what is the best deck under $500
 

looking for a decent deck with good pre out volts and a good equalizer and preferably a dsp in it....
please advice me guys... i was looking at some pioneer decks. is it true that they are one of the best ?
thanks

Eclipse, non clipping 5 volt preouts at 55 ohm. Pioneer Premiere are also a good bet as well.

I when i shop i shop pioneer or jvc in my opinion the best 2 on the market
alpine seems to be getting over pricy
kenwood i hate them worst radio i ever owned
sony was the second worse

I like Alpine best, but I've enjoyed Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood and even Sony. Under 500.00, there is lots to choose from...start shopping! All you will get is personal opinions on any site, which I've found over the years to be fairly useless with anything as subjective as sound quality or even features. Anyway, happy hunting....v

I love my pioneer premiere 860mp. Looks nice, easy controls, tons of features, and uber reliable. Any high level pioneer premiere, alpine, or eclipse are usually good bets.

I like the p860mp, but i dont know which one to pick between the p860mp, p8mp and the p680mp...
I mean, the difference between the lower end deck and the higher end ones is that the higher end decks have a higher volt output (6.5) over the lower end one which is (4.0V) and the P860mp has dsp. I dunno if the higher voltage and the dsp is worth $135 ???
thats my prob for now lol...

Kenwood's Excelon units have 5 volt @ 100ohms, wolfson DACs and a removable face to keep the junkies at bay.

The higher preout voltage on the 860 is awesome. The sound quality imo is wicked, and the 13 band equalizer is a nice touch over the lower end stuff. Also gives you an option to go with a 3 way setup rather than front rear and woofer traditional setup. Tons of bells and whistles, and if you think you might ever upgrade, you'll thank me later.