Alpine and Kenwood

[AroraTheAcura]

Hey, Im new to this forum but i thought this would be the ideal place to find some good information on HUs. I am planning on replacing my stock unit with either Alpine or Kenwood. I am hearing mixed reviews, as expected. I dont plan on adding any subs, i just want a unit with nice and crisp sound, mp3 playback, play burnt cds. Looking for something less than 300. Does anyone have any suggestions?? feedback??

Personaly thinking of Alpine CDA-9851, or Kenwood KDC-X789

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[req 5,000+ posts]

alpine or pioneer premier.

kenwood is usually not as good of quality (read: compare to sony)

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

you could also probably throw eclipse into the pool as wel but i am partial to alpine myself.

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

eclipse is usually way more expensive than those two and has no compairison to kenwood - cept when it gets to touchscreens.

i was figuring he wants a good mp3 deck. nothing fantastic, nothing crazy. id go with alpine or pioneer (and i went with alpine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif )

 

[PowerdByGuiness 10+ year member]

i dont really like my friends' kenwoods. not really user friendly. i have an alpine and its easier to fiddle wtih, as well as pioneers

 

[AroraTheAcura]

thanks for the feedback, i had a pioneer befor and the sound to me was different and took a little bit to get use to and working with the equilizer was interesting, and thats why i did not go with pioneer again. I wanted to try something different, i was looking at the cda-9835 any comments??

 

[SKyleS 10+ year member]

Alpine all the way for me. The 9831 is amazing. Just what I need. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

thanks for the feedback, i had a pioneer befor and the sound to me was different and took a little bit to get use to and working with the equilizer was interesting, and thats why i did not go with pioneer again. I wanted to try something different, i was looking at the cda-9835 any comments??

the 9835 is a badass deck but if you don't know about how to adjust crossover slopes and things like that then you may want to consider a simpler deck. it is definately not for beginners.(not saying you are)

 

[95Eclipse 10+ year member]

I had a cda-9813 2003 HU... sold both.. kenwood excelon, and alpine... alpine wins hands down...

1. Ease of use..

2. Better xOvers

3. true 4Volt Pre-Outs were as Kenwood is 2.5 Volt...

4. More reliable not to fail!

Kenwood //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/bsflag.gif.21f42eccd34b7d1eb1608fb1b59b69c3.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif

Alpine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yes.gif.2d6d3882a589966b8145fbc57db57f33.gif

 

[.::DuD3::. 10+ year member]

i like pioneers just because the controls are more user friendly (well to me at least).

 

[MDDrew 10+ year member]

get the Kenwood KDC-X789, it does havae a learning curb but if you can use windows you shouldnt have a prob

 

[Spr0ket 10+ year member]

I say go check both units out at a store. Find out which one has easier navigation without the need to look at the deck... once there, you've got your decision. I've got a KDC-X789 and a KDC-X889 (one for each car). I used to be an old school Alpine freak, but I'm not too keen to their equipment anymore. The 889 offers tons more DSP controls over the 789. Everything from the SRS WOW effects to signal processing of the cabin size and speaker placement in inches. More effects than you can stick a shake at, that's for sure.

 

[VoTran24 10+ year member]

yea like someone said in the above post, if you dont feel like messin with the equalizer settings then you should stay away from 9833 or 9835. I think the only way you can change the sound is to adjust the 5 band equalizer...well thats how it is with my 9815...youll probably be happy with the 9831 or 9851 because those have the nice looks, easy to use bass and treble, and nice quality...I think I'd go with pioneer if sq was the most important thing though.....just my opinion thats all...goodluck