Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT - Radio / CD / MP3 player / USB flash player - Double-DIN - in-dash - 50 Watts x 4 Review

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(More customer reviews)This head unit is a great option for someone who wants an in-dash iPod (particularly iPhone) solution, but doesn't want to buy a more expensive navigation unit. The simple looks won me over initially, and if you've ever shopped for head units, you know that most on the market look absolutely ridiculous, and are apparently intended to be as obnoxious and blinky as possible. Although one major knock on the appearance of the FH-800BT is that the blue illumination is extremely bright, even after you enable dimming. Bright blue LED's are the bane of modern electronics. Its saving grace, however, is that you can actually shut off the display completely while it is operating, which is brilliant for long-distance late-night drives.
If you have ever used a Pioneer head unit, you will be immediately familiar with most of the settings. EQ, subwoofer, cross-fade, etc. are all there. Some Pioneer units have an adjustable parametric EQ, however this unit has a more straight-forward 7-band EQ. Otherwise, it's typical Pioneer, down to the trademark beep.
The sound quality is excellent all-around. Radio, CD, iPod, and Bluetooth A2DP all sound fantastic. There was a touch of hiss on Bluetooth audio at high volumes, but I think this is unavoidable. The "Audio Retriever" function supposedly mathematically restores audio lost from MP3 compression. It definitely makes a noticeable difference in the high frequencies without much detectable distortion added, but I think it's more a matter of personal preference.
iPhone connectivity is superb. I was able to pair the unit to my iPhone 3GS without a hitch, download the phone book, and make and receive calls without any problems at all. The included microphone is a little on the large side if you are trying to hide your install discreetly. However it works very well, and I had no trouble being heard on the other end at highway speeds, even though my car is not particularly quiet. Goodbye bluetooth headset! One minor note is my iPhone occasionally declares that the cable is not intended to be used with an iPhone and asks to be put into airplane mode. I disregard this message, and all features appear to work flawlessly.
A few things are completely unforgivable on this unit:
For example, "Telephone" REALLY does not need to be accessible via cycling through the "Source" button when there is a dedicated Telephone button right next to it.
The feel of the center knob is a bit flimsy, and center-clicking generally requires two-fingers to avoid pushing the knob left/right/up/down unless you push it dead center.
I wish they just added a few more dedicated buttons instead of burying features in the center-knob. There is a lot of empty space on the face of the unit, which would be great to have things like radio preset buttons (or phone quick-dial buttons). And since there are no dedicated radio preset buttons, why do they bother having 3 sets of FM presets? Couldn't they just put 18 presets in one place instead of forcing me to cycle through? And why does Audio Retriever need a dedicated button? That's a set-and-forget feature.
The iPod control, while generally very good, has a few nags. The unit allows you to alternate between "Song Shuffle", "Album Shuffle", and "Off" (buried in the center-knob functions), however when you tap the dedicated Shuffle button it seems to always jump back to "Song Shuffle". Hitting the button again does not turn shuffle off (as expected), but instead just re-shuffles your entire iPod and starts playing again. This is really a shame because I prefer to listen to my iPod on Album Shuffle mode, but the unit insists on jumping back to Song Shuffle. So instead, I leave Shuffle off. It's easy enough to browse for the albums I want anyways.
All in all, this is a very good head unit that is marred by a few flaws. If you can put up with the usability issues, then I highly recommend it. Otherwise, if you don't mind spending the money, I would look into a more fully-featured unit with navigation.

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Your calls come in loud & clear with advanced echo cancellation. Setup is easy with simple phone pairing and automatic phonebook transfer.When you're not utilizing hands-free calling, the FH-P800BT can use Bluetooth Wireless Technology to feed your appetite for entertainment. Using "wireless audio" control and streaming (AVRCP, A2DP), you can control and listen to a compatible audio player or music phone on your headunit.Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3, WMA and AAC files stored on USB memory device, iPod and portable digital players. By restoring data (especially higher frequencies) that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneer?s Advanced Sound Retriever technology enhances audio reproduction nearly all the way up to 20 kHz frequencies.Pioneer's FH-P800BT is ready to roll with capability for direct connection to your iPod. USB 2.0's speed and capability allow an elevated iPod experience in the car, and nearly limitless expandability for portable media players and USB memory devices.File search and access are extra-quick. The headunit keeps song, artist, time and album information displays very clear and user-friendly, and control is intuitive through the 7-Way Rotary Commander. The system's wired USB connection provides direct digital signal transfer from the iPod for clean, clear sound.The FH-P800BT is smartly designed to expand your system, customize your experience, provide superior sound quality and easy operation.

