Clarion Car Audio
Clarion fits your mobile entertainment budget
Clarion has long been known as a budget name in car audio. They do get some recognition for various middle offerings that are as good as anything out there. They may even give more bang for the buck than some of the bigger names. Clarion does a little bit of everything in car audio: amps, head units that play CD/DVD and even in-dash video. They also make CD changers, equalizers and a complete line of speakers. Clarion even makes receivers for your boat.
Clarion Car Audio Product Lines
- Amps, 2 and multi-channel amplifiers.
- Head Units. CD/MP3 Players, DVD Players w/ in-dash video.
- CD/Mini-Disc/DVD Changers.
- Speakers.
- Marine Receivers.
Clarion sells a lot of $100 car stereo head units and these days you get a lot for your money: CD players that read MP3, 4x17 watts-per-channel built-in power and FM radio. No sub pre-outs, no satellite radio compatibility. But you do get a detachable face plate, a remote control and a confident smile on your face knowing you got so much for so little money.
On the other hand, Clarion makes more expensive units with more unique features like a 2 din CD/Cassette combo for under $300. Cassette has been the king of car audio for a generation. Between 8-track and CD there are still a lot of people unwilling to part with that tape collection- these CD/cassette models are made especially for them. You don't get much else for your money though. If you must play tapes, that price range gets you a built-in tape deck, but you sacrifice satellite radio, built-in EQ options, possibly a bit of power and a few graphical bells and whistles like LCD displays. But a deck with 4x50W peaks is nothing to sneeze at.
For discriminating consumers ready to drop just over $400 into one of the finest car stereo head units available, Clarion struts out of the gate with their ProAudio receiver. The Clarion ProAudio receiver features touch panel controls and a solid detachable aluminum face plate. The number of features defies belief; you get Dolby Pro-LogicII decoding to turn your ride into a virtual music hall. Satellite radio compatibility is standard with Sirius and high quality 24-bit D/A converters are included for the best in CD sound quality.
Clarion is truly a car audio specialist that can set up the budget consumer and reach the high-end mobile music lover as well. They have a few mobile video options with LCD display DVD players both in-dash and overhead. Their DVD players actually read MP3s from DVD/R/RW formats. Some DVD players will play DVD movies, but can only read MP3s from CD. This defeats the most powerful incentive for having a DVD player, but isn't a problem for Clarion.