help: Nakamichi vs Alpine vs Denon headunits

[powerslide 10+ year member]

Hi there, wondering if anyone can help me in this dilemma!

I currently have an Alpine 7894. I plan to run an aux input into my deck to play off my computer in the car. I have a 24bit soundcard as well, so quality is pretty good already. I also get most of my music from newsgroups, so the Mp3 quality is good.

I run an Alpine mrv1507 amp and 12" sub, and am planning to run another alpine v12 amp and Focal polyglass components.

I would run this all with my 7894 HOWEVER I now have the opportunity to purchase (for a very good price) a Denon DCT-R1 or a Nakamichi MB75.

I just want to know how the Alpine stands up to these, especially in my current set up. Would it be worth upgrading? how do the Denons sound compared to the Naks?

Sound quality is very important to me.

Thanks very much for your help!

PS: I am not running any external EQs or line drivers, its either all on the deck or on the amp.

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[Shugarra 10+ year member]

Okay, I've used the Alpine 9815, Nakamichi cd 400 and now the Rockford/Denon unit. The 9815 was a great deck and had all the little things you'd expect from a conventional cd player (mp3s, equalizer, time correction) but it pretty much sounded like butt if you didn't have everything setup.

The Nak was a good deck too. I had heard a lot about previous versions skipping, but this one did very well, not as good as the alpine, but it definitely wasn't a problem. I've also heard Nakamichi customer service is crap, but I never had any problems with my unit while I had it so I don't know first hand.

I'm currently using the Rockford/Denon and it's great. Has a better look, in my opinion, than the nak while still retaining an elegant simplicity. The denon also sounds better to me than either the nakamichi or the 9815. My only complaint is that it doesn't have anything more than the basic functions, no equalizer, time alignment, etc.

Now that I typed all of that I just realized all the processing will be done on your computer, beyond the strength of the input/outputs your deck won't effect sound quality at all. Using MP3s I'm not sure you'd notice the difference anyway. I'm not sure about the R1 but I know my deck has an option to boost the aux input level, might be something to look into.