02RedSoul wrote:PLEASE do not purchase any of the newer alpine stuff. From the reviews I've read there actually removing features and making the units really cheap. If you do get alpine look into the older stuff like a 9856. Also Pioneer makes excellent decks and the 880PRS is probably the standout. And I have to recommend Kenwood Excelon decks too since I have one. Very well built, affordable(looks for last years models) and great SQ and tweaking option. My deck is the x890 and I love the fact that I can put music on my USB jump drives, connect it to the stereo and control them from the remote. Very convenient.
Alpine's speakers and subs have advanced lightyears in the past decade... I've been VERY impressed by the quality of even their mid-line offerings, let alone their Type R and Type X series (I actually run a pair of SPR-17C coaxials and a single SWR-1222D sub in my Supra, and I ran a pair of the SWR-1222Ds along with my Boston Z6s in my higher end Solara setup if that says anything)...
As for headunits; Alpine tends to go in small (couple year) cycles where they tend to get a bit off-track and then find their way back on pretty quickly... I'd hardly consider ANY alpine headunits to be of "poor" quality (lackluster or mediocre, there may have been a few)... never have and probably never will... Is this year's line-up the best they've ever had? HELL NO! But are they still offering a VERY solid line-up with great models filling the inner range for good prices? I'd say so. I chose a CDA-9857 (last year's model) to install into a friends car and it sounds fantastic (running on the 2 pairs of SPR-17LP coaxials I installed for him... this is actually why I chose the newer SPR-17Cs for my Supra), has all the features he needs, and is a nice over-all unit. I, personally, prefer older models though (I run a CDA-9815 in my Supra... one of the best non-F#1 headunits Alpine has ever manufactured IMHO), and I still have my IVA-D900 waiting in the wind for my next ride (THE best in-dash screen for pure quality output, PERIOD).
As for amps... meh, Alpine doesn't have much going for them this year... I'm a tad disappointed that they replaced their V12 line-up with their "digital" PDX line-up... The V12 has always been a solid line for musical quality (never had as much punch as the JL / series, but always sounded more warm and musical to me)... Never mistake their V-Power series with the V12 series... COMPLETELY different, comparable to the JL "e" series... They'll work fine for a budget system, but there are certainly better amps out there.
Alpine is not an "end all, be all" company for all products, but they're still an awesome reference company to compare products with for price vs quality...
by 02RedSoul » Fri May 04, 2007 12:56 am 
