Upgrading Necessary?

[xNaStYx 10+ year member]

So back for my birthday in April I got a Alpine CDE-9874. At first I wasn't planning on installing anything but obviously that has changed. Now that I am getting more into car audio and planning on getting some subs for a summer project should I be worried about the HU first? It's a low end Alpine and it was cheap. Should I upgrade to a higher end alpine? Or will this be okay?

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[Super Pickle 10+ year member]

honestly, as long as it has 3 pre outs then you will be fine. I'd worry about getting the other stuff first then upgrade to a head unit that you can narrow down to the features you feel you need with your system

Some people will say that the first step in a system is a headunit, and although i agree, you already are different from a stock head unit so i personally think ur all good.

 

[xNaStYx 10+ year member]

What is a higher end alpine that is good for the money?

 

[Super Pickle 10+ year member]

9887 and 9886, but really for the money the 9887

 

[FJF 10+ year member]

So back for my birthday in April I got a Alpine CDE-9874. At first I wasn't planning on installing anything but obviously that has changed. Now that I am getting more into car audio and planning on getting some subs for a summer project should I be worried about the HU first? It's a low end Alpine and it was cheap. Should I upgrade to a higher end alpine? Or will this be okay?

I had a 9873 - essentially the same deck as yours - and I run a 9887 ATM. If you don't need the tuning tools, aren't planning on running active, and aren't interested in subtle sonic improvements, stay with what you have.