Which is the better hu.... I need some knowledge!

[NissanKicker 10+ year member]

Hey everyone!

... I currently have an " Alpine CDE-102 " in my Nissan Sentra.

I recently got ahold ( From a trade ) of 2 BRAND NEW decks...

1) Panasonic CQ-7103U

... and an

2) Alpine CDE-9852

I was wondering should I switch from my current deck to one of the other 2? Or am I better off with what's already in my car?

I've never had a Panasonic ( meaning no Experience with one) ... But my cousin had one ( I'm not sure of the model - it did look IDENTICAL to this one though!) - But he switched to an Alpine CDE-9872... I'm not sure if it didn't get him what he was lookin' for or what...

... And the only down fall I'm seeing on the Alpine CDE-9852 is that it only has 1 RCA PREOUT ( Front/Sub )... Which means I'm not going to be able to have a Highs amp & Sub amp, I'm going to have to choose 1 or the other... I'll have to run my Front & Rear stages off of the HU's Internal Amp.

My current HU ( Alpine CDE-102 ) has 2 RCA PREOUTS ( Front & Rear/Sub )... But the features ( from looking at the manuals ) seems like they ( The Alpine's ) are almost NECK & NECK with one another.

.... Can anyone tell me of their opinion of the matter... Thank you. All Input is GREATLY appreciated!

Click to read more...

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

I definitely like the 9852 better cosmetically speaking over the 102. The 102 is going to be better if you decide to amp your front stage and a sub or 2. A rear fill, IMHO, is pointless so you could run that off the internal amp on any of the HUs. The Panasonic seems to have the most features out of the 3 you've got. All 3 have 2 volt pre outs on them. The Panasonic wins in my book. The only experience I have with them though is in other peoples' cars. I've never ran one.

 

[NissanKicker 10+ year member]

I definitely like the 9852 better cosmetically speaking over the 102. The 102 is going to be better if you decide to amp your front stage and a sub or 2. A rear fill, IMHO, is pointless so you could run that off the internal amp on any of the HUs. The Panasonic seems to have the most features out of the 3 you've got. All 3 have 2 volt pre outs on them. The Panasonic wins in my book. The only experience I have with them though is in other peoples' cars. I've never ran one.

... Thank you for that bro - I to like the 9852 - But I'm need to be able to hear my music of these d*mn subs ( and running my front stage off of the HU - I doubt that's gonna be enough for that to happen ) The Panasonic does seems like it's GREAT HU - Features on the manuals look very VERY nice. But like you ( I have no experience with it )

... I'm guessing I'm gonna have to keep what I have cause of the RCA Preout issue. I really need an amp on my front stage.

 

[Bassin Buick]

my brother had a panasonic in his taurus a few years back and it was nice. He had some alt noise issues but i had the same problem when i bought his mtx thunder amps from him so i'm pretty sure it was the amps causing the noise issue and not the deck. Some older panasonics are very nice decks.

 

[NissanKicker 10+ year member]

my brother had a panasonic in his taurus a few years back and it was nice. He had some alt noise issues but i had the same problem when i bought his mtx thunder amps from him so i'm pretty sure it was the amps causing the noise issue and not the deck. Some older panasonics are very nice decks.

... Thanks Bassin' Buick - It does look nice... The Blue color of the display is outrageously nice looking...

Maybe I could call Alpine & see if there's something I could do.