I just recieved the new Crutchfield catalog and now I notice they sell Eclipse products, but with only a one year warrenty. If installed by a dealer, is the warrenty still three years?
Also, I notice the flagship cd7000 has only 5v outputs with a color OEL display. are they fazing out the 8 volt models completely. Yes, i know the lower priced 5000 has 8 volt, Why?

Seems like Eclipse is heading in the same direction as Sony with the color displays, anamation, and unnecessary features. looking to sell more products to the masses and not just the discerning audiophile anymore.

I do like the iPod integration though, wish the 8454 had it, or is there a way as far as controlling one from the deck?

It would be sad to see this company go down hill, I love their products and I am thinking of getting a new one when I get my new E in 2 years.

Shane, it's been a wake up year for Eclipse. Do you know that something like 65% of their sales in dollars have been from the AVN units? None of these are audiophile pieces, I fact I can testify to as the owner of one. You will soon find Eclipse in Circuit City to help speed this transition. The bloom is off the rose with the demise of the audio specialty store.

I really worry about companies like JL that have tied their future to the audio independent. I'm sorry but with Ultimate and the Good Guys going belly up, Tweeter in trouble and Best Buy announcing better than expected sales, the trend is clear. It's mass merchandise, baby!

Eclipse promised us dealers way back when that they'd give us 10 years before they crapped out. It turns out it was 14. Count your blessings.

Does this mean they are going to start making sh!tty product? Of course not. Are they going to be making stuff that appeals to a broader, mass public? Absolutely. Joe Six Pack could care less about 8 volts pre out. Five volts is enough. And frankly, in this case, Joe is right.

Some products and technology are carried over into the '06 line. That's why you still find 8 volts pre-out on some decks.

Eclipse will still have a family of sound. That warm, lush sound both you and I like from Eclipse, that will still be there, Shane. Yamaha didn't lose their tone when they went into Best Buy. Pioneer of today sounds like Pioneer of 30 years ago. But will there be more blinky lights and - horrors of horrors - DETACHABLE FACES !!! - absolutely.

When Eclipse first came out, Fujitsu Ten freely admitted it was because they had lost a contract to Infiniti. This was 15 years ago. They had wanted to provide Nissan with upscale car stereos to go in the then new Infiniti line of cars. They lost the bid to Nakamichi, mostly because Fujitsu Ten wasn't viewed as upscale car stereos (they are Tenvox in Japan). This hurt their corporate pride deeply. Fujitsu Ten decided to come out with an upscale line of stereos to help their corporate image. Thus was born Eclipse. Eclipse was always a corporate positioning tool. Sorry to burst your bubble.

I still like Eclipse. I'm not selling mine, and when they come out with a AVN piece that is more high end, which they will, I'll buy that, too. But will we in the not too distant future see Eclipse decks for $150 with a one year warranty and green flashing lights? Yes, as sure as Mt. Fuji rises above Tokyo.

The three year warranty remains in effect on dealer installed product through the end of the February. Get yours now. ESN On Guard, the one year theft prevention guarantee, is in the line for '06, but I wouldn't bet on 2007.

Such is life. Maybe this is the advantage of being an old fart. I can remember when Yamaha was strictly a high end line.

Thanks for the info, very interesting reading and history about Eclipse. At least they had a nice long contract with Toyota since they lost to Nissan. Now it seems like Panasonic Mat****su is taking most ov the import market these days even Toyota now I belive.

I am seriously considering an AVN unit next, I did hear some rumor about one with more audiophile specs, such as 8v pre outs. Is this true?

Could be. The AVN have obviously been very successful here and the Eclipse line was designed and built to sell in the US first. For many years it wasn't even sold in Japan. The United States leads the world when it comes to innovative car stereos. You want to make your name in car stereos? You make it in the US.

The AVN pieces, on the other hand, were initially made for the Japanese domestic market and brought into the US later. Interestingly, the Japanese market is dominated by by decks that are not audiophile pieces but have loads of blinky lights. This (http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2006/audio/source_units/double_din/DFZ675MC/us-en-product-pf_1134643389128.html) Clarion piece is typical of what's successful for many of the car companies in Japan.

Eclipse did announce an AVN 6600 double DIN navigation/video/audio piece at January's CE show but gave us almost no details. It will come out later this year and could be the high end piece we're looking for.

At some point they'll make one. The high end market has been good for Eclipse in the US. We'll just have to be patient.

The entire industry is changing. Almost all of the car audio mags have gone under(the internet being the main culprit) so if you want to read about car audio products at the newsstand then you'll have to search through car magazines which feature everything...performance products,wheels,etc. You can thank MTV's Pimp My Ride and similar shows for the demise of car audio.

Several of us had this discussion with William Burton(formerly with Car Stereo Review,Car Audio and Electronics,and finally CSR's Mobile Entertainment) on the CarSound boards. He and many of his friends lost their jobs because of it.

You can thank MTV's Pimp My Ride and similar shows for the demise of car audio.

How's that?

