vosko

iTrader: (4)

my alpine cda-7844 has appeared of kicked the bucket tonight after almost 4 years of faithfuly service. i'm looking into the new alpine MP3 cdplayer but its $850 retail. my 3 top brand choices are alpine,kenwood and sony. please gimme some suggestions. i don't want the funky looking sony xplod....

Icemark

Alpine is the only choice.

vosko

iTrader: (4)

i'm probably going to get one in the $300 price range. i have to goto www.soundcity.com today and see what they got

evoandy

sony is in your list, but pioneer isn't? I've had 3 sony head units, and they have all stopped working within a month. Go with Clarion, Pioneer, or Alpine.
You might also want to try Ballistic-mobile.com Their prices are REALLY low, I don't know how they are to work with though. If you buy from them, I'd be interested in hearing how nice they were, and how quick the service was. Their prices are just soooo DAMN LOW!

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Best MP3 deck bar none!
I just ordered one. Can get them brand new of ebay for $400.00
check it out
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...3Z828&o=M&a=0\

Kenwood all the way!

dnewman

You may also want to consider the JVC KD-SH99. I know 3 people who have purchased one after auditioning the other units mentioned and thought the JVC was the best sounding. JVC has also improved their suspect quality in recent years. I would have no problem recommending it.

BTW, The alpine is probably the best one mentioned, but the cost is prohibitive.

AARotary

Get the Alphine.

95R2-89TII Ground Zero

I worked at Circuit City for two years in the car audio department, and I will say that when I sold an Alpine, I knew that I would never see it again. Those things never came back, never. I loved to sell them cause the customer got so happy when it worked like a charm that they would call and get me good points to my boss.

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

Alpine Head Units = Overrated and overpriced.
Yeah they make nice stuff, but you can get as much sound quality with more features, longer warranty and a better price with some one else (ie. Kenwoods excelon line).
Don't get me wrong I love Alpine and have two of their V12 amps, but you kind find better.
If you really want something nice, go with Mcintosh.

dnewman

Overrated? Not really. Overpriced? Probably. You are paying for the name, but then again, there is a reason why they got that name.

Check the JVC model I mentioned as well. There may be some options that are as good as the Alpine, but there aren't many companies who have consistently pulled off the quality of Alpine.

Good choice....and I did. MC440M amp. Overpriced? Definitely. Overrated? Not a chance! I love my mac.

Icemark

Ahh I have not had good luck with the build quality of the Mac stuff. Musically they sound wonderful, but so did the early Sound Stream and Nakamichi, but they haven't been reliable for me.

That is why I like the Japanese Alpine stuff (Alpine builds in North America, China, and Japan). The Japanese stuff is generally thier higher end units and it lasts forever. Heck I even have an old Alpine 7273 that I use for my garage radio that the tape still works in. That deck is over 20 years old

dnewman

Really? You are honestly the first person I have ever heard of that had problems (at least with the amps) from McIntosh. The thing that really differentiates them is their customer service. I was in a car accident that wiped out my car. I called Mc and they sent me a RMA number and paid for teh shipping. They thoroughly tested it, replaced some damaged panels and sent it back to me. Total cost: $0.00 including shipping.

Icemark

Yep, last stereo shop I worked for we dropped the line (Mac) because of too many DOA or DW60D (Dead within 60 days) amps.

Actually most of the failures were in the input section, lame stuff like cold solder joints and stuff like that. Stuff we could fix in-house, but it was the more the point of it.

It costs money and customer confidence to R&R an amp and send it in, even if the cust serv was great.

We replaced the Mac Amp line with Arc Audio amps. Comparable sound quality, lower cost, almost no DOA. Didn't sell enough of the Mac heads or speakers to keep ordering.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

We sell the 3 brands you mentioned... And from experience I can tell you that you dont want a sony.

We sell more Pioneer than anything, and there reliabilty is 2nd to only Alpine. I bet I have removed for repair probally 3 outta 10 sonys we sell. They got a look that sells for some odd reason, but there reliabilty is BAD....

Personally im notta a fan of that Xplod stuff either... LOL

Mac never seen or installed any, you gotz to remember I live in a town where the people only understand 2 words...

FREE & CHEAP... LOL

By the way the Pioneer DEHP-330 is a very nice deck... Has HP pass filters for front and rear speaker, sub out built in and a 3 band parameteric eq, as well as an adjustable center frequency for the 3 bands. 219 retail... We do em for 199 installed!!. I put in over 20 of the same deck last week!

The Pioneer DEHP-430 , adds a prettier display and a remote...

I beleive if you are looking for the Pioneer only brand and not the Premier (like we sell), just add an extra zero to the model number...

NJDave

MIKE-P-28:

Have you had any experience with the Sony Mobile ES stuff? I just had a CDX-M770 installed (top end black panel model). I chose Sony because I have been generally happy with other Sony mid-level electronic equipment (mainly home audio/video) that I have purchased. I have heard more than a few people say that Sony has poor reliability, but had also heard that this might not be the case with the ES equipment.

Dave

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Im installed very few things that were Mobile ES, a few CD players and thats just about it. But with anything you pay for what you get, but Id would think a big company like sony would have a better reliabilty with their low end stuff.

And anyone ever put anything Sony in and have to remove it and break the freaking trim ring. I mean get with the program guys, use locks on the sleeves like Kenwood, JVC, Pioneer, or even Alpine (even theirs are a little different). I mean you can be super super careful and probally break 2 outta 5