Is this headunit a good buy?

[forza2.0]

Planning on coupling this headunit with some upgraded components and a active sub woofer. Will it do the job or are there better head units to spend £200's on?

# This package consists of the following products:
# Panasonic CQ-C7703N CD/MP3 Tuner and
# Panasonic CA-DC300N iPod adaptor

# CQ-C7703N specification
# 4 x 70Watts CD/MP3 RDS tuner
# Plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RW discs (including discs loaded with your MP3 and WMA music files)
# Digital High-Power Amp
# SRS WOW
# SQ7 (7-Band Sound Quality)
# 3 x 2.5 V / 200 Ohms Preamp-Out (Front, Rear, Subwoofer)
# Adjustable HPF and LPF (Crossover)
# SBC-SW (Super Bass Controlled Subwoofer)
# 18 FM and 6 AM Presets
# WMA/MP3 Playback from CD-R/RW Discs
# DVD/CD Changer Control
# Variable LCD & Button illumination
# Customisable 3DDM (3D Dot Matrix) Display
# Ready for iPod (optional interface included with this package)
# Bluetooth Hands-free Phone System Ready (optional interface required)
# Spectrum Analyser
# Motorised and Removable Full Front Panel
# Day & Night Design
# Auxillary input ofr IPOD, MP3 etc
# Wireless remote control included

# Panasonic iPOD adaptor
# One end of the interface plugs into the base of the Ipod and the other end plugs into the rear of the Panasonic headunit via the CD changer port giving you track up/down, full CD text (if the original stereo supports CD TEXT) and charging of the Ipod

 

[Joey D]

I have a Panasonic headunit with similar specs and I am very happy with it. The sound it delivers to my speakers is very good and it has some pretty neat features, although not as many as the one you are looking at. I say go for it since it looks like the newer model to mine.

 

[Azuremen]

Hmm, seems a bit spendy for what you get. I would say look at some of the Pioneer units, they tend to offer superb quality at good prices.

For example, this right here. It lacks the fancy display, but from what I see, does or out does everything else. Yes, its only 50 watts peak per channel, but they list the RMS at 22 watts, which is more than adequate. Panasonic manages to leave out critical details I feel.

Then there are the higher end Pioneer models, such as this.

I do think you could find a better deck for the money, considering it has AAC support, bluetooth expandable, along with other features. For less than 200 pounds.

So flick through what they have to offer... my family has been using Pioneer decks forever. Then one my Corolla has gone through 2 cars and 4 years of dirt roads and it still works fine. Haven't had to clean the laser (though I did need to clean the contacts for the face to unit connection, 4 second task)

 

[Joey D]

Those Pioneer units are very un-user friendly in my opinion. A buddy of mine has that style in his truck and he can't stand using it. The main knob does way to much.

 

[Garak]

Hmm, seems a bit spendy for what you get. I would say look at some of the Pioneer units, they tend to offer superb quality at good prices.

Sound advice. A few years back, I had a Panasonic unit. I didn't mind the ergonomics, which some people would disagree with. I drive an older Ford truck with plenty of road and wind noise, so I wasn't too concerned about the quality.

One day, the only time I have ever left my vehicle unlocked in twenty years, my face got stolen! I was only out of the vehicle for twenty minutes! Oh well. The face was rather expensive to replace, since the model was a couple years old already. I went back to Pioneer, which I've used almost exclusively for years. I picked up one of the Premier series. Since that was over a year ago, of course it's no longer on the site. I was rather impressed with the sound, which seemed much fuller than my previous Panasonic. My installer, who's done my work for over a decade, was surprised I had the Panasonic in the first place, since I tend to buy "higher end" stuff.

I don't know how the newest Panasonic stuff sounds compared to the newest Pioneer. I do know I like my Premier better. I also like the Pioneer remote better. The Panasonic remote was far more functional, but there were way too many buttons on there. I want to do basic things without taking my eyes off the road, and that is much easier with the Pioneer remote.

Another consideration I have, which may apply to some others is the display. I insisted upon a simple LED type display. In my jurisdiction, the organic displays will get you into a heap of trouble if you get pulled over by the wrong police officer. Under the laws in this jurisdiction, most organic displays are considered the same as a television, and you will be ticketed for having a video display visible to the driver and will have your registration yanked until you undergo an inspection to prove that the unit has been removed. Besides, most of those things are way too annoying at night!