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Strengths: Elegant and Clean face, AWESOME customizable OEL Display, Easy Installation, Supports MP3/WMA/CD-RW/etc, Super Control of Sound Output
Weaknesses: 7-Way Rotary Commander, No Steering Wheel adapter
Summary: Well, I have to be honest in that I am not really a CAR PERSON and only recently became obsessed with all things AUTO since I purchased my new Volkswagen Passat. AMAZINGLY SWEET RIDE!!! but the included Premium Monsoon system was lacking SOMETHING, and although it has 8 speakers (4 Tweeter/Woofer) and Amplifier, it lacked UMPH. WHAT A HUGE DIFFERENCE this system made when switched with the STOCK Monsoon Head Unit and I can ONLY say DEFINITELY WORTH the money paid for it, because I did not have to change the speakers AT ALL. The Sound is AWESOME now and installation was a SNAP because CRUTCHFIELD included all the tools and you can easily purchase the Universal Adapters from Circuit City to simply PLUG-n-PLAY. It REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE...
The OEL Display is cool, but even cooler is the ability to DOWNLOAD other screensavers, backgrounds, and other little goodies to PERSONALIZE your Head Unit although I wish I had the FULL COLOR ONE. :( This unit also hides the CD opening behind the faceplate giving you a SIMPLE, ELEGANT face which smoothly opens, and really is NOT as problem since the radio DOES NOT TURN OFF and I was looking for a faceplate with CD opening INTEGRATED. Finally, I cannot stress how many CONTROLS are embedded in this unit which do NOT simply control EQUALIZER but allows you to filter bass levels, reroute output, and even level volume across songs. All of this plus being able to carry CD-RW CDs with hundreds of MP3, WMA, and even AAC files although I reccomend everyone record at least at 256 kbps to truly get the MOST out of the sound capable here.
Now after all the positive points, here comes the only 2 drawbacks that I could find, 1) The much-touted Rotary Commander and 2) The 2 Universal "Future-Proof" plug-ins. Do not get me wrong when I say the face is clean and uncluttered, but there is something NICE about pressing a button to scan for stations, adjusting levels in the equalizer, and simply jumping through menus which is NOT REALLY captured by "scrolling" a button. I find the "scrolling" feature is nice on a MOUSE but not in a car stereo, and I am ALWAYS reaching for the REMOTE CONTROL to actually change or adjust ALL stereo functions simply because the Rotary Commander has to be pressed here, there, and rolled around in a VERTICAL POSITION. Finally, Pioneer touts the fact that this unit comes with 2 plug-ins to "future-proof" your unit against new technology that might come out allowing you to "upgrade" but WHERE ARE THE ADAPTERS FOR STEERING WHEELS?! This is not FUTURE technology but something that exists NOW and one can EASILY purchase the PAC series of adapters but I do not like splicing wires and prefer something that has an adapter which is PLUG-n-PLAY.
In conclusion, this is an AWESOME unit which greatly increases the power and sound of any premium speaker system installed on most cars today, since most stock head units underpower their signal so you will get ALOT OF BANG for LITTLE BUCK. Just keep an eye out for the STEERING WHEEL ADAPTER when it comes out and you will be keeping this HEAD UNIT for future upgrades when you change cars because you will definitely NOT leave it behind.
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