Alpine 2007 lineup a dissapointment

[ismelllikepoop 10+ year member]

as much as they do appear to have sold out, they are also a business. i would sell out in what is a dying field.

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

The H701 is still pretty nice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

For a product that basically does what some of their older top of the line HU's used to have built in (the h701 is better, of course) the h701 is too expensive at the retail price Alpine thinks its worth.

Then if you consider its been out so long that most of the costlier electronic components inside (digital chipsets) have likely decreased in cost by 40-60% since it was first designed, it should cost far less than Alpine sells it for.

Dont misunderstand, its still a great unit, but either Alpine should lower the price of such an old (in car audio..) design, or update it with newer, higher bitrate chips and keep the price where its at.

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[adam71 5,000+ posts]

What is up with Alpine?
I’ve always liked Alpine HUs - & I still do – but after looking at some of the 2007 model lines I wonder what they are up to.

Currently, a 9833 that I installed about 2 years ago is in one of our cars & I love it. For Christmas this year, I asked for a 9856 as a gift to install in another of our cars. I knew it had less features than the 9833, but was also priced much lower & for the application I thought it would be fine. I’m happy with the install, but I do miss some of the features that the 9833 has.

Received a new Crutchfield catalog yesterday. For about $300 (Crutch price) you can pick up a CDA-9885. That gets you a 2 line BioLite™ display, 3 sets of 4v outputs, full speed Ipod capability (with the $30 cable) & the typical spattering of features like a detachable face, auxiliary input, Bluetooth, wireless remote, etc.

It isn’t all that bad – but if you go to a Clarion DXZ775USB, for the same amount you get all of that & can add a motorized face (does Alpine even offer one anymore?), variable colors for the display & buttons, a USB input, 3 EQ bands (the 9885 has 2), and time alignment. The Panasonic CQ-C8305 is similar, while it appears not to have time alignment, USB, or variable colors for the buttons, it does have adjustable color for the display, the motorized face, & 7 EQ bands. Even the KDC-X791 from Kenwood & CD3100 from Eclipse, while not having motorized faces, include a USB port , 3EQ bands, & at least some flexibility on display and/or button color for the same price. Same with the Pioneer DEH-P6900UB, except for the color choices – but then again, it has 7 EQ bands.

Is it just me? I mean, in the end it’s all about SQ & I for one would rather spend $$ on that than fancy displays & gimmicks, but it seems like Alpine’s feature set is dwindling. If I buy another HU, I’d have to really think about going with Alpine again. Is Alpine’s SQ above the others (their specs are generally good) & am I just looking at this wrong?

I think Alpine is falling off the map.

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

You know its a funny thing about Alpine. As beautiful as their head units are, (and they are folks) the features you can get with Pioneer or Kenwood Excelon are so much better for the money. I just don't get it either. I will say a few good things though about Alpine. Their type R sub for the money is just fabulous. Type X is beautiful as well. I love their amps, they are rock solid. I do think they have one new head unit that is really worth a look at, but i'm sure it will cost a fortune. So will are still scatching our heads...humm

 

[Kevinch 10+ year member]

You know its a funny thing about Alpine. As beautiful as their head units are, (and they are folks) the features you can get with Pioneer or Kenwood Excelon are so much better for the money.

I'd agree on Alpine's design & the features the competition offers. I'm thinking that you might have to throw Clarion into that mix too. I didn't even consider one of their HUs when I was looking - can't believe I was so short-sighted.

I'll have to say though, that I'm not sure if I like their face plate design or not. I'd have to see one installed & play with it to decide. But even the DXZ675USB, at $250, seems to offer more than higher priced Alpine units.

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

yeah last year I demoed some alpine decks at tweeter and I found them to be very user unfriendly and annoying...I'm happy with the alpine deck I have now. though..imo motorization is just another thing to wear out...features don't really mean shart if the deck breaks after 6 months....the things I look for in a hu are preamp outputs, detachable faceplate,plays cd-r's,aux input and reliability...I could give a **** about how many colors the display has or if it plays mp3's or if it can make you coffee and toast while your driving...

 

[Kevinch 10+ year member]

yeah last year I demoed some alpine decks at tweeter and I found them to be very user unfriendly and annoying...I'm happy with the alpine deck I have now. though..imo motorization is just another thing to wear out...features don't really mean shart if the deck breaks after 6 months....the things I look for in a hu are preamp outputs, detachable faceplate,plays cd-r's,aux input and reliability...I could give a **** about how many colors the display has or if it plays mp3's or if it can make you coffee and toast while your driving...

Once I made may way through the learning curve, I've not had a problem with the Alpine HUs I've owned - but I generally leave things alone once I have them set. I do like a motorized face though, much more than a flip down. In fact, I think I'd prefer an exposed CD slot to a flip down - they just feel cheap to me. But, YMMV...

I do agree on the frills; I'd much rather have build & sound quality than moving color displays. I do like MP3 capability; 1 CD can hold about 8 to 12 albums ripped at 192Kb. It's convenient when you can carry 100 albums on 10 CDs. But MP3 capability, aux input, cd-r capability, etc. is standard on most HUs these days. That brings me back to the question: is Alpine's build, design, & sound quality higher than the competition to the degree that you can overlook their lacking feature set?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

That brings me back to the question: is Alpine's build, design, & sound quality higher than the competition to the degree that you can overlook their lacking feature set?

No.

If you limited me to buying only new head units, and not going used - Alpine offers nothing to compete with the Pio 880PRS in its price range. You have to get to either a combo setup with the H701 processsor or the F1 Status source before Alpine gives you that kind of flexibility...

The 9835 is the last enthusiast-level deck they made, for under a grand...but take a look at this forum. All you need is one look at the Subwoofers section to see what the Best Buy crowd wants. 3-way crossovers? Will that make the "mids and highs" louder? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[docutech 10+ year member]

Wow thats crazy. I was going to upgrade the KIA this year but I guess that aint happenin. I love my 3 way crossover.

 

[///M5 10+ year member]

You make me laugh Jim...or cry I guess since you are right.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I dunno. It seems more people (including myself) go active now than when I first joined.

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

I look forward to seeing what the CDA-9887 can do. In the past few years I have owned the CDA-7894, CDA-7998, and the CDA-9835. Of those, the 7998 was my favorite. My favorite Alpine setup for SQ was my CDA-7949 paired up with the PXA-H600, that was a very nice combo.

I want to check out the CDA-9887 when it comes out.

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

I look forward to seeing what the CDA-9887 can do. In the past few years I have owned the CDA-7894, CDA-7998, and the CDA-9835. Of those, the 7998 was my favorite. My favorite Alpine setup for SQ was my CDA-7949 paired up with the PXA-H600, that was a very nice combo.
I want to check out the CDA-9887 when it comes out.

Not much to check out. It is a 9835 with a face lift and better programming //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Should be a stellar deck to own! Funny how they came back to building a 9835 clone featurewise!

And yeah, I hear ya on owning and loving alpines, I have had both 7909, 7949, 7998, 9815 "think that was the number" and the 9835. I actually loved my 7949 and my 9835 the best out of them all. the 7949 was a stellar deck.

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

Good ole days...

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

Alpine's line up has been **** for 2 years,where ya been