alpine vs kenwood

[BassRulesCarz 10+ year member]

who has the better head unit for top of the line each brand makes

im thinking of cda-9855 but is the top kenwood better than the alpine is alpine better

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[woody89 10+ year member]

I perfer Kenwood, but thats just me. My brother has always used Kenwood and they have never disapointed me.

 

[wlmrs 10+ year member]

Kenwood!!!

 

[kotec123 10+ year member]

alpine

 

[Ko-B 10+ year member]

I like both brands of HU's, but Kenwood uses a 4 band parametric eq where as the Alpine uses 5. I always thought it was odd that Kenwood uses 4.

 

[PowerdByGuiness 10+ year member]

alpine

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

I've owned both. Their high end stuff sounds identical, functions nearly identical, but i'm a german car fanatic, and i went back to a kenwood because it matched my interior better. They're that close, imo.

 

[O.C.AccordES]

I never used Alpine before so i don't know but i heard it pretty good, yet i have owned 2 keenwoods, both break down on me. i know it doesn't happen to every1 but you should consider of the posibilities before u buy it. i would never go for kenwood again !!!

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I'll be the counterpoint to O.C. AccordES...

I've been using Kenwood head units exclusively since somewhere around '89 or '90 and I've only ever had one let me down and then only after I spilled a half-full Sprite into the back of it (seemingly the cassette mechanism was unimpressed by the uninvited liquid guest)

Outside of that I have never had one break or quit on me. Currently I have the 25th Anniversary edition deck and I love it. Period. Recently Crutchfield dropped the price to $400 and from an authorized retailer with a full manufacturer's warranty that's pretty awesome for such a capable deck. From an admitted Kenwood fanboi my vote naturally goes to the Kenwood.

To be fair, though, Alpine's CDA-9855 is a very capable deck in its own right. Feature-packed and easy on the eyes, too (Alpine's BioLite display is pretty nice - but I prefer the full color OEL on the Kenwood)

For a basic to an involved system either choice would make for a solid performing center unit.

All in all? Get whichever one you like the looks of better or whichever can be acquired significantly cheaper. I really don't think either would disappoint.

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

Prowler is right both are capable decks, I happen to use an Alpine 9855, Love it to death

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

I would take the 9855 over the XXV-01D, more expandability and tuning options. Also much easier to use and the interface is a lot more intuitive then the Kenwood.

-ROFL at all the people who posted in this thread about how their brother owned one brand and he was never let down so that's why they sugguest you get that, or because someone told them that Alpine was a good brand...

I've used and sold both decks for the past year, obviously the 9855 more extensively because that is what I have in my personal vehicle. Any detailed questions feel free to PM me.

 

[spudracer326 10+ year member]

i have a 9855 and love it. I have also owned kenwood and have liked those as well. like stated above get whichever you think looks and more importantly sounds better.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

One more thing i'll point out is a lot of people complain because kenwoods have less eq expandability, but they don't mention the fact that kenwood decks let you customize the freq. range CONTROLLED by "bass" "mid" and "high" frequencies in the simple equalizer, and also not only your crossover points, but the slope.

I still say the decks are nearly identical besides the looks, alpine has the more simple, clean, organized, 'functional' look, while kenwoods have the more gaudy, yet crowded design, which is almost to a fault, since i usually equate gaudy looking decks with poor quality decks who use looks to gain sales, like sony or panasonic. I just don't think the equalizer debate should be a deciding point between the alpines and the kenwoods, kenwood uses a eq system with less individual settings, but lets you customize the eq itself.

Sorry, i'm off my pedestal now.

 

[Flyer 10+ year member]

Never had an alpine, but I had the kenwood 889 and I had a problem with skipping once I upgraded my sub. Went with eclipse and everything is fine. If it were me I would try the alpine.

Flyer

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

I have owned both top of the line of each brand and was

blown away when I swapped in the new Excelon's