You get a lot for your money when you buy a car stereo these days. Five or six years ago, $200 would have gotten you a bare-bones car CD receiver — not any more. Now almost any stereo in this price range offers CD/MP3 playback, AM/FM reception, sophisticated tone controls, multiple sets of preamp outputs, remote controls, and the capability to be expanded with iPod® interfaces, satellite radio, and other devices.

To take the measure of some current offerings, I took a look at three popular CD players priced at under $200: The Pioneer DEH-P5800MP, Kenwood KDC-MP5032, and the Alpine CDA-9856.

The testing criteria

To get an in-depth feel for each stereo, I installed them in the family car, a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and spent a few days on the road with each. During that time I subjectively evaluated each receiver on a few different criteria. Here's what I examined:

• Display and controls: I examined how readable each stereo's display was, and any special features it had. I also got a chance to familiarize myself with each stereo's controls — how easy (or not) they were to use.
• Sound: The heart of a good car stereo. I listened to a lot of different music from different sources with each stereo, but made sure to play three of the same CD tracks with each model: "Three Days," a quirky up-tempo country shuffle by k.d. lang, the "Scherzo" from Beethoven's Symphony #3, and "What It Is," a nice full-bodied rocker from Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia album. This gave me a chance to listen to a variety of genres, each with their own audio challenges.
• Music file playback: How easy was it to navigate a CD filled with music files, like MP3s, and did the files load quickly? How good was the sound quality reproduced from the files?
• Sound enhancement: Each of the stereos had sophisticated equalizers — I tried out a variety of settings with each model. In addition, some of the stereos had specific EQ features designed to improve the sound quality of compressed music files, like MP3s. I tested these when available.
• Radio performance: Even with all the options available in new stereos, I still listen to a lot of radio, and a strong tuner was an important feature.
• Expandability and other features: It's good to have options. Did each stereo allow me to expand my system later? Did they allow me to add a CD changer or satellite radio? Could I listen to an iPod, portable player, or other outboard source through them? I also checked out how many sets of preamp outputs were available, an important issue if you're going to add external amps to the system.

Pioneer DEH-P5800MP

No doubt about it, the DEH-P5800MP had the biggest "wow" factor. The fold-down faceplate features a large Organic Electro Luminescent (OEL) display with animations, paired with a large control knob on the left side. It made quite a visual statement.

Display and controls: The DEH-P5800MP's display is a real showstopper. The OEL display has something for every mood, including animated sound level meters (my favorite), and a variety of other animations, ranging from geometric displays to swimming dolphins. It was actually too distracting at times — I had to discipline myself to keep my eyes on the road and not on the faceplate.

The buttons on the faceplate are very small, but it isn't much of a drawback, since the large rotary knob of the Pioneer and a four-way keypad to the left of the knob handle most of the functions and adjustments. The keypad handles many of the basic setup and EQ functions, aided by graphic feedback from the OEL display. It's a nice intuitive setup that works very well indeed. I only rarely needed to consult the manual — with a little trial and error I could figure most things out pretty easily.

Sound: The Pioneer had a powerful kick, with a strong low-frequency presence. There was more than enough power to drive the Cherokee's factory speaker setup well beyond what it was designed for.

It did a nice job on my test tracks. The walking bass line of "Three Days" had nice, full roundness, while the sudden changes in volume of the Beethoven "Scherzo" were handled with ease. Knopler's "What It Is" was authoritative and gutsy.

Music file playback: The DEH-P5800MP was a strong performer with MP3 discs. The player read files quickly, and the four-way keypad made navigation simple. Gaps between selections were minimal, even when using random play. Playback was dependable and the sound quality excellent. I so enjoyed using the player for MP3s that I probably played the majority of my music from MP3 discs while I had it installed.

Sound enhancement: The DEH-P5800MP stores six EQ curves for ready access. Five are preset, and one is a custom setting that you can create. A single EQ button lets you cycle through the curves quickly — that's a nice feature, since I often want to change the EQ setting for different media and styles of music. The EQ curves offer pretty dramatic differences, but if you don't like them you can always tweak the Custom curve to your liking and save the settings for another option.

