I already did a search here and found 2 posts, One user stating they have this and love, one who was looking at buying one.

Now, I am contemplating geeting one for my 89 vett (1991 Dash). I currently have an Eclipse 5303 which is nice but I was something with better SQ. the 5303 is circa 1998 I believe.

As for the rest of the system I am using A/D/S Amps and Boston Acoustics speaker for front imaging ( 1" 4" and 5") The front sounds good and the rear will have 8" Kicker CompVRs

Now I have heard of issues with the Nakamichi CD400, but I heard that on the internet so I don't have first hand experience.

Other then the Nak, What will be comparable for the same $$ (around $300)

My main requirement is SQ, second would be an Amber display (something Eclipse Lacks) I think my Eclipse sounds great but it does not 'match the dash'

Both the SQ and Amber display are important, with that said what are anyone's thoughts on the CD400 or what are your recommendations and your reason for those recommendations.

 

You may not know this, or maybe you do, but all CD players put out the same fequency response range. The only real difference between CD head units is three things

1. onboard amplifier wattage and THD
2. Oversampling rate (which is for error checking, not SQ)
3. Sound Processing (if any)

So really, all head units, barring amplification and just poor mechanical aspects, output the same fequency response. So there should never be a issue of SQ from a preamp point of view. Inside the head unit, after the D/A circuit preamplification outputs, is where the only significant distortion would occur, in which the next stage would be the amplification staging which would be measured in THD output into whatever rated impedience and output switching wattage. (GASP for air)

So, a $60 jensen cd player should reporduce the same fequency range output as a 1,600 Pioneer AVIC.



Man, I cant think of any head unit that is specifically amber. Other than a 1992 Denon head unit with a plastic insert Maybe JVC, Panasonic, or Kenwood might have one. I vaguely remember a Kenwood model being entirely amber front face with black accents, but its been a couple of years since it came out. Might want to do a ebay lookup on Kenwood head units. As far as Nak goes, man theyve always had quality stuff. Their stuff has been copied time and time again by other manufactuers, so makes you wonder why the other guys are copying somone - maybe cause the real thing is a good product! Makes me reminded of the home Nakamichi thin wall mount cd players they came out with in 94. I still see knockoff of them at walmart to this day


As far as you a/d/s componants, they're good stuff. I dont know why not many people use their stuff anymore. Hope my jabbering here has helped some. or spawned some ideas on what to use.

 

So what you are saying is a 60.00 Jensen is going to sound as good as a high dollar unit with dual Burr Brown DA converters?

I have used several Nak recievers many years ago. To be honest I have never felt the Nak name in car audio to live up to the name they have built in home audio. The stuff is good but it rides on the home audio name. Again...I have not used any of their stuff in years.

 

[QUOTE=EatRice]So what you are saying is a 60.00 Jensen is going to sound as good as a high dollar unit with dual Burr Brown DA converters?
QUOTE]


I guess more specifically this is what I am curious on.

Yeah as for the headunit.. I am only using the preamp so I see your points

 

[QUOTE=EatRice]So what you are saying is a 60.00 Jensen is going to sound as good as a high dollar unit with dual Burr Brown DA converters?
[QUOTE]


Now I was just sitting back at my desk waiting for the response on that one. I knew it was comming. I was VERY careful of how I stated what I said. I said they both reproduce the same fequency response range. Am I incorrect?

Also, you used the term "sound good"

thats really a subjective statement. A pair of Polk 2-ways may sound better to me than you. Ive always thought Polk was a bit shiney sounding around 4-7khz. But what the hell does 'shiney' mean...to you at least.. or to someone else? Its all subjective.

The original thread asked about a SQ difference between head units....but really thats kind of silly to compare. Now if your saying "my new cd player sounds better cause it doesnt skip as much as my new one" - well that would be because of the oversampling rate difference between the head units, and not a SQ issue in audio fequency response. So I tried to be careful what I said in my thread reply. I dont think I was being mallicouis in my statement, was I?

Just trying to point out that cd players mostly sound the same. One sould be worried about the speakers playing the sound comming out of the head unit way more than worring about the SQ of the head unit.

Is that so unreasonable?


snoopdan

 

The speakers are only going to reproduce a signal that is sent to them. So if you want the best SQ you have to start at the source unit and work your way back.

Yes SQ is very subjective but if you take a consensus among high end car audiophiles you will find alot more of them say you can hear a differance between head units. I know I have. But then again in the real world where the windows are down and the exhaust is rumbling you will not hear a differance.