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Clarion CX609 2-DIN CD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver with USB Port Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased the CX609 for my 2008 Nissan Frontier. Having high end audio systems in my past two cars, I initially was going to just leave my truck stock, but then I got a new phone (Samsung Omnia) on which I can store 16 gigs of music, and the Bluetooth audio bug bit me hard. I picked this stereo because it does everything I want it to do (I will discuss the functions in detail later) and it's Double Din, so it fits perfectly in my dash. In fact, its worth noting that I didn't need an install trim kit to fit this into my dash. Despite Crutchfield telling me I'd need a $20 Metra kit, I found that all I needed to do to install the chassis was to unscrew the 2 brackets from my stock HU and screw them onto the Clarion. Clarion's install instructions clearly explain how to do this for Nissan and Toyota vehicles, although I did not use the thin spacers that the instructions said to use. Didn't need them as the stock and new HU chassis were both exactly the same width (I believe Clarion makes the stock HU).
The main reason I bought this unit was for the Bluetooth abilities, and because in addition to hands free functionality, it also supports A2DP Bluetooth audio streaming, so I can play music from my phone right through the stereo with no wires. I am really impressed with this technology. I did some testing with a CD burned from MP3s, and with the original MP3s streamed via BT. I honestly can't hear the difference. When connected, the HU controls the phone by changing tracks, pausing, playing, stopping, and it also can FF/RW through tracks, which is something my BT headphones can't do.
The CX609 works well as a hands free unit as well. When a call comes in the HU pauses the music and rings through the speakers. I ran the microphone up through the A pillar and headliner and popped it out next to the map light/sunglass holder. This is about where a stock MIC is found on a Frontier with factory BT, and it works fantastic. Everyone who I've spoken to says they can hear me better on the HU than on my phone. The MIC gain can be adjusted easily from 1-5, but I found the stock level of 3 too soft, and my preferred level of 4 is just a bit too sensitive. I just need to speak at a normal conversation levels rather than "yelling" into the BT which is what I often tend to do. Once connected, the stereo is ready to take calls in any mode. To initiate calls you are supposed to be able to browse your phonebook on the stereo (I haven't loaded mine yet, and might not bother), or you can enter numbers directly, or of course use the phone, which is how I do it.
However, all is not perfect. My major gripe with the HU is also Bluetooth related. The HU can be set to auto connect to the phone, or do it manually. Autoconnect works great, and if you want to listen to the phone right away, it handles everything for you. The problem is that if you are listening to any other source, it goes to Bluetooth mode every time you turn it on as soon as the phone connects, and you need to switch back to your old source. If you shut auto connect off, it stays on the previous source, but to connect you need to switch to BT and go through a menu to select the phone as there is a disconnect button, but no connect button. If you don't connect it, you don't get hands free capabilities if you get a call, so its kind of a no-win. For now I just let it connect (which it does VERY fast) and then switch to another source if I don't want to listen to the phone.
The attatched USB cord is very cool and allows you to connect your ipod up without an adapter (haven't tried it), or plug in your thumb drives and stream music off of them. I plugged a Kingston 4gb micro SDHC chip into a thumbdrive adapter, loaded up some albums, and plugged it into the cord (which I snaked into my glovebox), and it works great. The read speed is almost instantaneous, and it navigates folders easily. Very cool.
The stereo works fine, although as the less than stellar FM sensitivity specs would suggest, it doesn't pick up stations quite as well as the stock stereo, but out on the road its fine. In my basement garage I was able to pick up all the stations I would expect, although 1 came in scratchy until I pulled outside. It does not have RDS or HD radio, which would have been nice, but you can program station titles which in a way is better because you don't end up with your stations named incorrectly the way many RDS receivers do it.
CDs play fine. I haven't tried an MP3 disc yet since I have the phone and USB port, but it does read track titles off my CDA discs... cool.
Overall sound quality is good. I still have stock speakers so I can't say for sure how good. The preset sound schemes didn't please me, but the custom function works well. You can set your low, mid, and high levels, and for each you can select the frequency center and Q ratio (I believe this means how wide your adjustment is). I believe lows can be set at 50, 100, or 200. mids at 500, 1000, or 2000, and highs at 5000, 10000, or 15000. Q settings are .7, 1, 1.4, or 2 for each. I prefer smaller Qs. While it's nowhere near as nice as the 12 band EQ I had in my last vehicle, it does work pretty well. It also has a Bass Expander and BBE processing - but only for CDs and MP3s. I wish you could use BBE on everything.
The display is ok but not as high end as it could be. The color on black screen looks good in some of the colors, but not all. My interior lighting is amber but the amber looks bad on the display, so I set it to Red which I find is easier to read. Ford owners with green illumination would like the green, and blue looks cool but it doesn't match my car. You can customize your color (R0-8, G0-8, B0-8), but most colors are pre programmed. My HU is mounted right at 30 degrees, so I need to crank the contrast to be able to read it at that angle... but it works.
The remote that comes with it does enough, although it wont navigate menus which might be more useful than anything. Warning... when installing make sure you plug the MIC into the correct port. It also fits in the remote port which is the same size. I made that mistake and only figured out the problem after the MIC and IR remote both didn't work. This suggests to me that the IR remote may not function if you hook up a steering wheel adapter... although I can't be sure.
Overall, for $230 + $25 in harness and antenna adapters, this radio is an affordable unit that really does the trick, especially if you want to maintain a stock look. You can get much flashier units in a single DIN, or go with a touch screen DVD player for more money, but to have a radio that looks like it came in the vehicle, but does stuff that most factory radios cant, look no further!