The EQ's three-band parametric design lets you adjust the level of specific frequencies as well as the width of surrounding frequency curve. In addition, you can use Pioneer's EQ-EX function, which accentuates the effect of each preset curve and allows you to set separate bass and treble levels for each source. In addition, there's a Source Level Adjustment feature (so there won't be a big volume change between radio and CD, for example), built-in high-pass filters for the front and rear speakers, and three different loudness levels. All in all, this is a very capable EQ that allows a lot of tweakability. Pioneer has also included a COMP (compression) setting that compresses the audio signal to avoid distortion at high volume and BMX (Bit Media eXpander), a feature which is supposed to give compressed files a fuller sound. I didn't find either to be that useful — differences in the sound output were slight, to my ear at least.

Radio performance: No problems here. The Pioneer's tuner did a nice job of pulling in my regular NPR stations on the FM band during the morning drive. Performance was comparable to, or better than, other receivers I've used.

Expandability and other features: You won't have any problem building a system around the Pioneer. There are three sets of preamp outputs for adding amps, and plenty of opportunities to add other media sources. The DEH-P5800MP is iPod-ready — with Pioneer's CD-iB100ii iPod interface, you can control your player from the dash. XM and SIRIUS add-on tuners, CD changers, and an optional auxiliary input can be added as well.

Kenwood KDC-MP5032

Kenwood's KDC-MP5032 presented an elegant appearance in the dash. And I have to admit that I really liked the motorized face, which slides down at the touch of a button when you're inserting a CD.

Display and controls: The KDC-MP5032's display is understated but classy. The blue accents and the dot matrix display are nice features, but aside from some bar graph indicators on the right that display the current EQ settings, there's not a lot else going on. Of course, that's strictly a matter of taste — not everyone is looking for a light show in their dash, and the readability was excellent at all light levels, day or night.

Navigating the controls of the Kenwood did take a bit of getting used to. The buttons and control knobs on the faceplate are well laid out and have a nice feel to the hand, but didn't lend themselves to easy interpretation. In my case, it took a few dives into the manual to get a feel for things. Once I'd gotten my feet under me, I didn't have too much trouble, and the stereo was easy to use and felt familiar after a few days.

Sound: The Kenwood has a pretty high power rating, at 22 watts per channel, but it's worth noting that it isn't a CEA-2006 compliant power rating, so comparing the output to other receivers is an apples and oranges proposition. It didn't have quite the low-frequency punch of the Pioneer and started to sound a bit shrill to my ears as I cranked the volume.

Performance on the test tracks reflected this. While the Beethoven Scherzo came through with nice balance and clarity, the country and rock tracks could have stood a bit more fullness at times. It's worth noting that the EQ did a good job of compensating for some of the amp's limitations.

Music file playback: The KDC-MP5032 was a bit sluggish in reading music files burned onto CDs, with pauses occasionally as long as 3 to 5 seconds not unusual. When you're trying to navigate a lot of files, that can be a bit frustrating. The joystick control on the right side of the stereo is used for navigating the files and folders. Once I got used to it, it was a nice tool.

The Kenwood is really far ahead of its competitors in one respect. Unlike the Pioneer and Alpine stereos I tested, the KDC-MP5032 will read Apple's AAC file format. If you keep a lot of music on iTunes, like me, it was wonderfully convenient to simply burn a disc of AAC files and slip them into the player, rather than having to convert them to MP3s. One important note — the player will not play files purchased from the iTune Music Store, just files from CDs you've ripped using iTunes. AAC file compatibility is a very attractive feature, and I'd like to see more manufacturers follow Kenwood's lead.

Sound enhancement: The KDC-MP5032 System Q Sound Control was an excellent, very flexible EQ. There were six preset EQ curves, each of which could be modified at the bass, midrange, and treble. The altered curve could be stored as a "User" curve. For enhancing compressed music sources, like MP3 files and satellite radio, the Kenwood has a feature called Supreme Setting that digitally enhances high-frequency output. Its performance was spotty for me — I liked it on some selections, but it made others a bit too harsh for my ears.

The KDC-MP5032's speaker setting function let me adjust the System Q Sound Control settings according to the type of speakers in my vehicle. It functions as a high-pass filter, allowing a different range of low frequencies through to the speakers depending on their size. I liked the utility of this feature — it significantly "cleaned up" the sound output from my Cherokee's factory speakers, and had enough different settings to be useful in many different vehicle and speaker applications. If you're adding amps into your system, the System E's+ crossover system will allow plenty of adjustments right from the faceplate of the stereo.

Radio performance: The Kenwood's tuner is solid, pulling in AM and FM stations with real clarity. I especially liked the little joystick control — it made it easy to tune around and cycle through stations.

Expandability and other features: The Kenwood is ready for almost anything. You can add an HD Radio tuner, SIRIUS or XM satellite radio, a CD changer or auxiliary input, and Kenwood's iPod interface. There are three sets of preamp outputs for outboard amps. The Kenwood was the strongest of the bunch when it comes to expansion options.

Alpine's CDA-9856

Display and controls: Alpine sticks true to its roots when styling their CD receivers, and it's hard to blame them — the Alpine "look" — with the control knob and buttons clustered on the left side of the face — is distinctive and easily recognized. Having said that, the CDA-9856 suffers a little bit of a style deficit, particularly when the display is compared to the highly active OEL of the Pioneer or the bright dot-matrix of the Kenwood. Still, that's a minor criticism. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there's definitely a market for the classic lines of the CDA-9856.

Control was something of a disappointment with the CDA-9856. There's no argument to be made about function, since it is a very capable stereo, with many user-adjustable parameters. Learning how to use all of those parameters, and making quick adjustments on the fly is another matter. If you want to "set it and forget it," that's not an issue. But if you're always changing settings you may get a bit frustrated.

Sound: Alpine's CDA-9856 has ample 18 watts RMS per channel of power flowing from the internal amp, and it shows in CD playback. Once installed, I rarely had to turn it up very high to get more than satisfactory response. The sound was clear, with a nice sense of space and detail, particularly in the softer sections of the Beethoven "Scherzo". It didn't have quite the same low end as the Pioneer when running a flat EQ curve, but I was able to punch the sound up quite well by making bass adjustments.

Music file playback: This is a real strong point. The CDA-9856 accessed files quickly, navigation was logical, and, most importantly, compressed files like MP3s really sounded good, especially with the Alpine's BBE signal processor kicked on. If you like MP3s you'll like the performance. I particularly liked the Quick Search function. It allowed me to scroll through tracks or files by title, simply by spinning the rotary knob and pressing the knob in when I found the track I wanted. This is a very nice feature if you want to quickly access a favorite tune.

Sound enhancement: This was a two-edged sword. As noted before, it's not the easiest thing to make adjustments on the fly with the CDA-9856, but the capabilities for tuning and shaping your sound are quite extensive and well-realized. Alpine's Bass Engine provided excellent control, with functions for bass and treble center frequency, band width, and level. As I noted before, the BBE processing was effective in adding fullness to the sound.

Radio performance: Not much to report here — the Alpine was on a par with the Pioneer and Kenwood.

Expandability and other features: The Alpine is ready to go in the expansion game. To add on an iPod, simply purchase the optional Full Speed Connection cable and you'll be accessing your iPod through the CD player in no time. It allows full iPod control with the receiver's controls, and is a lot less bulky than adapters used with most other receiver brands. SIRIUS and XM satellite radio service can also be added with the addition of a tuner, and you can also add an auxiliary input or a CD changer. Alpine also offers an optional HD Radio tuner, something that the Pioneer doesn't offer, though the Kenwood does as well. And, it's worth knowing, you can add a remote as an option — unlike the Kenwood and Pioneer, there's none included (not a big deal to me).

And the result?

I'd be happy when any of these stereos in my dash. All offer excellent audio performance, tweakability, and the capability to build a system around them. I could truly say that each had its own strengths and weaknesses as well. The Alpine is highly capable, but a bit tricky to figure out, at least initially. The Kenwood delivered excellent overall performance, but was a bit slow in accessing MP3 and WMA files (although its ability to handle AAC files was a big plus). It also only offered two sets of preamp outputs. The Pioneer didn't offer the HD Radio-ready capabilities of the Alpine and Kenwood.

But, if I had to choose one model as being the most impressive for under $200, it would have to be the Pioneer. Not only does it have an amazing selection of sound-shaping features built in, but the Easy EQ is truly that — an EQ that's easy to use and dramatic in its effects. And there's no denying that the Pioneer is a visual knockout, with an OEL display that's impressive in any model, and especially so in one that sells for less than $200.

But the best part is this — they're all great stereos. Choose the one that fits your needs and appeals to you, and enjoy all you get for the price.