Pioneer Premier DEH-P920R

Price Paid:  $650.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 DEH-P920R

Summary:
This cd deck is great. Its amazing to see the graphics flash on the screen but its even better to listen to. The music is incredibly clear no matter what kind you pop in. Theres also plenty of outputs for multiple amps and speakers. One of the nicest things about this deck though is its graphical interface, which makes configuring the system easily, even for beginners.

Strengths:
Easy interface, great quality, many outputs.

Weaknesses:
Price

Similar Products Used:
Alpine cd decks-My pioneer kills the old alpine I had, the alpine just didnt sound as good.

Price Paid:  $800.00

Summary:
It shuts off all the time, crappy graphics
and way to much money

Strengths:
None what so ever its horrible

Weaknesses:
only 2 screen savers, no rotary volume control

Similar Products Used:
Jensen even beats this product

Price Paid:  $650.00

Summary:
I would reccomend this product to anyone with components, subs, and seperate amps for all those.

Strengths:
All the feattures, power, and most of all the custom eq. Also I like the automatic fold down face.

Weaknesses:
Doesnt play scratched cds at all! Premier should fix it to where it will play any cd, scratched or not, or they should drop that BIG price.

Similar Products Used:
I had a sony before, and my premier is much much better than it was.

Price Paid:  $400.00

Summary:
High quality sound, good ergonomics, good remote, great display, fabulous CD sound quality, doesnt skip, great 13 band EQ and on and on and on....
I'm very happy with this purchase, finally a unit that lives up to its own hype.

Strengths:
13 Band EQ, Nice display, Excellent Remote range, Fantastic CD SQ, CD's dont skip, 6.5V amp hookups, Speaker location adjustment, DSP...and on and on and on.

Weaknesses:
Poor stereo reception, CD's get hot after extended play causing the CD portion of the unit to shut down until the unit reaches a cooler level. Reception doesnt really matter all that much as I listen to the radio very little.

Similar Products Used:
Eclipse, CD's skipped constantley, and wouldnt recognize any of my P.O.D CD's. Alpine. This unit just sounds way better.

Summary:
I definitely recommend this unit. Discriminating listeners are not going to find another head unit that allows such complete control over the ultimate sound quality in their particular car. To do better, one would have to look to expensive high-end add-on's to provide the out-of-the-box control of the 920R. The deck isn't perfect, but it's the closest thing I've found!

Strengths:
1. I purchased this head unit to allow me the maximum amount of flexibility in tweaking the sound quality to match the accoustics of my car. I have not been disappointed. The 920R comes with a mic you plug in which allows it to adjust itself for a flat frequency response as well as matched levels across the front and rear stages plus sub. For discriminating listeners looking for sound quality, the result is nothing short of astounding. After the unit adjusted itself, the only change I made was -1 on one band of the 13-band EQ.

2. This head outputs 6.5 volts to an outboard amp! I am able to adjust the input levels on my amps down to about one third leaving me with an incredibly quiet system.

3. The Organic EL display is very attractive and can be customized to a great degree to look as straightforward or as gimicky as you prefer.

4. Built-in sub crossover eliminates the need and expense of an external one and allows you to make adjustments from the listening position.

Weaknesses:
1. Although there is a brightness adjustment, the display is hard to read in bright light -- like many others. The Mobile ES head this replaced was particularly easy to read in all light conditions so I've had to make an adjustment.

2. Pioneer added rotary knobs on many of its heads but not the 920R. The rotary dial on my Mobile ES deck which this replaced was my favorite thing about it. Going back to volume buttons is a bummer.

3. $780 deck (retail) lacks gold-placed RCA outputs. What's up with that?

4. Strictly a matter of opinion, but why not drop the cheesy soundfields (e.g., "studio", "jazz club", etc.) and use that DSP power to allow a user to configure and save multiple EQ curves. (As is, you can save one per source.)

Similar Products Used:
I previously used a Sony Mobile ES 780 and auditioned the upper end Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood, and Nak heads. None of them offered the extensive sound control available in this Premier deck. My Mobile ES deck worked flawlessly and had A+ ergonomics but to really tweaks the sound quality you had to buy a high end ($1,000) parametric EQ -- which requires a computer to program and STILL doesn't auto-EQ the vehicle's interior.

As an aside, I question the previous reviewer(s) who indicate that the sound quality of the 920R is about the same as less expensive models. They definitely fail to take into account the superior tools available only in the 920R (or 1R) which allow you the flexibility to tweak the sound to get the most out of your installation. On the other hand, if all this tweaking doesn't sound worthwhile you might be better off buying a cheaper head and a bigger subwoofer.