Pioneer DEH-6300UB CD Receiver iPod/iPhone/Pandora

The Pioneer DEH-6300UB AM/FM Stereo Receiver/CD Player illustrated just how far consumer electronics has come in a relatively short time. As recently as six or seven years ago, in order to have the features one finds in the DEH-6300UB, one would have had to spend the better part of U$1,000 to U$1,500.

Today, though, the same features - and more - are available at a fraction of the cost. For example, when receivers were far more expensive, one would have had to spend hundreds of dollars to have a total of 200 watts of power that - thanks to built-in filtering - gives you nearly distortion free quality sound. And, what is more surprising is that just by using as little as 20 watts per channel (there are four amplified channels built into the DEH-6300UB) is that the sound reproduction is excellent as it is totally distortion-free. And, even cranking the each channel up to its full 50 watts, the Pioneer's built-in filtering ability keeps cross-talk and distortion to a minimum, if it is detectable at all.

That's not all, though, the DEH-6300UB is equipped with two RCA-style high-voltage outputs (both fused through the receiver) that you to expand your system so that if one were to want a higher-power amplifier, one could easily add it, as well as huge subwoofer for great low-end sound reproduction. In most cases, one will find the subwoofers tend to be installed in rather lavish acoustic surrounding as they arrive either with a large sound reproduction box or with instructions in how to obtain or build one. One of the interesting features of the two outputs is that they feature high- and low-pass filtering so the sound output is distortion-free.

And, as if these features are not enough to warrant an installation, the DEH-6300UB not only offers a CD/CD-R/RW player, but it also offers complete iPod and iPhone control through the USB port in the right-hand part of the front face of the receiver. And, if one installs the right app in the iPhone, the receiver is set up to interface with the popular Pandora Sound service that not only offers thumbs up and down on tunes but allows you to bookmark tunes that you like.

The DEH-6300UB features, as standard equipment, an infrared remote control that offers one full control over the iPod. That controls includes tracking up and down through a list of your audio favorites, but you can also push the iPod to fast forward, shuffle tunes and rewind. This feature is also available through one of two Pioneer features, the advanced track button on the left-hand side of the receiver's face or through the receiver's remote. In addition, if you hear a piece of audio you want to remember, you can tag it through with the radio and later, using iTunes and your iPhone, find the particular audio and, if you want it, you can download it.

The USB port serves another important feature which is that you can make up your own list of tunes through many of the audio services available on your PC. Once you have the piece downloaded in the proper format - MP3, WMA or WAV - you can then download it to a thumbdrive and, even if you don't have an iPod, you can still have your own custom list of tunes. These tunes, though, are compressed and that compression takes the high ranges and removes them so that your tune can fit on the thumbdrive. Pioneer's Advanced Sound Retriever system, restores the high ranges, 18,000 to 20,000 Hz, so that the sound that comes out is far richer with the bright highs restored. If you only have an MP3 player or player with 3.5 mm jack, the DEH-6300UB can handle it through the MP3/Aux input.

The heart of the DEH-6300UB is its Supertuner III tuner which allows one to set up to 26 presets, as well as radio surfing through the various stations in your area. The Pioneer is also equipped with the Radio Directory Service (RDS). All RDS radios read a small signal that piggybacks on the main station signal and is then translated so that one not only knows the station's name and Call Sign, as well as its frequency, but also the type of audio they are playing as well as the artist that is performing. This information is presented on the front of the radio though its dual-line display. The display, by the way, can have as many as 210,000 possible special color combinations so you have plenty of room to experiment to find exactly the right color choice for you.

Finally, the DEH-6300UB is theft-proof as it will only play with the detachable faceplate in place. Once you remove it from your vehicle and throw it in the trunk or your bag, if anyone were to try to remove your radio - which is easily installable and includes all wiring and hardware - all they will have is about a four-pound brick.