alpine unit "f1" has more of a mulimedia type razzle to it than anything. toooo much eq , it does dts ( oh boy i wont put a tv in my ride and even if i did i i wouldnt need 5.1 or anything..... i wanna know in 9 outa 10 video systems in a car the screen is nowhere centered to make this truely fessable anyway..real world its a 5-10 inch screen for gods sake) surround sound is less perfect than stereo as far as realism goes. its ahead of its time as far as what it is capible to process. but we all know what that means.....means its easily made better for less down the road. alotta bells alota whistles ..too me all it is is what i have with the before things i complained about in the pre 9p pioneer (non odr) top of the line sets. we all know thats a comp grade mic it comes with nothing will ever beat a proper stereo setting as far as realism goes what we are getting into now is dare i say over proccesing? highest end surround sound reciever/speaker combos tack a back seat to a high end amp high end stereo pair of speakers EVERY REAL audiophile i know has both and when they wanna listen to the best they go "old school"