Does the Head Unit effect the sound significantly....?

Question

im getting 2 alpine SWR-1222D 12" 2ohm subs and a Pioneer PDX-1.1000 mono channel and am considering a Pioneer DEH-P6000UB headunit but does it really matter, as far as sound goes, as to what kind of headunit i get? can the headunit underpower the subs and amp?

Answer 1

The Head Unit is where you get your main signal, so yes it is very important. the head unit will underpower the subs if you don't have any amps besides the head unit. I've had a lot of luck with Clarion, they are my first choice.

Answer 2

also a quality head unit should not start clipping until about 3/4 of the volume. a crappy head unit might clip sooner.

Answer 3

the head unit does lots of things...if your speakers don't have an amplifier connected to them then the head unit provided all the power that they play with but if u have an amp for the speakers then the amp doesn't do much there....

the subs are powered by amps but the stereo allows you to change the sound by adjusting all the settings and eq's....

the subs and amp aren't powerd by the stereo ...like i said it help you fix the sound though so a stereo with a nice eq can help out alot....

plus you can get one that does more of what you want things such as flash drives, wma, mp3 playback and what not

plus they add style to the dash and are usually more comfortable to coltrol

Answer 4

Remember that the headunit sends the signal to the amp and speakers, so it is important to get a good headunit. I have had bad luck with pioneer stuff, but idk. Also there are diffrent powers on RCAs, with the more top of the line HU having a lil more power.

Answer 5

Personally I can't really say there is. My ears are good but I can't tell any improvement in sound quality from a cheap $100 head unit with 4 polk audio db series speakers versus the best computer sound card money can buy with a 125watt 5.1 surround sound setup.

The only things I know of head units really doing as you spend more is the display quality going up, the built in amp getting minimally more powerful, satellite radio support and etc.