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  #1  
Unread 03-27-2004, 12:21 AM
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The following is a true story. Clarion is not paying me off in any way and I paid full price for my Clarion player.

I have installed, used and tried many car cd players in my time. I've used top end Alpine, Sony, Eclipse, Phillips, Pioneer and Rockford Fosgate players and have come to the conclusion that Clarion CD/MP3 head units are the best of the best. Recently my Sony MP70 players face panel display failed for the SECOND time and I can't take it anymore.

I was lost in my mission on what to buy until Dr. Nick reminded me that the Clarions of the past including his, have performed consistently with great sound and AWESOME reliability. Reliability is key for me since I submit my car audio equipment to rigorous poundings from off-road romping.

I did a LOT of research on all of the MP3 players to make sure that I could get the most for my money. The Clarion Clarion DXZ745MP came out on top with its mutli-line display, excellent remote control, sleek BLACK face trim that allows it to blend right in with the rest of any car dash. Plus the reviews for the MP3 file reading system were excellent which is important to me because I have tens of thousands of songs. On top of this the unit is compatible with TV's, DVD players, EQ's, satellite radio and much much more. You can't beat the features that come with this player. They can be found for $299 which I think is a steal considering the features and quality of the unit!

The Clarion DXZ745MP comes LOADED with all sorts of features that I will probably never use but I know they are there if I need them. You can control all aspects of the sound quality including Hi and Lo pass adjustability and subwoofer line level control. The RCA voltage output is 4V and is the clearest signal I have ever heard out of a car stereo. This clean signal alone solved a mystery hiss noise that could be heard from my Sony even with the volume turned all the way down. The color display can also be adjusted to upwards of 728 colors so you KNOW you can match your interior lights!! I have never been able to get an exact match for my lights in any car until this unit. The display is amazing and can be read no matter how light or dark it might be. Click here to see a few of the preset colors that I use. My Eclipse DSP (Digital Sound Processor) is the thing that you see underneath the Clarion. h34r:

This Clarion DXZ745MP CD/MP3 system player has solved ALLLL of my problems if you read them below and some that I didn't even know were the fault of the Sony deck. I can go on about what I have planned for it and how it can be the center peice of a car audio entertainment system but this write up is a little long as is. I am just glad I discovered this work of art and I hope this advise helps out someone who might be a little lost in the world of over-priced, disco ball light, poorly engineered car stereos! If anyone has any questions I would be happy to reply.

And the BEST feature that I didn't realize this car stereo had? All of the station presets and programmed buttons are saved when the stereo is disconnected from the cars power!!! The PAUSE button is way better than a mute or "attn" button.

The worst thing about the Clarion? The forward and back seek buttons under the volume knob are really small and I would prefer them to be larger and easier to press. You get used to them though.

The Sony CDX-MP70 is a great CD player except for:

1. The annoyingly BRIGHT display that only uses strange colors that won't match your interior
2.WEAK remote that uses expensive batteries very fast
3. It lacks the ability to navigate through MP3 folders from the units face plate (remote only)
4. It is made of silver plastic which will stand out like a sore thumb in your dash
5. It won't save your memory presets, radio stations or track titles when you have to disconnect the battery
6. The motorized tray that slides out when the motorized face slides down gets annoying because you must firmly press the cd's down to snap them on the spindle.
7. The contrast is difficult to adjust so that it's usable in day and night situations
8. The removable faceplate is REALLY hard to put back on
9. The RCA inputs are solid female jacks on the back which force you to stick the RCA cable directly on the back of the unit which hinders the installation in shallow dash board radio dins
10. The faceplate display broke rendering the remote and all the visual readouts useless. And I wasn't even driving offroad or driving hard when it went out.

What it did do perfectly was play without skipping and it could read scratched cd's better than any other deck.

Instead of sending in the deck for repair, waiting a month and paying over $100 for it to break again I decided now was the time to find a replacement. If the Sony was still working I would not be writing this as the MP70 plays cd's PERFECTLY which is all I really cared about. I didn't know it could get any better than the Sony's speedy MP3 file reading and playing capability, that is, until I got my new Clarion.

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Unread 04-01-2004, 11:24 AM
digglah digglah is offline
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Lets see some daytime pics!
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Unread 01-18-2007, 10:54 PM
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So here is my new favorite CD/MP3 player. My friend just put on in his Evo 8. It has bluetooth to your phone... shows caller ID on the display and turns down the music when the phone rings. The display is pretty sweet looking and it has a built in DSP, digital sound processor. It does a lot basically.



I would buy one on the spot but the engine swap is basically soaking up a ton of money and the next $400 that goes into my stereo is going to buy me a Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.2 processor. Here is the page for it http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...s.asp?cat_id=1

Yeah it looks expensive but DAMN it does a LOT. This will be taking over the duties of my two Audio Control EQ's AND my Fosgate crossover. That's a lot of processing in such a small package. It does many other things that get pretty technical... and it does them well.
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