Loud!
We should start with the caveat that it's incredibly difficult to rank these units and it's almost unfair to each to compare them to another. Some of the products were made in different times, some are made to work as part of a system—especially in that case how do you put these products in any kind of order?—and they have different price points plus various levels of complexity to boot. Our top ten list is definitely not meant to be hierarchical. We'll let you decide. Go to our Forums page (SQ Geek) where you will see a longer list of source units and cast your vote. Or add to the list. We'll compile the numbers and present the enthusiasts' pick for best SQ source units later this year.
1. Alpine 7909
Introduced in 1989, Alpine's 7909 is still a sought after radio by audio enthusiasts. When you're talking about this CD player, we thought who better to ask than SpeakerWorks' Eric Holdaway who used one in his legendary Buick Grand National. He had this to say: "It was easy to use, good looking and sounded great. It was the first unit I knew of that used Dual DACs, 18x oversampling and had an 18-bit processor instead of the regular 16 that all other CD players used. The AM/FM tuner was the very best tuner I have ever used. I wish Alpine would go back to that tuner!!! Looking back at a 7909, it is kind of funny that the unit was a pullout… Big ol' handle hanging off the face—man was I glad they had a lock in kit for those!!!"
2. Pioneer DEX-P99RS
With sound quality increasingly taking a back seat to other aspects of car audio and electronics, it's nice to see a company like Pioneer continuing to maintain a high standard for audio playback. We recently evaluated their new top of the line CD player. Read Howie Liwanag's review here.
3. Alpine DVI-9990 (plus PXI-H990 Multimedia Manager)
In some people's opinion, the most sophisticated source unit and processor ever made. The first-ever DVD-Audio system designed for in-car use, and the first to fully and properly implement digital signal processing entirely in the digital domain, without any unnecessary D/A and A/D conversions along the signal path. Also the first to implement auto-tuning and automatic road EQ-ing in real time. Ask any Alpine fan and they say that it remains the ultimate mobile audio source unit and processor system, not soon to be surpassed. Drawbacks? It was expensive and you have to use the H990. Read contributor Bob Norvelle's review here.
4. McIntosh MX4000/MDA4000
Legendary McIntosh heritage translated into the mobile audio realm. Classic and timeless McIntosh design and incredible build quality. The only head unit ever made with a silkscreened glass face and aluminum machined knobs. The looks and user interface are second to none! Of course, you either love or hate the looks of McIntosh products; not a lot in the middle. Those who love it say the head unit makes other head units look like silly toys with a myriad of useless LEDs and non-tactile buttons. The first source unit in car audio to use a separate state-of-the-art 20 bit D/A converter. This combo may be the most admired and respected source unit for CD sound quality in the history of audio.
5 & 6. Pioneer 800/880 PRS and Alpine 9887
Feature editor Bing Xu voted for these units for a very good reason: "I like these options because they are SQ heads for the common guy, very reasonably priced. And while their on-board processing capability is limited, you can still do a mild active system with them. As standalone head units, they are also very clean, especially considering the price points. These two go hand in hand for me when I think of moderately priced SQ head units. That’s what makes them relevant on this list in my opinion.
7. Pioneer ODR system
The acronym stands for Optical Digital Reference, but needs no introduction or explanation to serious audio enthusiasts the world over. The audio signal stays within the digital domain from CD player to amp. No noise, no deterioration of sound. A legion of ODR fans swear by its sound quality. Then add to it one of the sexiest and most elegant cosmetic designs and you have perhaps the most desirable product/system of them all.
8. Clarion DRZ9255
This understated beauty is more than good looks with its Dual 24-bit / 96 kHz Sampling Digital-to-Analog Burr-Brown Converters and DSP. Clarion took the best of the DRX-9255, made it even better and then put it in a new package to create the DRZ-9255. Most will probably agree that its an improvement over its predecessor in terms of cosmetics and usability and, as Bing says, it also takes CDRs more easily. Aside from the setup side, it's very easy to use. However, trying to use it as an actual DSP is really slow and labor intensive, not to mention its capabilities are somewhat limited compared to a full outboard DSP. Some say they are prone to certain noise issues.
9 & 10. Denon DCT-Z1 and Nakamichi CD700 & MB100
We love the Denon for its looks and its SQ prowess. It has balanced ps2 style output jacks, very classy and solid looking design, exceedingly easy to use, but obviously, very pricey and has virtually zero expansion capability. The Nakamichi is similar to Denon in terms of attributes, but perhaps not as reliable, especially the CD transport system.
Loud!
