Hello fellas, I'm planning to get a new HU and always wanted the 16v eclipse unit. However on their new product lineup they only offer 8v. The new unit offers customizable audio preferences for the audio ambiance of your car. Does anyone know the difference between the two units and which one has better sound quality?

 

Hi,
I've owned the Eclipse 8053 for about 9 months. Challenge I had was finding an amp that would be able to take advantage of the 8 volt out unbalanced. Finally went with Eclipse amp that does. The 16 volt you mention is for balanced outputs which IMO is over kill in our car given the outside sound levels.

I spoke to my installer about the new Eclipse HU's yesterday. His shop is one of the bigger Eclipse dealers in Boston. He says that he doesn't recommend it on our car because the face plate unit comes out and drops down when powered up. With our tilting radio cover, this will never work. No place for it to go. Not sure he was talking about the same unit you were, but worth checking out before you buy.

great sounding HU especially with the time delay feature in use. It really lifts the whole sound stage up near the mirror.

 

Warning -
The 8053 will only play MP3 if you have their add-on "E-Commander" unit.

Retail Pricing for 2004:
to the best of my knowledge:

3404 $179(no mp3)
3414 $199(mp3)

3424 $249(mp3)
3434 $299(mp3)

5444 $449(mp3)

8053 Still a "new model" for 04...$549 (preamp only, no mp3, 8/16 volt)

8454 $599 (8 volt, mp3, deck power, NOT BALANCED)

 

Djweaver thanx for your reply

 

Stick with Alpine or Clarion!!

Yes, most amps don't take 8 or 16 volt output, so it's a waste, especially in our cars. A good 4-5 volt output is plenty.

Good luck!

 

natedoggs2k,
Have you ever had the chance to directly A/B the Eclipse against either the Alpine or Clarion? I was fortunate to find a place that was set up for this. Even in a sound board (not your typical listening enviro), I guarantee you will hear a difference between these with really good speakers (I used the MB Quarts). The Eclipse is a bit "warmer" then the Apline. The Clarion was not one I particularly enjoyed. But everyone has their own unique ears & preferences. If you can find a place try it out. It was a blast.

I have the hardtop on for about 6 months (Nov-April). And when its on the whole sound environment is different. It's one that makes the Eclipse worth while for me.

IF your running top down all the time, or you have a lot of background noise from something like an Invidia Exhaust, AEM CAI, and running 6k+ RPM most of the time ... then I agree stick with Clarion or Alpine as the sound differences will not matter.

Doug W.

 

NATE! i'm so pumped... you finally heard me...




yes, an 8 V or 16 V preamp output is worthless if you don't have an amp that can accept it. not to mention, the purpose it is intended for is essentially useless on the S, as the general noise floor is so high already.

IF you have an 8 V or 16 V preamp output HU already or really want to use one, your best solution is to use an RCA level attenuator to step the signal down to an appropriate range for your amp's inputs.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=266-240
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=266-242
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=266-244



and Doug, i'm interested... can you find out or tell me what D/A converter the Eclipse units use? i highly suspect that is your primary improvement over most Alpine HU's. generally (as i've said countless times before), an upgraded D/A converter is one of your biggest gains in sound quality for the money.

 

PJK3,

It's a 24 bit DAC in the HU. I'm guessing it BB but not sure. Can find out if you need to know maker of DAC.

Also, Eclipse amps are made to handle 8/16V so no problem using them for these. But then again that's probably not a surprise to anyone.

 

I'm not trying to flame, but I've got to second that that's a very lame argument to posture towards someone's decision to spend $600 on a head unit.


I agree here. I'll bet if you take a straw poll of owners of the 8053 you'll find that very few care about this.

The reason I bought the 8053 is simple: it sounded the best to me by a considerable margin. It was not the most expensive when I looked (the top of the line Alpine and Clarion were each $49 more) or the most flashy, but it sounded the best to my ears with my MB Quart QSD 216s. All of the head units in this class are phenomenal. Period. It only comes down to personal perference.

The bass on the Eclipse head unit was tighter than the Alpine when I compared them in the particular setup that I was listening on (a soundboard -- you're unlikely to find a line of 30 S2000s with different combinations of speakers, head units, and amps configured just the way you want them so unfortunately the soundboard is your only ally). The Eclipse was also more attractive (switchable blue and green LEDs) and was much easier for me to use (this was a big deal for me -- these headunits all have a crapload of adjustments. The 8053 has a pro mode in the EQ that looks like it would take 30 min to setup). The interface is based on their NOB controller which is just a rotary knob but it honestly makes changing the volume and adjusting your levels much easier than regular buttons.

There are all kinds of technical/performance claims to back up each unit but I just went with my ears. The Alpine was my second choice for sound quality but I don't remember the model number of the unit, only that last October it was $600 and "the best".

One final cool thing about the 8053 (and other Eclipses in that price range) is that they have a lifetime anti-theft warranty if you use a key disc to protect your HU. They call it ESN for Electronic Security Network. So if your head unit is ever stolen you just have to call them and they'll send you a new one and flag your old one as stolen property since they all have unique IDs.

 

THE 8053 IS A DAMN hard unit to tune in the S2K. I was running it with a HELIX amp and Focals....