Pioneer DEH-1950

Terrible – Please do not waste your money. I have installed a few of these and removed them a few months latter. for some thing better . One person actualy went and purchased the sony and it is still in the car after 4 years , The Pioneer lasted 5 months. It looks like a SONY The tuner in this unit has a low life span and the amps power will slowly die off till it sounds like your speakers a going and it is the radio. the RCA conections are poorly fitted and have a tendancy to fail and short out the unit. It was designed to take on SONY.

Poor ergonomics OK sound – My review is actually on the only slightly differently specced DEH 2050 but I think my comments will relate to both (and there are no other reviews for the 2050). Firstly this was a cheap unit - cost me less than $100 so my expectations weren't high. Basically I was after a quality unit that I could plug my mp3 player into. The Pioneer does this well and the sound quality and lack of distortion at reasonable volumes from the 4 factory speakers in my Pajero is quite adequate. The down side that really bugs me is the poor ergonomics. First of all it has one of those popular on/off switches that you have to hold down for seems like years before it switches on/off. Take your finger off a millisecond too soon and you have to do it again. There is no way to mute the sound quickly if you need to as the volume control is an annoying electronic device that doesn't react well to a quick twiddling with the dial. I am barely restraining myself when it comes to the usual small buttons on the face of the unit. In this case they are BLACK on a BLACK background - go figure! At least at night you can see them. The display is OK if the unit is located somewhere near your line of sight. Here's a question for everyone - and I'm sure there is a good answer somewhere - why do all head units have their main volume controls on the left - as far as possible from the driver? Can't be a left/hand right/hand drive thing as most head units are Japanese. I have complained to Pioneer suggesting they castrate their designers so they don't churn out anymore substantandard designs. Good design shouldn't cost anything and no reson not to be found on cheap units. If you want an OK head unit you can't go too wrong with one of these Pioneers, just try not to end up in a horrific accident while trying to find the right damn button. Operating badly designed car stereos is far more dangerous the anwering a mobile call.

Paul inexpensive, OK sound, Aux input badly designed just like some much more expensive units

OK – This is a great car cd player. It packs quite a punch for a small price. The sound it produces is excellent, crisp and clear. It is also possible to change the MID level. Some cd players dont allow you to do this, but this one does. And when callibrated properly with the bass and treble, even without flash speakers and subs amps etc, this sound is excellent. The bad thing is during the day, especially when the sun is shining, it is a bit difficult to see the LCD and what it is showinf due to no background light on the LCD. great sound hard to see LCD digitd during day

Excellent – A superb head unit that I bought for my brother's birthday the other day. Yes, the LCD is a little difficult to see in direct sunlight but that is also attributed to the fact that that it is mounted quite high in the dashboard my brothers car. He only has the factory standard speakers but this head unit makes the most of it, with crystal clear sound and plenty of bass. Radio reception is also excellent, easily picking up Sydney radio stations from the Central Coast. Definitely a head unit worth considering for those on a budget or don't see the point in spending hundreds that don't want budget sound. The RRP is $200 on the Pioneer website but I managed to buy this at JB HiFi for $89! This is the base model of the Pioneer range but it has plenty of functions and adjustability, a front AUX input for your ipod etc and atractive appearance. It definitely does not look like an $89 head unit. It has plenty of punch, more than expected which I think is down to the MOSFET 50w x 4 power. Nothing. For the price and the fact that it is a Pioneer it cannot be beat. Before buying this head unit I searched Ebay and the internet and only found no name Chinese brand head units for this price.