So, after the very educational posts on head units, I went down to a local car audio shop and, luckily enough, spoke with another very knowledgeable car audio guy about it some more. He recommended the Eclipse CD5441 (and this was after I told him I was interested in the Nakamichi MB-100, which they sell and are more than twice as expensive) which has pretty much all of the features I was looking for.

My only problem with it is that it's kinda ugly, and really doesn't look like it would look very good in the car. Does anyone have any Eclipse deck in their FD (seeing as how they all pretty much look the same)? If so, what is your opinion on how it looks in the car? And finally, do you have any pictures of it?

I am more interested in performance than looks, but if it's butt ugly, I might opt for something else.

Thanks again

edit: oh, and this guy said that installing the nak would be a PITA without getting new speakers because the Bose speakers require a slightly higher output than regular line out, so it would require getting a small amp to power the individual Bose amps, which would add another couple hundred to the price tag. He also said that to do a proper setup with the Nak unit (a setup that would be worth purchasing a $1K head unit) would cost about $3K.. OUCH! That would be with nice Dyn Audio drivers and high quality amp.

 

Brian, my friend has an eclipse head unit. BUt on an M3. Yeah, it does look pretty fugly.

 

my friend's got an eclipse head unit...the 7301...audio/video head unit with DSP, 12 disc, Eclipse amp...it's a pretty nice unit...a bit of a PITA to install though...i'm probably gonna pick it up from him for cheap

 

Damn!! The one my friend has is just a single din. Now that large one is pretty cool!!