CDA-9835 or DEH-P880PRS

[profoundwill 10+ year member]

It's hard to beat a CDA-9835!!

 

[macdon 10+ year member]

It's hard to beat a CDA-9835!!

Yeah, too bad I learned that the hard way //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

I just thought that since the 9835 is about 3yrs old, I thought that somehow Pioneer would have some technological advancement to compete.

Have there been adequate reviews that are out if the new 9887 would be at par with the 9835?

 

[profoundwill 10+ year member]

Have there been adequate reviews that are out if the new 9887 would be at par with the 9835?

I have not read any, however I still don't think it will be better than the 9835, but we will see

 

[Babs 10+ year member]

The 880PRS finally arrived last weekend and we got to test it out yesterday.....sadly, I was dissapointed.
About 10 days ago, I mentioned in this board about the Alpine 9835 I got from Desertheat. The Alpine replaced my Pioneer P7700MP which was a great improvement overall. It tamed the tweets of my Focals and I heard miniscule details in my Focal 165V2s that i didnt hear with my 7700. Definitely, changing to Alpine was a good upgrade!

We still kept the 9835 in "flat" setting 'coz we know that in a week or two, we would be comparing it to the Pioneer 880PRS when it arrives. We thought that we would also audition the 880PRS in flat settings.

A week after we installed the 9835, I had a unique opportunity in changing my Focal 165V2 front speakers into Hertz Mille MLK165 - now that is definitely a great upgrade!

Now that you know the changes that transpired while waiting for the 880PRS.....lets get back to auditioning it.

The 880 was "grainy", at flat settings - it somehow has a boost in both the high & low frequencies. Subwoofer output was strong, but the tweets were bright & kinda harsh. We also needed about 25% more volume on the 880 to be at par with the Alpine........and I thought the 880 had a stronger 5v preout compared to the Alpine's 4v.

Overall, the 880 wasnt smooth - the edges was somewhat jagged, not smooth & rounded as the Alpine. Due to both the high/low boost, we lost some details in the middle & we had to backtrack a bit in order to check if those details were present.

While I'm sure it could be massaged more with using its 16 independent L&R EQ, I was just dissapointed with it to continue.

My installer & I had great expectations coming from the 880.....sadly, it left us both dissapointed.

I've been a Pioneer user most my life........so i think its time to change.

WOW! Enlightening.. Good write-up.

Ya know, the more I'm reading about this 9835 the more I've come to respect it.. I'm very unfamiliar with it but I'm seeing that that must have been one of Alp's last if not their last decent SQ HU..

After finally seeing what the *** end of the 9887 looks like, I had a thought... You don't see high-end home audio pre-amps with a pig-tail from some plug type connector hanging off of them for RCA's.. It's poor design for fidelity.. Why would it be acceptible in car audio then? I think that little thing hurts fidelity, though slight..

The preamp signal is pretty fragile, so putting an extra unnecessary crap-connector between the preamp channels and the amps to me is ludicrous.. call me a purist... But it's one thing I liked to see on the back of the Alpines.. It's probably the one thing I wasn't too crazy about with the Pioneers and Clarions and other.

I wouldn't mind pig-tailed RCA's straight off the preamp board with good quality cable and RCA plug-ins, but a cheap connector is just shoddy. Not to suggest too much that this is the reason for your results, but just a thought I had. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[Towncar 10+ year member]

The 880PRS finally arrived last weekend and we got to test it out yesterday.....sadly, I was dissapointed.
About 10 days ago, I mentioned in this board about the Alpine 9835 I got from Desertheat. The Alpine replaced my Pioneer P7700MP which was a great improvement overall. It tamed the tweets of my Focals and I heard miniscule details in my Focal 165V2s that i didnt hear with my 7700. Definitely, changing to Alpine was a good upgrade!

We still kept the 9835 in "flat" setting 'coz we know that in a week or two, we would be comparing it to the Pioneer 880PRS when it arrives. We thought that we would also audition the 880PRS in flat settings.

A week after we installed the 9835, I had a unique opportunity in changing my Focal 165V2 front speakers into Hertz Mille MLK165 - now that is definitely a great upgrade!

Now that you know the changes that transpired while waiting for the 880PRS.....lets get back to auditioning it.

The 880 was "grainy", at flat settings - it somehow has a boost in both the high & low frequencies. Subwoofer output was strong, but the tweets were bright & kinda harsh. We also needed about 25% more volume on the 880 to be at par with the Alpine........and I thought the 880 had a stronger 5v preout compared to the Alpine's 4v.

Overall, the 880 wasnt smooth - the edges was somewhat jagged, not smooth & rounded as the Alpine. Due to both the high/low boost, we lost some details in the middle & we had to backtrack a bit in order to check if those details were present.

While I'm sure it could be massaged more with using its 16 independent L&R EQ, I was just dissapointed with it to continue.

My installer & I had great expectations coming from the 880.....sadly, it left us both dissapointed.

I've been a Pioneer user most my life........so i think its time to change.

In order to properly tune all 16bands the 880 has, you need an rta.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

The 880PRS finally arrived last weekend and we got to test it out yesterday.....sadly, I was dissapointed.
About 10 days ago, I mentioned in this board about the Alpine 9835 I got from Desertheat. The Alpine replaced my Pioneer P7700MP which was a great improvement overall. It tamed the tweets of my Focals and I heard miniscule details in my Focal 165V2s that i didnt hear with my 7700. Definitely, changing to Alpine was a good upgrade!

