In the world of car audio, there is no better known manufacturer than Pioneer. Head units from this company are well-deserved. And all experienced motorists are well aware that the “head” (that is, the “car radio”) is the alpha and omega of car sound. Therefore, a lot depends on the correct choice of radio.
But do not forget about the other components: high-quality speakers, subwoofer, receivers and other equipment. Today we look at the head unit Pioneer DEH-80PRS. What is this radio? What is she capable of? Why choose her? We will try to answer these questions. In the meantime, recall the milestones of the history of Pioneer.
A bit of history
The Japanese company Pioneer was formed in 1938. And then she was repairing radios. But in the second half of the twentieth century, the manufacturer began to produce televisions, DVD-players and other electronics. The company managed to combine in its products unsurpassed workmanship and the latest technological progress. Over time, the company began to develop new standards for optical drives. And in parallel, the manufacturer began to produce electronics for cars. The first radio tape recorder from “pioneers” was a huge success. Years passed, and her successor Pioneer DEH-80PRS is exactly as popular among motorists of all stripes.
Since 2010, the main industry of the company has become automotive electronics and car audio. Now the company is engaged exclusively in car audio. And things are going very well in this area. This should not be surprising, because behind the company’s back has solid experience in the production of any type of electronics. And the speakers and subwoofers from the "Pioneer" are in almost every third car. The company's management plans to seize a monopoly in the international automotive sound market. And for this, the manufacturer has all the data. Their devices are high-quality, technological and do not cost fabulous money. And now let's move on to the Pioneer DEH-80PRS car radio and consider its main characteristics.
Contents of delivery
So, we unpack the Pioneer DEH-80PRS radio tape recorder. It is customary to start a review with just that. So here we are. The head unit comes in a plain box made from recycled cardboard. It shows only the company logo and model name. No frills. This is a sign of a reputable manufacturer. Inside is the head unit itself, a removable front panel in a separate plastic case, the necessary set of wires and adapters. There is also a wireless remote control. But he looks somehow ugly. Probably because he is an outdated model. It is better to purchase a remote control from the 88th version of Pioneer. It is much more functional.
An interesting incident in the package of delivery of Pioneer DEH-80PRS. The instruction, as such, is missing. That is, there is no familiar paper book. Of the papers - only a warranty card. However, do not rush to call curses on the heads of manufacturers. Complete with a radio tape recorder there is a disk on which the sought-after instruction is found in all possible languages, including Russian and Swahili. So this is all right. Well, it's time to consider the appearance of the car radio. What “Pioneers" will please us this time?
Appearance and design
The Pioneer DEH-80PRS radio does not stand out with its chic design. Case material - plastic. No aluminum panels. Everything is strict and even ascetic. Black plastic looks good in any interior. And this is the most important thing. Switching tracks is carried out by petals, which are located on the sides of the volume control. This decision is very doubtful in terms of ergonomics. Indeed, it’s convenient to control these buttons with two fingers. But with one finger - almost impossible. What guided the company in making such controls is incomprehensible. But it’s good that there is a remote control. With him, life becomes much easier.
Front panel and sound quality
A distinctive feature of the design of the Pioneer DEH-80PRS is the LCD. It has a white backlight and is slightly different from the screens of previous versions. At least the fact that the text has become much smaller. This is a positive aspect, because the eyes are not so tired when looking at it. Yes, and much more information.
The head unit panel is removable, but there is no motor to open it. Everything is based on pure mechanics. This is even better. No need to wait until the panel itself moves off to the side. Just clicked - and took off. With design and ergonomics, everything is clear.
Now we pass to the most interesting - technical characteristics. As for the sound quality, here it is just wonderful. A 24-bit audio processor squeezes everything from the audio file. Even compressed MP3 tracks sound somehow new. This is due to the proprietary dynamic range expansion function. It allows you to improve the sound of even hard-compressed musical compositions. Of course, nothing changes physically in the file. It's impossible. But hearing differences are noticeable.
The 16-band graphic equalizer also performs very well. It allows you to configure the playback of any music file without any problems.
Product Specifications
Let's move on to the technical specifications of the Pioneer DEH-80PRS. The price of the device allows us to hope that the car radio is capable of producing very high-quality sound even with standard speakers. So it, in principle, is. The radio is equipped with a 24-bit DAC, which provides unrealistically beautiful sound. The midrange is especially well designed. Soft bass also appears.
The power of the amplifier is 50 watts per channel. This is quite enough for almost all cars. There is no need to purchase an additional amplifier. There is also a 16-band graphic equalizer that allows you to correct the sound.
Media and formats that it works with
The radio tape recorder can read CD-R and CD-RW disks, USB sticks and MiniSD drives. The formats supported by the head unit are: MP3, WMA, WAV and AAC. It is unfortunate that there is no support for format playback without loss of FLAC quality. Recently, he is gaining great popularity.
Also, a microphone is included with the car radio, which allows you to organize a speakerphone in the car. You can also play files from your iPhone or iPod when you purchase an additional cable.
Thus, we have before us a versatile and multifunctional multimedia device, and not some Pioneer DEH-80PRS car radio. Connecting to the car mains, by the way, is standard. There are no frills here. Everything is extremely simple and clear. There is no difference between this radio and some cheap Chinese "head".
Device positioning
Who may be interested in this car radio? First of all, those who need a very high-quality sound. It may well provide Pioneer DEH-80PRS. The price, of course, bites a little (about 20,000 rubles), but we must remember that we have a multifunctional and high-quality device from the legendary manufacturer. Many are willing to pay for quality. And the last characteristic is the business card of the Pioneers. There was no case that the car radio from this company had some kind of factory defect. Such quality and exceptional reliability are expensive.
It is also necessary to take into account that this head unit is a device of a budget (initial) level. So it’s still inexpensive. In addition, setting up the Pioneer DEH-80PRS will not cause any problems. This process is fully described in the user manual on the CD that comes with the kit.
Finally
So, we examined the entry-level head unit Pioneer DEH-80PRS. What do we have in the end? This is a very worthy radio with high-quality sound, additional options, a strict design and a remote control. The versatility of this radio makes it a universal device that can satisfy the needs of any car enthusiast. And for such a quality is not a pity and pay extra. Reliability and quality are worth a lot. And the “Pioneers” with this, everything was always fine.