N1XRR

Well, let me explain a little here. A friend of mine(who has a '78 280Z) is looking for a head-unit. He has a mid-80's shaft style POS Sony in there right now(MANUAL tuner) and he is finally looking at getting a regular DIN CD player. He talked to another friend of ours first(Matt).

Shaun(owner of the 280Z) is trying to decide between a Pioneer and Alpine, keep in mind these are the cheapest of the head units...even though the Alpine is $40 more($160 compared to $120). And Shaun is trying to justify buying the Pioneer. Matt says the Alpine is only a name and that the Pioneer may be superior. I believe the Alpine is the better head-unit. What do you guys think? Alpine or Pioneer?

BTW-I am trying to get an un-biased opinion here, by making us look like arguing high-schoolers. I will post after this to explain mine and his background.

N1XRR

Alright, now that I've got that out of the way...let me explain a little more here.

I'd like to think I've learned quite a bit about stereo equiptment over the last 6 years. I have done 6 installs....nothing major, 3 of those didn't include a sub, 2 were my own(which I'm more strict about) and 1 was Matt's. I have owned an Alpine headunit since '99 and have not ever had a problem with it. And everyone I know that has had an Alpine has had similar experiences. There are a few bad apples(like that HORRIBLE 3-disc in-dash changer Alpine made a few years back) but from my general understanding about car audio, Alpine is superior. Like I said, I'm no expert, but I know more than the average idiot.

Matt has WATCHED me install 2 of my installs. 1 in my car, the other he supervised his. He had a Pioneer headunit in his car(P8000 I believe, the first one with the Organic EL display) that sounded decent(my Alpine, I believe sounds much better). He did have many controls since I 'only' had the CDA-7838, which was a lower, older model. But he had his screen replaced 3 times, I never once had any problems like that. The buttons on the Pioneer are flimsy and there *seems* to be a major diffrence in the feel of the radio(construction wise).

Just a note- I don't like flashy head-units either. Because of Alpine's latest trend(flashy display) I not purchased a new one. I know, thats how they sell to all of these people that are just getting into audio, but my next head unit will be an Eclipse or Nakamichi(sp?). BTW- Matt also said that Eclipse is also in that 'paying for the name' group. And from what I've learned, Eclipse has a VERY VERY good track record in the audio business, and is regarded as one of the best.

Michael

RXTRA7

ALPINE has the BEST CD carriage system in the industry. They always have. They also have the best tuner. I have dealt with Alpine since 1984. When everyone else was still using Sony's crappy carriage, Alpine had their own.
Why is it better: Sony originally manufactured all CD's. When competitors chimed in, the diameter and thickness of a CD started to vary (Stack 4 or 5 of your CD's together, you can tell they they all vary in size depending on who manufactured them. Sony's carriage was designed to specifically fit and play the CD's they manufactured.
ALPINE solved that problem before it every started.
Example: I sold a CD player to a guy who LOVED Sony. After he started complaining about it not playing some of his CD's, I told him about the problem. He would not listen. I finally challenged him. I had him bring me 5 CD's that he knew skipped or wouldn't play. I put those in a different sony in our board and they all skipped where he said they would. I then placed them all in 3 different Alpine's and NONE of them skipped and they all played just fine.

my 02.

N1XRR

Thank you, not only have you told me what I(and my friends) needed to know, but you have given me a VERY good peice of information that I will remember for quite some time. Thank you!

DamonB

I still use an Alpine 7982; it was the second generation of the 3 disc in dash changer. Damned near unheard of at the time when I bought it, but still going strong at almost 10 years old.

turp182

Keep in mind that the events rxatra7 mentioned were during the 80s. I've had two Pioneer mid-level ($250) headunits over the past 5 years with no problems (except for when the car got broken into and the 1st one disappeared).

As well, I have a friend who has a 4 year old Alpine headunit which doesn't have the twin laser thing that allows for the playing of CDR or burnt CDs. My first Pioneer (older than his Alpine) had no problem playing burned CDs.

Personally, I think they are all very similar. The biggest difference between brands is probably the amp, and if you do everything via external amps, that's not a big factor.

