I'm thinking of replacing my Eclipse 8443 with a Pioneer Z2 but, I am concerned about sound quality. Currently I am running an active 3 way with the Eclipse and it sounds pretty good, not perfect but pretty good. If I go to the Pioneer I will add an Alpine H701 and run 4-way active and add a mid-range driver.
Which setup do you thing will produce the best sound quality?
I dont know if you can personally tell the difference, as people's ears are different, but i could tell the difference from switching between Sony, Alpine, Eclipse, Denford, etc Im sorry but there is not right real answer to your questions, it really depends on you
Wow very bold statement.....every hear of Pioneer ODR???
I've heard and read a couple of sites where persons have added optical pre-outs to a HU that is manufactured without them. Does anyone know if this is possible with the Z2? Is there another tip that I can use to achieve good SQ from this setup?
Going digital does not necessarily mean better sound quality. Going digital is just to eliminate possible noise issues. If you are referring to sound quality, i personally think the D/A section is the most important thing to consider as well as the quality of components and design that is implemented
But if you're outputting optical to your H701 or whatever, you're bypassing the D/A, right? Isn't that the point?
You kinda contradict yourself--if you're going "digital", you're doing it to move to a better D/A section, right? So it's not just for the noise rejection, in real-world implementation. Please correct me if I am misunderstanding.
Yes but that doesnt apply to his case of using the Pioneer Z2 Also consider the transport being used...going digital into a processor instead of using the DAC in the HU itself is a different thing IMO.
You have to have compatible components to go into the digital realm and convert back to analog...its not something to can just simply plug in or modify an HU and now you have digital
Hehe, Ok, I was suprised to find that the Z2 has an optical output. It looks like it it designed only to go to their processor. Does anyone know of anyone who has adapted the Z2 to use a third party processor like the H701?
i have installed a pioneer z1 into a zapco dac and it sounded quite nice...not cheap and you loose volume control on the pioneer piece and no radio unless you swtich from digital to analog input etc but...it sounded real good IMO
you can get the z1/z2 to sound decent if you are using its on board dac, bit it has its limites, i ran a z1 myself in my own car for two years, it sounded okay, though the install itself i wouldnt say is the most SQ intensive...so i cant just point a finger at the headunit.
i have installed a bunch of cars where equipmenbt is the same but just the headunit is different, and usually, with the z1/z2 installs, i add at least a line driver, and i can say that for the normal kind of decent every day sounidng installs, i dont think the HU makes a difference, i think once you get into really demanding SQ installations, you prolly dont want to use the Z1/Z2 as your source unit.
i have installed a pioneer z1 into a zapco dac and it sounded quite nice...not cheap and you loose volume control on the pioneer piece and no radio unless you swtich from digital to analog input etc but...it sounded real good IMO
you can get the z1/z2 to sound decent if you are using its on board dac, bit it has its limites, i ran a z1 myself in my own car for two years, it sounded okay, though the install itself i wouldnt say is the most SQ intensive...so i cant just point a finger at the headunit.
i have installed a bunch of cars where equipmenbt is the same but just the headunit is different, and usually, with the z1/z2 installs, i add at least a line driver, and i can say that for the normal kind of decent every day sounidng installs, i dont think the HU makes a difference, i think once you get into really demanding SQ installations, you prolly dont want to use the Z1/Z2 as your source unit.
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I agree with that for sure. The Z2 is not an ideal SQ-oriented HU, but it will do fine for every day listening and can sound good with other equipment added. I have installed several Z1/Z2 based setups and they do pretty well. Not super functional in terms of tuning, but for 90% of people, they sound great. There are obviously lots of other options when doing a SQ setup if you want more processing capabilities, etc. The 701 combo is pretty nice, as are the 880/800PRS, 9255, Alpine 7998/9887/9835/F#1, etc, so on and so forth.
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