Pioneer DEH-P5200

Price Paid:  $175.00 from Ebay

Year / Model Reviewed:
2002 pioneer deh-p5200

Strengths:
Great product, no problems with it at all. It has so many features that other companies just don't offer for the price range.

Weaknesses:
buttons a little small and kinda hard to get used to but once you do you have tons of stuff you can tinker with to make you music sound it's best.

Summary:
One of the best radios that i have bought i got lucky and got the radio and changer in new condition for 175.00 on ebay. What a deal the radio itself was worth more then that. On the scale of 1-10 i would rate this atleast a strong 8 it's gots lots of options powerfull mosfet amp built in and you can tweak your music however you would like. It also has a built in alarm but can't get that to work but i haven't tried much. Get this radio you won't go wrong

Similar Products Used:
Sony Cdxm600, sony cdx4750, cdx5750, pioneer deh-p3400

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Sears

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Pioneer DEH-5200

Strengths:
Powerful, LOTS of features, Affordable, Flip down face prevents condensation from messing up play in the morning. (Had problem from a pioneer without the flip face.

Weaknesses:
Pain in the A$$ to set back up if your battery is disconnected. DFS alarm stupid but that doesn't matter

Summary:
This is a great command center for any high end stereo system. It has more sound shaping features than any other deck I've seen. My system eats many others for breakfast. Definitly a great buy!

Similar Products Used:
Cheaper Pioneer, bottom feeding Kenwood

Price Paid:  $250.00 from best buy

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2000 deh-p5200

Weaknesses:
CANT SET THE TIME AT ALL

Summary:
GOOD VERY GOOD

Price Paid:  $0.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 '00 Rodeo

Strengths:
High power, (EEQ) equalizer, built-in crossovers, AUX input, CHEAP on eBay, DFS Alarm (...has it)

Weaknesses:
non-dot-matrix alphanumeric display, smallish icons on display difficult to read, rotary volume control w/ very slow stepping, no remote control (good for tweaking), DFS Alarm (...gimmicky), unintuitive/difficult menu system to navigate

Summary:
This is my first Pioneer reciever, and I am pleasantly impressed. I was fortunate enough to have my car come with this unit installed by the former owner; especially, because I left my Clarion head unit in my previous car for the next guy to have. My gut instinct told me to let the Clarion go and give the Pioneer a try...... I'm glad I did. The Pioneer is an extremely versatile unit; AUX input, built-in crossovers, EEQ equalizer, and high power make it a jack of all trades. This unit can make just about any configuration sound it's best.... before I installed my subwoofer, I had it powering the fronts and rears; with the high-pass filter set to 50Hz your full-range speakers aren't being asked to do more than they're capable of, and thus the internal amp is working more efficiently >>>> louder and cleaner sound. Pioneer then adds many more features to make your internally amped setup sound good, i.e. Front Image Enhancer (nice if you've got 6x9s or 6 1/2 inchers in the back) and optional subwoofer-output-through-rear-outputs. This latter feature I did not try on my 2-ohm JL Audio 10w3, but it would probably have enough power for a single 4-ohm 8" (or 10"???) sub, if you were so inclined. After installing my USX-600D sub amp and 10w3, I now see the full beauty of the Pioneer. This unit controls all of my crossovers and sub parameters. I was able to forego a multichannel amp for the mid/high ranges because the internal amp has great power.... enough for me at least. It'll blow away many much more sophisticated systems I've seen! I would recommend this head unit to just about anyone. In any case it makes an awesome replacement to the factory stereo. Adding an amp only makes it sound better. If you want competition-grade, I would look at something else. My old Clarion beats the Pioneer in quality.... higher voltage outputs, zero-bit mute, and nicer/sturdier faceplate & mechanism, but it can't compare to the versatility and features of the DEH-P5200, which to me is more important if I'm not spending $5000+ on a system. Aside from the minor gripes below, it's near-perfect!

Similar Products Used:
Sony cass.(old/P.O.S.), Kenwood CD(OK....sufficed), Clarion CD(good quality...needed more features)

Price Paid:  $375.00 from Best Buy

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1998

Strengths:
The strenghs were that it didnt skip very much, still played over bumpy areas. It allows you to adjust the EQ to give better sound or more power. The style and look to it wont date out. Installing it was simple and easy and it even has a RCA Bass output seperate from the L and R channels. Comes with an imput for a CD changer which is nice. Very durable.

Weaknesses:
Didnt find any weakness for the 2 years I''ve had it.

Summary:
This cd deck has been one of the best I''ve used. Knowing and selling so many different stereos most are returned but this one I rarely see come back returned. The sound and built in EQ''s to adjust to drivers taste of sound brings better quality to audio component. Adding a amplifer helps but even without one, it still gives it a good sound and you could have the cheapest spakers and yet it still gives you full range sound inside. I bought 25 dollar speakers and with any other stereo they pulsated and popped. With this deck I was able to adjust and fix to prevent the popping or even from blowing out. This stereo is still in style and has last me a long time and gone through a lot and yet every person who''s stepped in my car says, "WOW" nice deck!!!! I recommend this and all other pioneer decks over Sony, JVC, Jenson.....there are some brand names that works for other systems like home and office, but Pioneer rules over car audio!!!