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From its symmetric design with large rotary volume control, to the illumination accented dark color scheme, the 2-DIN CX609 offers dynamic looks that blend into your car interior. And with features like built-in Bluetooth, Direct iPod Control, streaming audio from USB devices, and more, this receiver's a pleasure to use, see and hear.

728 Variable-Color Illumination You're free to select the exact color you want, to match your car's instrument panel or match your mood today.
Built-in Bluetooth For wireless connection with mobile phones, PDAs and MP3 Players. Supports Bluetooth profiles A2DP/AVRCP for audio streaming and HFP/OPP for hands-free operation, so you can easily communicate and transfer digital music to your vehicle's audio system. A wired microphone is also supplied.
CDs and Beyond This receiver will play your CDs and CD-R/RWs, but burn a data CD with your favorite MP3/WMA or iTunes AAC files and the fun begins, with hours of music on a single disc. You can also play the files back from an inserted USB thumb drive. The device will display ID3-TAG info like artist or song name for your added convenience.
AM/FM Radio Sometimes you just want to listen to the radio. Store your favorite radio stations on the 18 FM and six AM presets.
BBE MP (Minimized Polynomial Non-Linear Saturation) By restoring the harmonics that are lost during digital compression of MP3 and WMA audio files, BBE MP reproduces the warmth, details and nuances of sound that you would otherwise miss. Effective for digital audio files and CDs.
Beat EQ with Parametric Equalization In addition to providing 3 preset equalization patterns, BeatEQ even lets you freely customize the level and range of the bass, midrange and treble portions of each pattern with a 3-band parametric equalizer
Direct USB iPod control The USB input on the rear of the CX609 lets you connect your iPod directly without an expensive adapter. Just use your stock iPod cable, and you'll enjoy your favorite iPod tunes, along with complete control and battery charging of your iPod. The unit also supports title display for the tracks playing on your iPod.
SAT Radio Ready Clarion gives you the choice of XM Satellite Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio. Choose either system and you can connect a Satellite Radio receiver with Translator connected via Ce-NET. Enjoy over 150 channels of music, news, talk shows, sports and traffic information with CD quality sound.
Front Panel Auxiliary Input Connect MP3 players or other external audio devices in a snap with the 3.5mm front auxiliary input.
Room to Grow The CX609 gives you a 50W x 4 built-in amplifier to begin with, along with two RCA preamp outputs (F, R/SW) for system expansion.
Remote Control Included Control the action with the included wireless remote.
What's in the Box Clarion CX609, trim ring, wiring harness, remote control, microphone, installation hardware, owner's manual, installation guide.

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Pioneer FH-P8000BT Double-Din In-Dash CD/MP3/WMA/AAC Receiver with Built-In Bluetooth, iPod Control, and Rear USB Input Review

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(More customer reviews)This video shows the basic operation of the unit, since it's hard to explain.
The biggest pro for me is the sound. My stock speakers sounded good with the factory head unit, but they sound like brand new high end speakers with the Pioneer.
A close second is the feature set. The iPod integration is the best that I saw in any unit, and it sure beats the axillary input mod kit that I was running beforehand. The sound from the iPod is great. Also keep in mind that it's a USB input, not just an iPod input. Plug in an external hard drive or thumb drive and you're in buisness, too. The addition of the Bluetooth connectivity was a major selling point, and it delivers a great convenience that I would really miss now that I'm used to it. I can leave my phone out of reach (in the trunk even) and I can still answer it if it rings.
The biggest con is the user interface- it does take a bit to learn the ins and outs, but once you do, very few times is it a bother (the 'pause' option is buried in the function submenu, which is annoying, but since the unit automatically pauses the music for incoming / outgoing calls, it's only a problem in, say, drive thru's).
The pros VASTLY outweigh the cons, and the price is far below what I would expect for a unit with this feature set. That gets this unit a 5 Star rating - iPod, Bluetooth, CD, HD & Satellite Radio ready- there really aren't any features left for you to want!
I purchased it with the wiring harness and the dash kit for my 2005 Mazda3 and it looks quite nice. Check out the video!

