best deck pre-2000

[youdoofus]

reminiscing back to the days that got me hooked on the car audio bug made me think, what is the best deck of yesteryear? Last century. I have some doubt that the Clarion 9255 woudnt put the hurt on most offerings of the time. What are y'alls opinions? There is a certain Pioneer Premier deck that im anticipating seeing mentioned

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[ThxOne Premium Member]

Very close to your timeline and one of my favorite HU's I have ever owned is the Clarion Pro Audio DXZ 715.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I’ve always had a special spot for the Pioneer Premier DEX M88 ..in test that Richard Clark did it had better SQ specs than the Alpine 7909

 

[youdoofus]

that 7909 is a total classic!!

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

that 7909 is a total classic!!

I use to have one ..I still have a high end Alpine 7618 cassette with a 5959 changer

 

[dacheatham 10+ year member]

I was always partial to my Kenwood Excelon x911. Mask with 8v balanced pre-outs. Da*n ribbon cables though.

 

[evilmonstertruk Premium Member]

Anything Alpine pretty much

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[youdoofus]

I was always partial to my Kenwood Excelon x911. Mask with 8v balanced pre-outs. Da*n ribbon cables though.

my buddy still has the 5v version in his 86 IROC

 

[mikedeezxxx]

Alpine bump face pull out radio

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[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Eclipse 7200

 

[dsw1204]

Eclipse 55040 or 55060. I think they may have come out in 1999. The 55040 was the best SQ head unit I've ever had. 8-volt preouts with 55 ohm line out impedance, no internal amplifier, and no processing. Had basically no features, just well built and sounded fantastic.

They (meaning head unit manufacturers) haven't made them like that in quite some time. Everything, currently, has to come packed with every imaginable feature and SQ pays the price.

 

[germanyt 10+ year member]

I've only ever run Pioneer but Nak, Alpine, and Eclipse made good products back then. My first aftermarket headunit was in 2001 though and it was a cheap pioneer.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I was always partial to my Kenwood Excelon x911. Mask with 8v balanced pre-outs. Da*n ribbon cables though.

I think I have one somewhere..but it needs a ribbon cable as most

 

[dsw1204]

One of the best, in that era, was the Sony Mobile ES CDX-C90. With four 20-bit DACs and that DVOL function that bypasses all circuits except volume control, it's SQ was among the highest. The Denon DCT-1 and Rockford Fosgate Rockford Fosgate RFX-8250TI were excellent head units, as well. I think they were made by the same company.

 

[Rich22]

I had an Alpine 7949 I remember really liking