Superb sound. Huge power supply-5volt pre-out @55ohm. Best anit-theft feature on market. Absolutely gorgeous!!

Price is high-but is worth every penny.

I've recently upgraded from a 5341R to the 5303R (got it barely used from the dealer for a measly $250!!!) and have been absolutely blown away at the increased performance. With a much bigger power supply than the 5341R or anything else on the market and a better D/A converter, I've noticed a much fuller sound stage with much more detail. This has definately been a worthy investment!!

System specs.
Eclipse 5303R
Soundstream Rubicon 805 (2 channels of bridged 2-way high pass @ 100w per channel + 200w subwoofer channel in low pass)
MB Quart RSB 328's (3-way system with 6.5's in the doors and 5.25 mids and tweeters in kick panels)
Soundstream SS 10 (10 inch sub)

The 5303R is one nice unit and a reliable one as well. The 5Volt and low impedence of 55ohm makes sweet. Listen for yourself.

This is through and through a high quality piece. With three sets of RCA outputs, each one of which has little (inaudible) distortion at maximum volume output, one dedicated to subwoofers (with a phase selector; in phase or out of phase), and two front/rear fadeable RCA sets. The NOB allows amazingly easy adjustment of volume (which has 1-50 in steps of 2 and 50-80 in steps of 1, for a grand total of 55 different volume levels), fade (front 15- rear 15, 30 steps), balance (left 15- right 15, 30 steps), bass (centered at about 100hz, +6 to -6, 12 levels), treble (at 10khz, +6 to -6, 12 levels), subwoofer (1-16, 1 being <.5V, 16 being about 5.4V), phase control (see above) and LOUD on/off, which is +6 at 100hz and +6 or 10 at 10000hz.

Unit controls Eclipse 2301, hideaway DSP/EQ (Which I consider to be too expensive to be useful, but it is nice if you have the money). 18FM/6AM, 30 Title cd memory (very cool), CD-MD changer with ability to hook up up to 6 separate changers (!), built-in spectrum analyzer (nice touch, very responsive)

This is the best upgrade I've put into my system, improving the performance over my Clarion deck 110%. Definately worth the money.

Jesse

I work in a small audio video store and we carry Eclipse products ands I must say that it is pretty much all bullet proof. The 5303R is no exception. The quality of the audio output is awesome. With a high 5 volt line output the amps that I have run with this love it. A friend of mine had a 5303R stolen and within 2 weeks he had a new unit from Eclipse. With a dealer installed 3 year warranty and a free replacement if it is stolen in the first year these features alone are staggering.

I'm also a member of the audio retailer's world, and over the past 9 years have worked for five different companies and personally sold just about every combination of equipment you can think of. I sold Eclipse when they had almost NO advertising, and when they were (literally) twice as expensive as every other stereo (anybody remember the EQZ-301 decks??). There was a reason they were as expensive as they were, and to a degree (although to not the same extent) there's a reason they're slightly more expensive now. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Plain and simple. If you're looking for a cheap deck to stuff in the car (and I love this short thinking phrase) 'for now', then buy something else. Pioneer or something. If you're looking to purchase a stereo as more of an investment, the choice really is straightforward. Better quality components cost more. If you don't believe me, ask the Mercedes dealer why his four door is $80,000 when you can buy a Ford for under $20,000. The Eclipse 5303r has to be the single biggest advance that any one manufacturer has ever made: subwoofer volume control (an idea stolen from Phoenix Gold's LPL 44 ?), phase control for the subwoofer output (used more than you might think), an amazing 5 volts of output on each set of RCAs (think your deck thats rated at 4 volts produces an actual 4 volts? Grab a multimeter and actually MEASURE it - betcha it's not even close!), and a display that is large, bright, well-lit and easy to read.
Now I suppose you can say that because I sell it I'm biased. Maybe so. Except I have to pay something for this stuff, too...and the last deck I bought I still own (first generation ECD-510)...that piece is still working great, and is in my winter beater.
It's your money, folks...are you going to be the sheep that most companies think you are and follow the big advertising dollars, or are you going to use your ears to pick your audio equipment?

Sound quality, Sub Phase control, good remote control, High voltage preamp.

Can't see display during the day. CD changer option is expensive.

Great sounding CD head unit. I purchased this unit used from a demo in the store. It was a massive upgrade from my old JVC head unit. The sound quality is wonderful, and the remote control is a handy feature. There is also a sub-phase control which is a cool feature too. High voltage pre-amp outputs are also a good plus in this head unit. This used to be one competition quality unit, and is still one of the best sounding CD player. I originally wanted a Pioneer P1R or Sony CD-90, but they were too expensive. You should be able to find these used for cheap.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer p1r and sony c90. Eclipse 5303r is cheaper, and has a 5v preamp out. Sony c90 still sounds the best.