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Upgrade your factory two-DIN system with Pioneer's FH-P8000BT. Enjoy hands-free calling or streaming audio with built-in Bluetooth capability, playback of CDs and MP3/WMA/AAC files, direct USB control for your iPod, and plenty more, through a 50W x 4 MOSFET amplifier. Need more? Expand your options by adding HD/SAT radio, or expand your system using the three 4V RCA preamp outputs.


FH-P8000BT Features
Built-in Bluetooth Solution Your calls come in loud & clear with advanced echo cancellation. Setup is easy with simple phone pairing and automatic phonebook transfer.
Simple Phone PairingSimply tilt, turn and push the Rotary Commander to register and use up to three Bluetooth-compatible cell phones.
Transfer All Your Phonebook Information and NumbersUse with Phone Pairing to transfer your entire phonebook at a single time to the headunit, which can memorize up to 3600 different numbers: 400 persons x 3 contacts x 3 phone types (cell phone, home, office, etc.). Compatible Phone with PBAP profile required.
New Echo CancellationAdvanced Echo Cancellation has three levels of adjustment to keep phone calls sounding sufficiently loud and clear.

Note: Not all Bluetooth phones may be compatible, and some features may not be available with all phones.
Bluetooth Wireless Technology for "Wireless Audio" Control and Streaming When you're not utilizing hands-free calling, the FH-P8000BT can use Bluetooth Wireless Technology to feed your appetite for entertainment. Using "wireless audio" control and streaming (AVRCP, A2DP), you can controland listen to a compatible audio player or music phone on your headunit.
Advanced Sound Retriever Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3, WMA and AAC files stored on USB memory device, iPod and portable digital players. By restoring data (especially higher frequencies) that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneer's Advanced Sound Retriever technology enhances audio reproduction nearly all the way up to 20 kHz frequencies.
USB Direct Control for iPod and more Pioneer's FH-P8000BT is ready to roll with capability for direct connection to your iPod . USB 2.0's speed and capability allow an elevated iPod experience in the car, and nearly limitless expandability for portable media players and USB memory devices.
File search and access are extra-quick. The headunit keeps song, artist, time and album information displays very clear and user-friendly, and control is intuitive through the 7-Way Rotary Commander. The system's wired USB connection provides direct digital signal transfer from the iPod for clean, clear sound.In addition, Pioneer has developed the following new features to make using your iPod in the car extremely easy and convenient:
Alphabetical Speed Search When searching for artist/album, you can initiate alphabet search by pressing "List" button.
Link Search While listening to a specific artist you can hold "List" button down and it will pop up folders containing that specific artist.
Passenger Control Mode Allows passenger to use the iPod directly to browse and select music, while connected to the headunit for playback.
Random (Shuffle) Key Physical Random Button on faceplate (Shuffle) makes it easy to hear something fresh.
Full Featured and High Performance The FH-P8000BT is smartly designed to expand your system, customize your experience, provide superior sound quality and easy operation.

Supertuner IIID AM/FM Tuner Pioneer's legendary Supertuner IIID combines the best of digital and analog tuner technologies to reduce distortion to bring you exceptional FM and AM performance. If you live in an area where reception is weak, you'll hear a big improvement in signal strength. And when you're near tall buildings, Supertuner IIID reduces the effect of multi-path noise, which occurs when the signal is reflecting off of the buildings.
MOSFET 50W x4 Amplifier for the Power Hungry Compared to conventional power supplies, the MOSFET amplification circuit is smaller and more efficient, delivering power with less distortion and absolutely zero on/off switching noise. And that doesn't just mean a boost in volume: it means that your music will be cleaner at higher volumes because you're not pushing the limits of the amplification circuit. Clean, efficient power that will rock your vehicle.
For those who'd like a bit more power, three 4V preamp outputs are also included for system expansion (front/rear/sub).
FH-P8000BT Basic Specs

What's in the Box Pioneer FH-P8000BT Receiver, Wiring Harness, Installation Hardware, Owner's Manual

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