Are Decks really that important?

[Deutscher]

Hi all,

I've got a oldish deck (2 years old)
It's a Alpine one... it plays mp3 etc and has Ipod connection. 3 Pre-outs.
I was wondering if Decks are really that necessary?
How do they differ apart from visual aspects like the colours/pictures/text?
The Filters aren't generally used so that's not going to change anything.

I was wondering because I'm getting a decent system in my car and was wondering if I should upgrade my deck aswell.

[shiftySLE]

if you are running speakers straight from the deck, they can provide good power, if you are using RCA's it only comes down to the look and quality of the parts inside. A cheap deck wont play some burnt CD's will skip more due to crap tray suspension and wont have all the functions like sub control. In saying that, I've also had an Alpine, the one thats almost ten years old where the face is motorised and drops down for the cd. It has Triple RCA's, sub control, remote and it going as good as day one. The ONLY reason I got rid of it is the Ipod compatibility. Cheap decks have cheap components so at least go for one that is a decent brand but overall, they are not going to give you a quality boost at the speaker end.

[StoneX]

As long as you have a decent brand with the features you need, it's fine... I use a Pioneer from 5-7 years ago because it's still going and has more than enough features for my system.

[Philthy]

I'm running a pioneer DEH-3950 (i think it is) that I paid under $200 for brand new a year or so ago.
It has a dedicated sub channel with level control, LPF selection and phase selection (normal/reverse)
It also has a HPF for the speaker channel that I can adjust, as well as an aux input on the front.

The only useful thing it doesn't have is a 3rd RCA output, so I have to use Y-splitters for the speaker amps

As far as I am concerned this cheapo headunit does everything I need it to (pretty much) so I don't need to be spending more on it

[=bullet40=]

the only thing i look for when getting decks (mine and mates), is 3 rca outs, front, rear and sub...
and the equalisation that the head unit has, usually low, mid and high is fine for a average system... just allows u to get that lil bit more outta it!

[juzzteq]

i love my deck, plus it makes it sound better when tuned from the head unit, when done properly should i say

[azzfox]

the only thing i look for when getting decks (mine and mates), is 3 rca outs, front, rear and sub...
and the equalisation that the head unit has, usually low, mid and high is fine for a average system... just allows u to get that lil bit more outta it!

Agreed about the 3 sets of outputs. But the low/mid/high EQ isnt very special, on a Pioneer head unit anyway. It only adjust 3 certain frequencies and not the whole range. By holding the "Audio" button for a few seconds while looking at either low/mid/high settings, you will get extra options that let you select the certain frequency and the curve factor. I spent ages playing with it one day but got nowhere. Its hard to know youre adjusting without seeing it on a graph.

I wouldnt mind getting a seperate graphic equaliser one day. Until then Ill just use the EQ presets and adjust the lows using the bass setting (also in Audio menu) which applies to the whole range below 100hz.

Oh, and my head unit is about 3 years old but has everything I need so no need to upgrade just because of multi-color displays and animated menus lol.

[Deutscher]

Well that pretty much sums it all up.

I was just wondering if it affects sound quality? because the deck is the thing that reads and outputs the audio... so was wondering if there was some sort of better than a different one.

Can a deck produce all frequencies? or is it limited? cause if a deck can't produce 20Hz or something (for some reason) then the amp (even if capable of 20Hz) woudn't amplify that signal because it doesn't reach the amplifier?

[2LOUD2OLD]

there certainly is a difference3 between different head units in regards to sound quality.
an el cheap super cheap audio HU is not going to be anywhere near the calibre of a Denon Z1 or a Nakamichi, at the end of the day you get what you pay for.
as long as the HU you have does all you require of it then I am sure it will be fine