changing head unit need opinions

ok, i have a dilemma on my hands. ive been wanting to get a new head unit for a while now, not that there is anything wrong with the one that i have, it's just getting kinda old. right now i have a Clarion DXZ955MC, its the one you would see in car audio magazine that is a single din with the touchscreen controls. and on the other hand, i've been looking at the Pioneer premier DEH-P880PRS which seems to be a pretty sweet unit with time alignment and a 16 band eq. even though i already have a kenwood 9-band eq right now i think the 16 band could be useful to fill in the gaps. anyway, my real question is should i spend the money basically just for the time alignment feature and the high grade components it is made from. and, has anyone had any experience with these units. thanks in advance for any info

If the Time Alignment and the 16 Band EQ are high on your list of wants, don't let the noise issues of the Pioneer run you off. The whole problem of the noise issue can easily be taken out of the equation. If you read any instruction manual for any piece of automotive audio equipment, the very first line of the installation instructions reads as follows, 1. Remove the negative battery cable from the battery and leave it disconnected until all connections are made. If you follow this simple rule, you will have no problems with the unit. If you are working on the stereo system ALWAYS disconnect the battery and you will not have this issue.

 I have an 880, and for the money  I love it.........No pico fuse problem,no noise at all.......My favorite feature is the L/R 16 band EQ,......And the unit is easy to learn and use all the functions..........I also think the look of the unit is classy,and simple........the only thing I am dissatisfied about is the  preout V...........

If you are using automotive amplifiers in the system, no need to worry about the preout voltage.  I have yet to see an amp that would not max out with (.)5 volts of input.

 thanks i am an idiot good to know.......To me it seems the 880 does not get as loud as some of the other units like clarion and eclipse everything set flat why is that Iam an idiot. Everything being the same

pre-out voltage isn't really an issue for me because it will be connected to my kenwood EQ and then from there it goes to a kicker kx3 digital crossover that raises the voltage and then to my amps. im hoping to maybe enter some SQ competitions in the future so the extra EQ and the time alignment are pretty important to me because i dont have any more room in my ranger for more stuff. but anyway thanks for the input and keep it comming

Too many problems with Pioneer. Alpine or Eclipse. Feeding one Eq into another is LAME and just asking for problems. Time alignment will do nothing without using the multiple Preamp outs.

 yeah I agree ditch the kenwood EQ...........Correct I am an idiot, thats why im dissapointed with the preout v of the pioneer because you have to turn the gains up.......Id rather turn them down...and get the same volume.