Big sound for small price
Written: Mar 24 '02
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Pros: great sound, good price, preset functions
Cons: tuner
The Bottom Line: It has a great sound for the price.
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| pgtech's Full Review: Pioneer DEH-P4300 Car CD Player |
It’s easy to overlook the Pioneer DEH-P4300 CD Player in a sea of flashy “Nintendo-like” players. It has a relatively simple face but under the hood it has what it takes.
I looked at other Players. I visited my local super electronics store, and I listened to the Blaupunkt Heidelberg and the Sony CDX-M610. Both units had impressive displays, as well as others; they look like miniature Las Vegas billboards. The Blaupunkt has its majestic blue LCD and the Sony has the flashy red one. I glanced at the Pioneer players but they looked unimpressive.
After that I decided to search on the web for a Player. I went through a list of CD Players that would fit my car on SoundDomain.com. The Pioneer was on the list and what caught my attention was the features list. It rivaled the expensive players like the Blaupunkt and Sony Players.
My two favorite features are the Easy Equalizer settings (EEQ) and the Sound Focus Equalizer (SFEQ). EEQ are preset equalizer settings. There are seven of them (Powerful, Natural, Vocal, SuperBass, EQ Flat, Custom1, and Custom2).
The SFEQ has four settings. It shifts the mix levels of the Bass and Treble between the front and rear speakers. These features easily change the emphasis of the music. They make it a real breeze to change the equalizer settings. A single button toggles through the sound schemes, while another shifts the Bass. Two buttons control the quality of sound on the fly. I love it.
I read the Pioneer reviews concerning the weak signal from the SuperTuner III and too much noise at high volume levels. I have to say they’re true. The radio tuner is the weak link of the Pioneer. I wouldn’t say it has horrible reception but it’s not a robust tuner. If you live in an area that has weak radio transmissions and radio is important to you, then I would consider another Player. For me, listening to the radio is only important during the morning commute, and to date, I have not had any problems with reception on route to work. However, I have lost FM quality reception in certain parts of town. It doesn’t bother me; I just switch to another station or better yet, pop in a CD.
As far as the noise when the volume is raised, I won’t say I don’t hear some noise but by the time that is happening my eardrums are pounding like African drums in a Tarzan movie. The volume level is approaching that pleasure/pain threshold. I have a 150w amp in a small sports car, Porsche 944, so I don’t need, or want, to turn the volume too high.
Therefore it’s difficult for me to say whether it’s the Pioneer not producing noise-free music at high volume/low frequencies or my speakers just can’t handle it. However, so far, I’m very pleased with the level of sound quality. Snoop Dogg pounds my speakers just as well as Mariah tickles them. My real “beef”, in the beginning, was the unit’s removable faceplate.
The removable faceplate is not easy to remove. I did as the manual instructed but every time I removed it I expected little pieces of plastic to come flying out as the unit snapped off. Recently though I found a better method of removing it. The faceplate pivots down on two hinge pins at the bottom of each side. What I do to remove it is lower the face, grip the right side, as the manual instructs, but instead of pulling towards myself to release, I slide it left until the right-side pin is cleared. It gently comes off with no alarming snapping sounds. If I had to complain now, it’s related to the tuner, but it’s a minor gripe.
My recommendation is favorable. The Pioneer is one of the best car stereos I’ve owned, and I didn’t break the bank doing it. I paid $180 with shipping. On top of that, the stereo shop that installed it did it within an hour. They didn’t have to struggle or use custom harnesses, so my cost was minimal. I was happy. So, bottom line, if you don’t want to spend $400 on a CD Player but want to have a unit that sounds like one, the Pioneer DEH-P4300 is a winner.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 180
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Epinions.com ID:
pgtech
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Member: peter gonzalez
Location: San Diego, CA
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Provide Computer Service & Support in San Diego area.
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