Review of cheaper HUs vs Surplus Japan

[webmiester]

Hi guys,

Ive been canvassing for a new HU in Raon, Quaipo. Ive noticed the proliferation of cheaper brands of HUs. Before, I used to scoff at the likes of Proline and Japan Nippon. However, today, these cheaper brands have caught up in features and looks which could rival expensive models. For those who arent joining audio competitions, these might do the job.

I also came upon a shop selling Japanese surplus HU's which need FM converting so they can pick up reception properly.

What are your experiences regarding these units? Are they worth it? Which of the two, given a limited budget, will you suppose give better value?

Cheaper units:
1) Proline
2) AudioMobile
3) Maxsound
4) Wonder
5) Iba pang sari-saring brands...
At as low as P2700 meron ka nang CD player and USB port...At P4500 you can get DVD player and USB na. Warranty is about 6 months

I think AVT can be considered under this category:

Japanese surplus units: usually Kenwood, Pioneer, and Alpine... At around P3500 it'll be a 2-DIN CD and cassette combo. Conversion to Phlippine FM will cost around P600. Warranty is around 2 months.

This is actually a Brand vs. Brand New kind of scenario.

[BlueBimmer]

personally i'd go for cheap pioneer HUs that costs 5-6k+.

[impulzz]

i'll go with the cheaper hu... kasi yung converted na surplus, yung display won't properly show the right station you are tuned in.

[zero]

webmiester, punta ka na lang sa shop ni jeff tan sa araneta ave. near big berts detailing.
meron siyang mga "budget set-up meals", baka swak sa budget mo.
meron din siyang post sa car finder section ng tsikot.com, search mo na lang.

[washburn]

IMO ok naman tumunog ang Proline
but mas flexible talaga mga pioneer, alpine HU
go for 2ndhand nalang yung hindi galing japan
pioneer sulit talaga kahit secondhand

[knight21]

i have an audiomobile hu installed on my ride for 8 months now and i am satisfied with it.

which is better? it's only a matter of preference and of course budget...

[MasterZerg]

or it might be cheaper with more features pero the sound quality is poor...

[webmiester]

Personally speaking though, Im not too impressed by Alpine quality... The stock Alpine HU which came with our old corolla lost its LED lights early and I didn't like its audio output...kaya the suplus Alpine units don't appeal to me...

Also I noticed the availability of Budget DVD players with LCD screen. One of them, having a 3.5" screen and USB port costs only P8k, tapos pwede pa maging rear camera when backing up... A lot of name brands units are now made in low-cost China factory, kaya Im wondering how big a difference they make nowadays.

Look at CD-R King's CD's. Puro iba-iba brands pero they came from the same factories naman, kaya their qualities arent so far away many times...

[webmiester]

i have an audiomobile hu installed on my ride for 8 months now and i am satisfied with it.

which is better? it's only a matter of preference and of course budget...

Im glad, cause Im going ttry the Audiomobile HU...I hope I become as satisfied with it as you are

[MasterZerg]

ilang watts usually ung mga nasa raon like audio mobile? ok ba bass nya and sound quality?

[toolightz]

HU are most likely amplified at 10 to 20w X 4rms 45w max

[knight21]

ilang watts usually ung mga nasa raon like audio mobile? ok ba bass nya and sound quality?

my audiomobile is at 4 X 21 Watts RMS.

okay naman yung bass niya with my targa x652c(front) and x602(rear)

[funkngruvn]

pioneer 1950 na lang 3,300 lang.. mas madali pa hanapan ng parts kung sakali irerepair..

[batang_raon14]

pioneer 1950 na lang 3,300 lang.. mas madali pa hanapan ng parts kung sakali irerepair..

Different experience on my part. Pioneer 4950 ko nung pinarepair ung cd player (di na nakakabasa) mismong Pioneer accredited shop sinabi saken na aabot ng 3 months bago dumating ang parts. Ung china-made na HU na binigay ko sa tiyuhin ko para sa owner-type nya (6" LCD, DVD, DivX, MP3) nung bumigay ung amplifier dinala lang sa Raon agad-agad may piyesa.

[wool]

Eto yun link ng review nun audiomobile. far.http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...ht=audiomobile

i have been using it for 8 mos already, no problems so far. I saw actual unit sold in Walmart and Fry's in the U.S. carrying a different name lang nga kaya decided to try it out.

[webmiester]

I tried out the Audiomaster Head Unit at P3500. Here are my current findings after a few days use:

1) The SD Card and USB ports are really really cool Aside from getting to play my mp3's, I get to charge my phone and other USB peripherals. The player can play both mp3's and WMA files very well.

2) The sound quality is highly dependent on the mp3/WMA quality of course. I can get rid of my CD changer by transferring all my files into mp3 or WMA.

3) It stops playing and shifts to another mode when it hits a corrupted mp3/WMA. It can sometimes cut off the ending parts of a few mp3's if the mp3s are not made well. Parang I havent excountered this error on any WMA files.

2) The CD sound is crisp, and doesnt jump (It has up to 45 seconds EPS). Loading and unloading the CD is really nice (I like it better than the loading mechanism of the Alpine unit in our 1st gen CRV)

3) FM radio reception is...fair. In fact, many of the stations don't come in as clearly. It reminds me of the pioneer headunit found in our 1989 galant before which used an indoor Bosch antenna. The indoor antennas dont recieve signals so well. In my current setup, my car has an outdoor antenna but reception can still be improved. In fairness, it receives all the FM stations, and can still receive my favorite stations even when next to the transmitter of another station. Yung pioneer ko with indoor antenna couldnt do that, kapag malapit na ako sa edsa-ortigas, most stations become blurry except for 89.9 which had their transmitter somewhere there. Kaya naging "magic" listener tuloy ako.

4) It's search functions seem satisfactory but of coarse, dangerous to use while driving.

5) Power is good at 25w x 4 channels. It even has RCA out. Bass and treble can be adjusted and are very good. Kaso lang some of my speakers need to be repaired...

6) Now we have to see how long this thing will last us... I presume that its weakness will be its CD player since eto lang naman may moving parts. I plan to get a large capacity SD card and transfer my CD's to WMA to avoid wrecking the CD player

7) Its buttons feel good and its display is clear and bright . I just kinda felt bad when the unit came in grey, walang black (although pic niya sa box is black). Pero after installation, maganda rin and itsura niya

The other brand I was considering was "soundmax" at P2700 meron na itong USB, SD Card and CD player (no aux in), or may aux in pero wala nang USB on other models. It's a lot cheaper and is quite handsome, but its buttons feel cheap, and when I tested it, the test unit's display was defective...

Thank you so much for your advice.

I heard that the converted Japanese Surplus HU add an additional item to their antenna line so that they can receive Philippine FM stations well. Could this be an FM booster? Im curious if it can help improve my HU's sound quality.

[forbiddensmoke]

pics!!!

[webmiester]

as requested:

Attachment 9900 Attachment 9901 Attachment 9902

I think Im reducing my review of its FM stations reception from fair to slightly unfair.

Its strange pero when I had my old HU, I rarely used its radio, puro CD lang... ngayon puro radio na ako pero di ganun kaganda reception...I cant wait till I buy a 2GB SD Card and transfer my CD collection there...

[forbiddensmoke]

nice pics! ganyan pala itsura ng audiomaster... mukhang mamahalin na rin pala! iba pa po ba yung audiomobile at proline? sa fm reception, may magagawa pa po bang tweaks para gumanda?

[knight21]

is that the VRCD 500SDU model?

i had one installed on my ride since feb and so fat okay naman lahat. my wife's the one who listens to the fm stations and so far no complaints from her regarding the reception.