radiodxrichmond said:
The stock Mitsubishi-made radio in my 1995 Volvo has goon kaput. Found a good deal with my local people here at Crutchfield for install kit and head unit for around $140
In my old cars I have had a Supertuner IIID Pioneer which was excellent, a Kenwood deck which was...meh...and a OK Sony deck.
I heard Pioneer has switched their type of tuner to get the HD components in there? Will I be disappointed? Mind you, my previous set up was a 18 year old head unit on a built-in window antenna...
Really, all I want is the ability to pick up a good analog signal. If I can reliably get HD2's from DC or Richmond, that's just a side bonus.
Radio-X
(PS: It was either this or the Middle East-market Sony head unit with SW!)
Their current incarnation of Supertuner 3D has restored the AM sensitivity that used to be lacking. I looked up the specs - it should have the same RF that my 9400 has - although I would advise you to look up the owner's manual on Crutchfield and read it carefully before you buy. I also need to warn you - the new manuals on these Pioneers are not as good in the installation instructions. They have the standard colors for speakers - white, gray, green, and violet (I forget which is which, but it is standardized). Power connections get a little complicated - ground is best done directly to chassis and not through the harnass, but that will work. Also be careful about the antenna connectors - there are two or more sizes now. The best thing would be to go through Crutchfield and get the professionally made harnass, installation kit, and instructions for your car. I've done this a while, a few extra dollars and waiting a day or two for the order is well worth it, especially if you haven't done this in a while (or at all). That really goes for every model.
Pioneer Supertuner 3D's lost their good AM sections a few years ago - they are back now, the 5500 MAY have good AM. But it is less expensive for a reason - be careful! I know the 9400 pulls out 1700 from Brownsville, a good 300 miles away, in the daytime. All the 50kW monsters within 300 miles are almost locals, most of the lower band 5 kW regionals up to 300 miles away are very clear. Since 1700 is of no further interest to me, I've reset the pushbutton to a 500W station about 80 miles away, it punches through very well even though it is first adjacent to a local. Kind of weak, but the ONLY station on AM I am interested in, other than those I'd have to null locals to get, something I can't do in a car.
A lot has been said about the FM performance of the Supertuner 3D, from Houston an Austin station is receivable - with some dropouts. It is next to a semi-local station. Bottom line is that it is a DX monster. You travel a lot like me it will hold stations longer than anything else by a large margin. Which comes in handy for HD, because HD is so problematic. Of course I have a no-compromise 31 inch whip on my car, which helps considerably. I still get drop outs on HD from full class C, 100kW stations, on 2000 foot towers, with the towers visible, no obstructions - less than 20 miles away. Lock comes right back, but since I was listening to HD-2, it is an annoying 5 seconds of dead silence. That is the reality of HD radio, it just isn't robust, even on a radio that picks up stations 150 miles away with no problems, strong enough I put them on presets. So "disappointment" is a relative term, you want no dropouts, keep the radio on analog broadcasts (or HD-1 which at least defaults back to analog). The problem is HD, not Pioneer, the antenna, or the car.
