Accessories

Pioneer killed the game
This is my first time writing a review on Amazon. I don't normally do reviews, but after three days (and one call to customer support) of trying to configure this thing I must say that it is an absolute blast to play in my car. I have a system composed of a Rockford Amp and Sony XPlod speakers. I am a mid level car audio enthusiast. After figuring out how to correctly ground the head unit (isolated ground is a must!) set the loudness, source level gain, equalizer, subwoofer crossover, subwoofer center frequency, pre-out setting, as well as the center frequencies and gain for all of my other speakers...I was blown away with how good this head unit sounded when properly tuned. There is absolutely NO distortion in ANY of the speakers all the way up to the max "62" volume level setting (I have aftermarket speakers). The only complaint that I have is that burned cds don't have as high of audio quality on this system. It makes me want to go out and purchase my favorite burned cds just to see how they would sound on this monstrous system. I believe with this newest generation Pioneer is definitely giving Alpine a run for it's money. All of these features in a $100 head unit was unimaginable just a couple of years ago, but now it's all here.
Other head units I have owned are Alpine, Clarion, Panasonic.
I would say that the Alpine comes closest, but is it really worth the extra money? no.
The menu settings can be a little tricky as people here have noted, but its easy to learn. Plus the sound quality justifies the complex menu system.

Very pleased with this great stereo
I have had this for about two months and could not be happier. The stereo is very easy to use, sounds great, and looks great.

I got this to replace a Sony that went bad about two days after the one-year warranty expired. So with this, I purchased (at Circuit City) the extended 4-year warranty for $30 for peace of mind. So of course, my opinion of this could change drastically if it goes bad, but Pioneer is a well respected brand so - fingers crossed - that won't happen.

I noticed some of the other reviewers complain about the user interface. Are they using the same stereo that I am?? I think the joystick is a great idea, the menus are all easy to work through, stations are easy to flip through. I love it. By the way, I always play MP3-CD's. It also has a connection to plug an mp3 player but I have not tried that feature.

Awesome Head Unit
Totally awesome head unit. It is iPod compatible and I can control the iPod from the head unit controls and it charges the battery on the iPod too. Also displays the name of the songs on the head unit display........

Good, but could be better.
Pioneer always has really great, high-end products. I was only slightly disappointed with this one. Whoever they have in their usability/user interface department, they need to fire them. The controls on this deck are absolutely counter-intuitive. I consider myself pretty much a gadget geek and computer nerd, so I'm usually able to figure out how to use things without reading the manual. However, I had to read the manual to figure out how to use it, which generally means it hasn't been designed very well. It's very difficult to navigate through the menus of the deck.

I would say whoever wrote their user manual should also be fired, since it's extremely confusing and hard to read. I still don't know how to change the clock on it.

Overall, it's a great upgrade. I miss my stock Honda one, but some of the buttons didn't work. Once you get the Pioneer deck installed, I suggest just using the included remote, as it's much easier.

Egronomic Nightmare
I had a previous pioneer cd player for 10 years and it was great so I decided to upgrade to this one.
HOWEVER THE JOYSTICK CONTROLLER ON THIS ONE IS A TOTAL PIECE OF GARBAGE. THE USER MANUAL IS INCOMPLETE AND WAY TO OPERATE THIS IS CONFUSING AT BEST. SPENT THE LAST TWO HOURS TRYING TO PROGRAM THE CLOCK. I PLAN ON RETURNING THIS AND NEVER BUYING ANY PIONEER PRODUCTS AGAIN (AND WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW NOT TO BUY THIS GARBAGE).