TRURX7

Alpine head units are far superior in sound quality to Pioneer. They are not worth the difference in price though. I personally have had excellent results with JVC. I had a head unit/cd changer package now and still working since 95.

Icemark

Also from being in the car audio biz for 18+ years (and remember personally putting in the first Alpine CD player in San Diego (the 7900- which was a Sony and piece of crap) all the way up to todays models, I can say Alpine makes the most reliable (with the exception of the old 7900) and one of the best sounding CD players at what ever price point you choose.

I personally would not consider any other brand CD player for my vehicles.

3kgt&rx7man

I was gonna put a alpine cva 1005 and a alpine dva 5205... will that be as good as quality as if i has a dvd hooked up to my tv inside? i figure it will lack a little but i dont know :?

N1XRR

Thanks for the info guys. Its good to see people around who actually know what they're talking about and not just 'stating their opinion.' I'm going to be getting a new headunit today, one of the new Alpine's...my audio processor doesn't work, and its the last one they have...so I'm returning it to the store and buying an upper model Alpine, which would have almost the power output of my amp I was going to buy(27wx4 rms, compared to the amp which was 30x4).

If anything, maybe this thread will give some insight into the stereo world for my friends....thanks again.

Michael

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Well 12 years of Alpine and Pioneer experience here... In the basic units the features and such are just about equal. The Alpine is a little better, but in terms of reliablity and operation, also taking in account sound quality. They are both just about equal. Just what ever you do dont get a Sony, unless you like a empty hole in your dash while its away at service, sometime in its warranty period...

N1XRR

Like I said before, I've had an Alpine headunit since winter of '99, but now I've just bought a CDA-7893...WOW, this is one GREAT peice of equiptment!

Speed_Machine

Well, if your friend is only going for the cheapest head unit he can find, whether its the pioneer or the alpine, he's only going to get substandard sound, because neither of the two will use quality componants and you wont get true clean mosfit power out of either of them. Both decks mentioned actually have the similar panasonic componants in them. so unless hes going to buy a high end deck from alpine (which is better than a high end pioneer) id go with the pioneer, cuz there wont be much difference in quality between the two.

WillOwnOneSomeday

You'd be surprised just how good the quality is. I own a CVA 1005 and DVA 5200 and currently have them installed. The DVD playback was really more than I expected for that size screen. I've decided to sell the stuff though as of late, not because I didn't like the equipment, but rather that I think I need to kind of simplify things in my audio system. Then I can bank some money and live up to my screen name and get a 3rd Gen.

In response to the original question. Alpine makes some fantastic headunits. Some of their older decks are really BARGAINS for quality SQ decks as well.

keynote22

Im doing the research now as well: my input

Higher end alpines and pioneers ad 1 usable feature that their lesser price brothers do not...imagining and time adjust. These are features that help tune the system for optimal sound. By fussing with the imaging you can actually hear the stereo moving around the cabin. The lower price deh's and the like have too many video games for my taste. Who need jumping dolphins on an lcd?? That being said...I still think the nakamichis have better sound quality for a no frills player. ok ok the nakamich skips a bit on some burned cds but I'd pit my 2 year old cd-40 against the $799 alpine anyday of the week for depth and sound quality provided you turn off all the timing and imagining stuff. In my opinion its like Brittany Spears...every hear her sing without all the electronic dubbing...man she sucks!!! Ad a few over dubs and she sounds pretty good and shes not bad to look at. Same is true for the bulk of car stereos. All and all though, I'd stay away from nakamichi...theres just no support for the product anymore. you can get an alpine anywhere

bureau_c

I'll chime in with one minor bit of anecdotal evidence. I've got an older Alpine cassette head unit and a 6-disc CD changer. I had this setup in my '87 T2 years ago, and when I got my FD in '95 I moved it over. I think in all that time I may have had a CD skip three times, and in all cases, huge bumps were involved. Keep in mind that much of this was in an FD...if there was ever a suspension born to f*** with a CD carriage, it was the FD.

