Alpine CDA-9851 vs Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X789

[scheibler 10+ year member]

I have found both heaunits for really cheap prices. I have found a local, barely used alpine 9851 with three year warranty for $200 and a Kenwood X789 for $205 shipped from SonicElectronix.com.

Which has better sq/output?

Which is built with better quality(physically built)?

The only thing that worries me about the alpine is that it has 18watts x 4 rather and only 2volts pre-amp voltage compared to the kenwoods 22watts x 4 and 5v pre-amp voltage.

I plan on installing four 6.5 kicker, alpine, pioneer, etc aftermarket speakers in my car that will be powered by the headunit rather then a seperate amp.

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[pha_queue]

i'm in the same situation right now too, i'm stuck between a kenwood and an alpine, for basically the same reasons, RMS wattage and the pre-out voltage. in those respects, kenwood is supposed to be better. also, the menu's for the alpine 985X are terrible, all the head units in that series are just about impossible to use, especially on the fly, and i need to be playing with my shit while i'm driving. a much better model is the 9847, as it should have the same sound quality but with a much easier interface.

i have friends who have alpines, and friends with kenwoods, and to be honest, i'm not terribly impressed with the alpine. everybody says that alpine is the best, i went to tweeter today and listened to the alpines, and it sounded pretty good, but it really wasn't all that impressive. tweeter doesn't sell kenwood so i have to find a place to listen to the kenwood before i buy it. found a 7028 really cheap online, the one with the really sweet screen, so i think that's the way i'm gonna go, but we'll see when i can really listen hard to the two of them next to each other. i'll let yall know what i decide

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I have found both heaunits for really cheap prices. I have found a local, barely used alpine 9851 with three year warranty for $200 and a Kenwood X789 for $205 shipped from SonicElectronix.com.

Not too shabby! Decent prices for some decent HUs.

Which has better sq/output?Which is built with better quality(physically built)?

Having no experience with the Alpines I cannot say for sure but when bought from an authorized reseller the eXcelon decks from Kenwood carry twice the warranty than that of the Alpines if that is any indicator of how the respective manufacturers feel about the assumed longevity of their products.

The only thing that worries me about the alpine is that it has 18watts x 4 rather and only 2volts pre-amp voltage compared to the kenwoods 22watts x 4 and 5v pre-amp voltage.

You're not going to be able to hear an audible difference in 4 watts (assuming that everything else is comparable) going to your speakers. And an outboard amp can get just as loud off of a 2v preout signal as it can with a 5v preout signal. The 5v signal just allows the amp to have a bit more headroom due to the stronger signal being provided to it. So long as the 2v signal sent to the amps is clean, unclipped output it should serve you fine if you end up with the Alpine (I'm a bit of a Kenwood fan so my vote goes with the X789 by default!)

I plan on installing four 6.5 kicker, alpine, pioneer, etc aftermarket speakers in my car that will be powered by the headunit rather then a seperate amp.

Okay - good luck with that!