Eclipse did announce an AVN 6600 double DIN navigation/video/audio piece at January's CE show but gave us almost no details. It will come out later this year and could be the high end piece we're looking for.
.

I see the AVN6600 is on the website, has dual DVD slots, 5v outputs, 7 band parametric, advanced DSP, and has the 24-bit DAC. Looks really nice.

Looks like they are using the good DAC that was used in the high end decks of the past, no 8 V outputs though. I will wait. Hey, at first the AVN, AVX models only had 2 volt outputs, it is obvious the AV* line is getting better.

Just curious as to what the different voltages do/don't do for you.

Regarding the AVN 6600:

That's new info. :cool: Thanks for pointing that out, Shane. :)

If it has digital out I might get it. It's what I need to to Phase 2 of my stereo properly.

Larry, the higher the output voltage on the deck, the less gain you need down the road with the amps, processors, etc. That generally results in a lower noise floor for the system.

West Coast Customs (Pimp my Ride) doesn't do any "sound quality" work. There is an interview with Mike in a Car Stereo magazine I have at home and he says that almost all systems they put in sound like complete trash inside the vehicle because the people who buy the system want "people on the sidewalk to hear it". So basically, they are designing their systems to be loud for bystanders, and terrible for drivers/passengers/audio enthusiasts.

I read that and thought "oh, thats wonderful".

West Coast Customs (Pimp my Ride) doesn't do any "sound quality" work. There is an interview with Mike in a Car Stereo magazine I have at home and he says that almost all systems they put in sound like complete trash inside the vehicle because the people who buy the system want "people on the sidewalk to hear it". So basically, they are designing their systems to be loud for bystanders, and terrible for drivers/passengers/audio enthusiasts.

I read that and thought "oh, thats wonderful".

Did you really need to read that in an article to not know that? It was always quite obvious they were never interested in SQ based on the installs.

Did you really need to read that in an article to not know that? It was always quite obvious they were never interested in SQ based on the installs.

Well my only real experience of their installs was from MTV's Pimp my Ride and anyone can pretty much assume that if its MTV, it doesnt equal sound quality.

Seriously though, judging from *most* installs I see of those tricked out rides (not just West Coast Customs) it doesnt appear that any of those guys have a concept of a sound stage. I did assume that they were at least *trying* to get it sounding decent for all the other crap that they put in there, but from what he said they just make it as loud as possible and send it on its way.

I mean, I can crank the living crap out of my subs and, popping and all, they can take it. But I'm the one listening to the music, not the people on the sidewalk. I would assume that they would have an audio guy in there too telling them how to do things. I mean, they have everything associated with accessories for automobiles, why not a sound expert as well?

From all of the systems I have heard over the years when someone is tossing in 4-10 12"-15" subs with 4,000+ watts they are not after SQ... they are looking to show off to everyone outside the car.

My last stereo build up was 450watts total pushing 1 set of BA Pro 6.5's and 2 8" BA Subs... almost 137db's in competition. :) I always placed top 3 in db and first in SQ. It is always how you design it. :)

I always watched pimp my ride because it was so stupid how they made every vehicle utterly useless for every day living. lol It was fun to watch them trash cars and think they did a good job. lol

Someone sent this to me a while back, it is hysterical.

Pimp My Bride
http://www.milkandcookies.com/article/2545/

7 inch LCD installed on her back, LOL

West Coast Customs (Pimp my Ride) doesn't do any "sound quality" work. There is an interview with Mike in a Car Stereo magazine I have at home and he says that almost all systems they put in sound like complete trash inside the vehicle because the people who buy the system want "people on the sidewalk to hear it". So basically, they are designing their systems to be loud for bystanders, and terrible for drivers/passengers/audio enthusiasts.

I read that and thought "oh, thats wonderful".

Gotcha. Well, I am not a SQ expert by any means, but it was always pretty plain that the "ricer/pimp" crowd went for sheer decibels, and no matter how good your ear is, it's going to sound like ass at 150dB. And when you get out of your car, you'll be deaf anyway, so all that gear is useless. But it seems like those guys were doing that long before that show came out. I can see that this trend of showoff audio has hurt the specialty industry, but I wouldn't blame it on that show specifically.

I might add that Tweeter has always been mediocre quality at high quality prices. If they are hurting, it's their own fault. Fact is, ALL the small specialty shops, regardless of what type of product they carry, are all getting stomped by the Best Buys, Walmarts, Circuit Cities, etc. I think it's a cost of labor thing more than anything else. That, and the fact that magazine articles are increasingly becoming advertisements in themselves rather than truthful information. By this I mean, you might read an article in a car audio mag that raves about a new product, but unbeknownst to you, the manufacturer of that product paid for that article, just as they would an ad. Therefore, you, the reader, are left with a false impression that a mediocre product is a quality one.

But that's another thread altogeher.....

Speaking of true "quality" sound, watch this video:
(mind the nekkid girls along the edges all you prudes)
http://www.muchosucko.com/video-toomuchbass.html