which is a better brand of H/U?

[slick rick 10+ year member]

im looking at either pionner or alpine. which brand and which model do you recommend for under $400?

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[B|2imstone 10+ year member]

alpine cda-7995 if u have an amp for your speakers, or a cda-9815 if you want an amp with your headunit. 9815 goes for around $350, and the 7995 is goin for $300 on crutchfield.

 

[LBX2G 10+ year member]

Alpine all the way. TOO lazy to look up prices and model# but alpine is way better than Pioneer.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

why is alpine better? im not questioning your knowledge but just wondering why it is infact better?

 

[carolinaACCORD 10+ year member]

Lower THD, higher S/N ratio, higher preout voltage, the Alpine stereo's excel in about every way. From what I've experienced anyway.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

is there an audible difference because of that? or will only audiophiles notice it?

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

is there an audible difference because of that? or will only audiophiles notice it?

You won't notice a difference in sound quality between an Alpine and a Pioneer.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13391

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13215

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12093

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13053

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13398

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11564

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13364

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12499

- Steve

 

[LBX2G 10+ year member]

yes u will there is a big difference. While company's like panasonic and pioneer like to spend more time on the face of the headunit. Company like alpine and esclpise worry about the gut of it. Alpine has more sound shapin features, and more musical enhancement features.:thumbsup

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

You won't notice a difference in sound quality between an Alpine and a Pioneer.
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13391

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13215

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12093

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13053

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13398

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11564

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13364

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=12499

- Steve

thanx. i was looking at the pioneer 850. whats the diff between that an the premier version of it? and is it worth the diff in price?

 

[carolinaACCORD 10+ year member]

You know what, upon further inspection of the Pioneer DEH-P7500MP ($399.99) and the Alpine CDA-9805 ($399.00), there'es really not that big of a difference between the two. The cosmetics are the biggest difference. Which I personally like the Alpine screens better. I had the DEH-P7400MP, and I hated the way it would switch from blue to black, blue to black, blue to black.

But yeah, you more than likely won't notice anything greatly different.

I'd pick Clarion over either of them, IMHO. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

Lower THD, higher S/N ratio, higher preout voltage, the Alpine stereo's excel in about every way. From what I've experienced anyway.

Alpine may have higher pre out voltages on a few Pioneers, but that certainly isn't true for most of them. As for thd and s/n, alpine's numbers may be better(I don't know, haven't compared numbers on them). However, If you like an alpine's sound better than pioneer's, I bet those numbers have nothing to do with that. FWIW, I prefer Eclipse(having owned pioneer, alpine, kenwood, clarion, and 4 eclipses).

 

[snipe523 10+ year member]

I just went from an Alpine 9813 to a Pioneer Premier DEH-850mp and after taking the time to adjust all the settings I prefer the sound I get out of the 850. Now take into account that I have no amp on my comps because it blew, but purely running off of the HU I seem to be able to get much more midrange from the 850. After initialy installing the 850 I wanted to throw it out the window because it sounded horrible. But after really taking the time to adjust it, it now sounds better than my alpine did in my opinion.

 

[Spddracer 10+ year member]

I have had pioneers forever . Never had problem one out of any of them and always liked the way they sounded . Bought an eclipse 8051 didnt like the way it sounded . May have been my older amps were nopt capable of using the 8 volt preouts I think it was overdriving my amps hence making them clip . . My current Hu is a alpine 7894. Which I do like the sound of but it is very picky on which cds it plays without skipping . You can take a pioneer and drive over your cd use it for shoes for a week and it will still play it . Wipe your new cd off with a soft cloth and try to play it in my alpine and it will skip ( a little exagerrated) .. Dont know if I got a bad Hu or what but from my experience my next HU will be a Pioneer , I chose the alpine do to the Price/Features I love the Built in time delay/Bass focus . It is amazing what it will do !! The last Hu I had before my current one was also a Alpine and within 6 months the CD deck went bad . Other than my new one skipping with scratched cds its been a great HU . Listen to the ones youa re interested in and see which one sounds best to you . Every manufacture will have a different sound to it the one you like the best is the one you should get .

 

[skeetskurt 10+ year member]

I have seen a thread comparing alpine and pioneer on this too many times. Are those the only two people like to compare. Alpine 9815 is my thought by the way.

 

[Bavarian3 10+ year member]

also look into eclipse Head units....