smakdown

I thinking about replacing my alpine 3-disc in dash cd player with something a little newer. I want something that plays mp3s but beyond that, what should I be looking for? As far as what I listen to, mostly CDs, radio occasionally. I want something with superior sound for CDs but what spec is that? Recommendation for a HU are welcome too. Thanks

VRGNCD5

I can't tell you what you should look for since you taste,wants and needs are likely different than mine. These are things I look for in a head unit: Looks-the unit has to be attractive, I like a deck that does't have an overload of buttons, keep it simple stupid is my theory. When I was shopping for my current deck, I had to have one that had 3 sets of rca's for system flexability. I wanted a fullscreen fold down detachable face. Other cool features are adjustable crossovers, eq, bbs processing, sub phase control, angle adjustable face, remote, and Sirius satellite radio ready. Knowing your needs is a must when deck shopping.

xivera

When browsing/comparing decks, I look at:
1) specifications [ie. DAC specs, S/N ratio, pre-amp output voltage, FM sensitivity, output power (RMS), etc... ]
2) my personally desired features of a deck [like sound shaping, etc...]

This should help... a little. Crutchfield has pretty good primer info for consumers like you, smakdown.

I agree... as well as budget.

moofoo

I agree with both of you guys.

SQ is a must when buying a nice deck. It all depends on the shopper and his/her budget. For best SQ and a very high budget I would recommend the higher line Alpines. But trying to get mp3 playback to sound as good if not better than CDs.. dont even think about it.

Decks that I consider very very good in terms of SQ and overall worth their prices... some older models can be had as very decent prices on ebay and such.

Alpine:
7998
7909
7990

Clarion:
HX-D10
9675
7770
ADCS-1
9255

Denon:
DCT950R
DCT970
DCT1000
R1
Z1

Eclipse:
ECD415
ECD510
5302

McIntosh:
MX406

Nakamichi:
CD45Z
MB100
CD700

Premier:
P900R-P940R
ODR Setup
P9 Combo

Sony:
Original XES Setup
C910
C90

smakdown

What about a pioneer p7400mp or premier p740mp? Are those good units? whats the difference between the two??

VRGNCD5

I'm not too sure, do a search and check out the specs for em, that's what I'd do.