The other thing is the cassette...not that anyone listens to cassettes anymore...but prior to the Alpine I had a Clarion, and I was never happy with the cassette transport on that thing. There was always this subtle warble to it that the Brandsmart technicians mysteriously couldn't hear (imagine that!). I have never had that issue with the Alpine.

jds

Brentis

i just installed the alpine 7894 (mp3 capable/time correlation/hi-low crossover/ 60 watt mosfet amp peak) with jl audio vr 6.5 in doors and tr 5x7's in back and it rocks!

Got it for $350 installed with dedicated power ran from the battery...

KNONFS

iTrader: (14)

Icemark is a guy with experience, and I know for a fact that mine is not even close to 18 years!! LOL

But, you can ask a question to a million of installers and you will get a million answers (if not 2 millions). I am an Eclipse (Fujitsu Ten) fan, even after working for Alpine reps in P.R.!! Don't get me wrong, Alpine is a top notch brand, but there are other which are even or better, IMHO!!

Now I don't really like the Low Budget Alpine head unit, but to be honest (and fair) I don't really like any low budget head unit. In my experience, a Pioneer and Kenwood head unit will give you the same amount of reliabillity as a low budget Alpine head unit.

My .02 cents

Node

iTrader: (1)

what do you guys think about clarion?

Kaotic Dan

I also work in the car audio bussiness, but i'm no expert, we will always have more to learn right?

As far as entry level units, honestly, it doesnt really matter. They are all going to give you roughly similar features and benefits. Assuming you stick with a good brand (boycott jensen hehe).

If your talkin about higher end units, you can't really go wrong with Pioneer, Alpine, or Eclipse. Sony's higher end Mobile ES decks were pretty good a couple years ago, but the new Xlod line sucks *** in my opinion... excluding the MEH-1HD with the built in HD. Even thier LCD screens suck.

I personally am a fan of Alpine. Seems thier game plan is more Function over Form (though by no means ugly), and Pioneer's going the Form over Function route. A little bit of flashiness is cool, but never more important than good sound and good tunability. IMHO of course. Though, bieng in New Mexico, we sell alot of decks to people who go offroading, and from thier responses it seems Pioneer has better shock resistence. Also, the DEH940P has an optional microphone you can clip next to where your sitting and it will listen in and filter out road noise and such with white noise. Pretty cool. Eclipse decks are awesome, but I gotta admit I don't know a whole lot about them, except that everyone I know who has had one has loved it.

Best thing to do is read up a little bit about the fundamentals so you understand the basics of **** like time correction,EQ's, High freq and low freq crossovers, higher voltage preouts, etc. Then go to your local shop and play around and see which one will benefit you the best.

Hope I didn't ramble too much. Peace.

bureau_c

In my limited experience they are clearly inferior to Alpine heads of the same or slightly greater cost. I had mine in the Brandsmart service department several times due to subtle but quite clearly problematic issues with cassette sound quality (not that anyone cares about that anymore).

jds

bureau_c

Its funny that you think Alpines are moving towards the flashy display...have you seen the latest Sony, Pioneer or even Kenwood decks? Good God! The Alpines are downright Spartan in comparison. I can't stand most of those others, but I do like the style of the newer Alpines quite a bit.

jds


N1XRR wrote:

Just a note- I don't like flashy head-units either. Because of Alpine's latest trend(flashy display) I not purchased a new one

Roger Collins

nx1rr

choosing between the two is simple even if you are not familiar with alpine and pioneer.


the advantages of the alpine are.

1 sub level control - the most important feature know to man - you like bass right!

2 cd changer controller, aux input, video system capable - not the 2002 model wait for 2003 model - in stores now.

3 rotory encoder **** - we are rotor heads aren't we - also 2003 model

4 never buy audio equipment sold at wal-mart......period...


when everyone talks about how long they have had their radio thats great but reliability comes from the big picture and i have sold all of the major brand names and nothing i mean nothing compares to alpines reliability. that doesn't someone out there hasn't had a problem with them.

last words of advice don't ever cheese on a 7
buy a better radio like the cda 7894. better hurry the dual color illumination is lost in the 2003 model.

keynote22

^
Kraco heads kick ***!! Sound design subs are tiiiighttt!!!

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

When reliability comes into play: I've got a 12 year old eclipse headunit.. still sounds AMAZING, and still works fantastic. I realize that he's not looking for one, and if you're only spending $120, well, you'll get what you pay for.