That HU is like one of my dreams. I tested it at our local car audio store and it is crazy. But i'm content with my cd3000. Eclipse is such AMAZING quality.

 

I just double checked my wiring and the antenna adaptor was loose so that is why the reception was poor. Please disregard my concerns on the tuners sensitivity and selectivity, it is much better on AM and FM then the stock Ford unit (stock units are usually quite good at radio reception).

Now the SQ of the radio was the other question I had, but it is fine the reason for the concern is that the EQ of the radio is quite different than the CD. The radio stations tend to EQ their signals to make the music they play more appealing. So now I have to EQ for the radio or the CD... I wonder if this sucker has EQ presets like some Alpine units?

 

So with the antenna properly fixed, you find FM performance at least decent? Radio quality is very important as I spend a lot of time on it compared to CD. That's reassuring to know that.

Hmm, I find Alpine 6 presets useful but not sufficient. Perhaps 12 would be better. Then I can Eq for all my favourite FM stations?

For Eq of radio stations, I don't think Eq can make up for poor broadcast equipment. Some stations sounds compressed.

 

I live in a metro area so there are lots of stations, but even the ones that usually come in crappy are doing well, I will try to tune some FM stations 80 miles away and if it doesn't perform I will post to that effect. I am not singling out this HU as a super dooper HU with super human SQ properties, I just find it's performance exceeds its price point, I would check out the upper range Pioneers as well since they are less expensive. The other natural competition is the Clarion and Alpine both of which are quite good as well. I think we are in a equipment Renaissance at the moment with lots of very good stuff for not a lot of money, this is the up side to a down market.

Also the Eclipse doesn't skip when hitting pot holes or during SPL burping

 

Just curious, here in town, we have a station that is quite powerfull, how does this unit deal with nearby strong stations overloading it.

 

Get SIRIUS - no AM/FM issues then Had mine for like 5 years I think now.. Love it

 

Long distance FM listening is average on this deck, AM is better, the tuner is not its best feature.
No signal rejection issues so the stronger signals dont really over power the nearby signals

 

I dont have experience with this model. I currently have 8445. I like it, but it does do weird things on its own sometimes. Dont want to get into it right now. Before that I had a lower model from same year, which went all haywire on me electronically. Cant say I had a good run with Eclipse reliability. Me and my friends have gone through many brands, and the only ones I would recommend these days are Alpine or Pioneer. 7100 looks beautiful though.