AAAAAAA

iTrader: (7)

Same here... very strange. Both in real life in my car, and other times on sounboards. However, you can never tell whats going on behind the scenes on soundboards hehe.

I could always do some quick swaps of my older kenwood deck with my CD700 to find out what is up.

MB

took out a top of the line clarion 935 and replaced it with the denonford .... worlds of a difference

TomK

Hey George...... so you tell me you can't hear the difference between the $349 Rockford 8250ti and anything up to $900 ?!?! [img]graemlins/2xblown.gif[/img]

Mark_ab

What do you attribute to the sonic difference, then? Lack of onboard amplification, copper chasis, preamp, what? Perhaps a combination of all said variables - perhaps each difference is too miniscule on its own to make an audible difference, however combined it can add up. I would dismiss DAC's as an influence. That's the trouble with comparisons between things of this nature - you can't isolate one variable and have the remaining identicle, unfortunately. Thoughts?

WeDgE

People usually hear a difference because they want to...they need to justify the money they spent on the equipment...psychoacoustics afoot...

PerryB

What do you attribute to the sonic difference, then? Lack of onboard amplification, copper chasis, preamp, what? Perhaps a combination of all said variables - perhaps each difference is too miniscule on its own to make an audible difference, however combined it can add up. I would dismiss DAC's as an influence. That's the trouble with comparisons between things of this nature - you can't isolate one variable and have the remaining identicle, unfortunately. Thoughts? </font>[/QUOTE]I don't know what to attribute it too. It can't be copper chassis(the 8053 doesn't have one). It could be a combination of things:

Better components
Better engineering
Better pre outs(maybe the lower impedance?)

I am just speculating since, as you said, we can't isolate any one factor. All I know is what I heard. Given that the clarion was less expensive and would control sirius(without a separate controller), I did really want the clarion to make me happy even though I have been an eclipse fan for many years.

ChinaMan

iTrader: (4)

Hahahahaha!

I think the 8250ti should be considered a $1200 deck though it can be had for $350.

Although most decks under $500 pretty much sound all the same, brands like koss, pyramid, and jensen decks do have a noticeable sound difference - they sound horrible but you still pay $100 for them.

I first had a kenwood 8009 (sounds okay)
then went to a Nak45z (sounded great)
then tried a Panasonic 901U (sounded like crap - compared to Nak but retail is higher than Nak)
then picked up a Sony 910 and actually sounded better than Nak45z
Now have DenRF 8250ti and sounds even better than previous decks with less fuss.

You can go all over the place in terms of sound quality vs. price. A great example is like spending $1000 on a pioneer 9400, but it will not sound better than a Nak CD400 that costs half the price. But the price is all in features... and to some, visual effects and features are all that matters.

But we already know that. [img]smile.gif[/img]

What's my point? Well... I guess... considering the original prices of the decks I've tried at the time they were new (key phrase: retail at the time they were new)

Kenwood 8009 in 1997$500 CDN
Nak45z in 1999 $550 CDN (I think)
Panasonic in 2000 $900 CDN
Sony 910 in 1996 $1300 CDN (I think)
DenRF 8250 in 2002 $1200 USD

There IS a difference in sound quality even though the decks don't fluctuate much in price $500-$1000. And like we all know, no one pays msrp anyhow so the difference could be even less.

lemonlime

I bought a Nakamichi CD400 around 6 months ago, only paid about $300US for it, and it is one of the best sounding decks I have heard. I'm not one for the flashy screens or onboard x-overs and EQs.. that being said, i've been very pleased so far.