy compared to other brands

By the way, I own an Alpine deck, though it is one from the 90s, back when they were a lot better.

I can't say I know much about Clarion though...

[v2kai]

i got a clarion touch screen in my car and its pimp. nice thing too is that you dont see many others out there with em
although alpine is good too

[SWX]

i have had nothing but problems with Alpine HU, from way back till now, high end to entery level. Clarion well the few i had had a couple problems, the old (early 90's)Sony i had no problems with Pioneer Premier never a problem.
With all of that being said, ALL deck lines have bad years. So stick with a name brand and get one that has the options you want/need.

[Jonathan@TCS]

I have had a few Clarions in the last couple of years, and they were good decks. Although I did have to send both of them out for repair, I still say they were pretty good. I switched from a sony mid level to a clarion mid level, and instantly noticed an improvement on sound quality. As for Kenwood, I have had them, and I have installed them, and I will never buy one again, I just don't have anything good to say about them.

That being said, I now run Preimer, and I will never go back!

[Hash_man]

Clarion decks are pretty good for the money, and are good quality.


Wow, there's a lot of Alpine fanboys in here. Don't you guys know that newer Alpines suck balls? Here's why:

-less and less features every year (time correction, xover control, parametric eq, etc)
-more and more bullshit every year (oooh bluetooth)
-over-rated specs (the preouts suck)
-newer decks have 2V preouts
-shitty internal amp - distorts like crazy compared to other brands

By the way, I own an Alpine deck, though it is one from the 90s, back when they were a lot better.


I could not agree more... Up until a few years ago alpine decks were great... They have since moved manufacturing to somewhere in china, and the specs on their decks suck. 2v pre-outs is rediculous, why anyone would want this is beyond me. To me, alpine is just a name now. They used to make some awesome decks, but now the quality of them is just crap.

[carter_prelude]

Alpine FTW...nothing better for the money :thumbsup: and their very good with their warrenty :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[canadian_hustla]

thanks guys, clarion it is :thumbsup: