Pioneer and Alpine are probably the two top brands out now. Both make quality decks and the least amount of problems that I’ve seen.
Kenwood and Clarion are probably the next best choices as far as quality goes.
JVC and Panasonic would be next in line. Their good bang for the buck decks. Their easy to use and cheap. If your looking to just swap out a factory radio and keep it basic, these would be a good brands.
Sony makes rather poorly made 12 volt products. Their CD changers are good, but everything else is pretty low quality unless your dealing with their old Mobile ES equipment from back in the day.
I’ve seen ly555is post that Eclipse >* in a few threads. They used to be some of the best made decks out there, but their quality sucks as of now, you might want to do some research. They dont even come with a detachable face, and the ESN is a pretty stupid concept. Their a knock off of alot of JVC/Sony designs.
Just about any brand deck has an option to have an aux input. If its not built in on the face, you can buy a cable that will convert the cd changer input to an aux input. Also, most companies make an ipod interface that will allow you to plug your deck like an aux input, but the advantage is that you can conrol your ipod right from the deck.