We still kept the 9835 in "flat" setting 'coz we know that in a week or two, we would be comparing it to the Pioneer 880PRS when it arrives. We thought that we would also audition the 880PRS in flat settings.

A week after we installed the 9835, I had a unique opportunity in changing my Focal 165V2 front speakers into Hertz Mille MLK165 - now that is definitely a great upgrade!

Now that you know the changes that transpired while waiting for the 880PRS.....lets get back to auditioning it.

The 880 was "grainy", at flat settings - it somehow has a boost in both the high & low frequencies. Subwoofer output was strong, but the tweets were bright & kinda harsh. We also needed about 25% more volume on the 880 to be at par with the Alpine........and I thought the 880 had a stronger 5v preout compared to the Alpine's 4v.

Overall, the 880 wasnt smooth - the edges was somewhat jagged, not smooth & rounded as the Alpine. Due to both the high/low boost, we lost some details in the middle & we had to backtrack a bit in order to check if those details were present.

While I'm sure it could be massaged more with using its 16 independent L&R EQ, I was just dissapointed with it to continue.

My installer & I had great expectations coming from the 880.....sadly, it left us both dissapointed.

I've been a Pioneer user most my life........so i think its time to change.

Ok, so you're comparing the 880 with Hertz speakers to the 9835 with Focal speakers?? The big changes or shortcomings that you're experiencing with the 880 could very well be the speakers. Not to mention what kind of a test is a FLAT test?? I understand it tells you how a deck sounds from the factory but again speakers play a huge roll in this as well. A true FLAT test would have been comparing the 2 head units on the SAME spearkers. The best part of the 880 is it's tuning ability so you leave it flat?? You can draw your own conclusions and choose for yourself on which you like best but I think you're cheating yourself. How can you make a choice on decks based solely on what they sound like flat.?? Makes no sense to me. Especially when the 880 has a lot of tuning ability. That would be like comparing to a DEX-P9 and deciding to not hook up the DEQ-P9 because you wanted to hear it flat.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif Again, it's your deck and your money but I don't think you tested it right. Sort of "apples to oranges". Just my opinion.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Ok, so you're comparing the 880 with Hertz speakers to the 9835 with Focal speakers?? The big changes or shortcomings that you're experiencing with the 880 could very well be the speakers. Not to mention what kind of a test is a FLAT test?? I understand it tells you how a deck sounds from the factory but again speakers play a huge roll in this as well. A true FLAT test would have been comparing the 2 head units on the SAME spearkers. The best part of the 880 is it's tuning ability so you leave it flat?? You can draw your own conclusions and choose for yourself on which you like best but I think you're cheating yourself. How can you make a choice on decks based solely on what they sound like flat.?? Makes no sense to me. Especially when the 880 has a lot of tuning ability. That would be like comparing to a DEX-P9 and deciding to not hook up the DEQ-P9 because you wanted to hear it flat.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif Again, it's your deck and your money but I don't think you tested it right. Sort of "apples to oranges". Just my opinion.

From my understanding, he changed the speakers while he still had the 9835 installed. Auditioning them and leaving the unit flat still.

Then he auditioned the 880 with the Hertz speakers as well, and left it flat.

So essentially, we shouldn't have to worry about the Focal speakers. It's a null point.

Also, though I somewhat agree with you on the tuning part. I'd rather have to not tune as much to get it where I want it. Comparing these two deck on their "flat" setting let's you know how good of a transport it is, see if there's anything that stands out in the DAC, or S/N ratio and such.

I'd rather not have to add in artificial boost if one deck sounds better than the other flat... or with less EQ'ing.

Comparing the two, all other things equal (Speakers, AMP, CD, song)... if as described I'd take the 9835. (This is theoretical, if as described).

My good friend has an 880, I'd say it's one of the only new decks out right now I'd recommend for someone looking for a full-featured 3-way active HU... but I've never had the chance to A/B it against my 9835. Playing around with it, I didn't like the control of it. Though I have grown accustomed to Alpines.

I truly believe that the CDA-9835 is the last great deck Alpine has made. (F#1 status aside).

nG

 

[macdon 10+ year member]

Ok, so you're comparing the 880 with Hertz speakers to the 9835 with Focal speakers?? The big changes or shortcomings that you're experiencing with the 880 could very well be the speakers. Not to mention what kind of a test is a FLAT test?? I understand it tells you how a deck sounds from the factory but again speakers play a huge roll in this as well. A true FLAT test would have been comparing the 2 head units on the SAME spearkers. The best part of the 880 is it's tuning ability so you leave it flat?? You can draw your own conclusions and choose for yourself on which you like best but I think you're cheating yourself. How can you make a choice on decks based solely on what they sound like flat.?? Makes no sense to me. Especially when the 880 has a lot of tuning ability. That would be like comparing to a DEX-P9 and deciding to not hook up the DEQ-P9 because you wanted to hear it flat.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif Again, it's your deck and your money but I don't think you tested it right. Sort of "apples to oranges". Just my opinion.

Nope. I already changed speakers from Focal 165V2 to Hertz Mille MLK165, even BEFORE the 880 arrived. So to answer your question - yes, both HUs were tested with the SAME speakers.