Who has an Alpine deck?

[DatSRBoi]

Its been years since I have touched a CD player and finnally brought one. Its used but its still an alpine that I was interested in. Its a 9831 model. Anyone know how much they go for new and how good this deck is? How do you like yours. Its my first audio build EVER since working on performance has bored me for now until I find a car I like.


Also why are the new model alpine deck so dam cheap?

[theprodigy79]

I've had around 8-10 upper-middle to high-end Alpine units over the past several years and I've loved every single one...

I've never owned the CDA-9831, but I am familiar with it. The unit is either a 2003 or 2004, upper-middle range model, which is a GOOD thing (Alpine was on their game those couple years and was producing some of their best stuff quality and feature wise)...

The radio is LOADED with useful features such as three 4v Pre-outs, built-in active hp/lp cross-over, sub control, and tons more... It's AM/FM/XM (ready) and can play MP3s and WMAs off CD-Rs and CDRWs.

You can't go wrong with it man, you'll be very happy with that one.

-James

PS--> Alpine has a full series that ranges from "price competitive" to "audiophile"... Not all their units are "cheap" or inexpensive. There have been several instances where Alpine has removed a few performance features from lower end to mid-range models to compete more effectively in the entry level market, however their upper end stuff is still great.

[Aotoyota]

Im with prodigy...

Ive owned nothing but Alpine HU's some of the best ever~

[crispone]

My FIRST HU was an alpine... (oops, maybe my second... er... third?)

It was a cassette HU... but NO, NOT an 8-TRACK!!!


I was happy with it... (wait a sec... I guess it was my FOURTH HU already...)

Anyway... did the Kenwood thing in their "heyday"... pretty good stuff...

I'm back on an ALPINE for the iPOD connectivity, but now that I'm using it, bang-for-the-buck is very good with this unit.






-crisp

[SolaraGuy22]

I've always wanted an Alpine so I bought my first one CDA-9856. Just finally installed it on Friday. I love everything about it except I have to call and find out why the iPod feature isn't working. Other than that it's great.

The reason they're so "cheap" is because they make so many and keep coming out with new models which makes it great for the consumer.

[trdkamuri51o]

i must be one of those rare few that find alpine to be the biggest peice of garbage...

gone thru 3 alpine decks, 2 amps or so and an alarm..

all having failure rates of 100% within 6-8 months..

cant blame it on install.. same guy that did my car did several others with no problems at all

ALPINE = GARBAGE!!!!!!

[DatSRBoi]

HMmmm wish I can learn more about it. I want to know what made the older deck like mine so good compare to the 07 models. I mean I dont have that cool screen and all but what makes the old school stuff haul better still over the new?

I notice on the site it says stuff like"4-channel digital time alignment and a 3-position" but when i look at the newer model around the same price my deck went when new it doesnt say it. Does that mean the newer deck doesnt have the cool stuff with it like mine?

[funboy102]

There's my deck... and lovin it! I got that 4-channel time correction also. It basically let's you adjust a delay into each speaker so that the sound can reach your ear at the same exact time, effectively making you feel like you're in the center of your car, not just in the driver's seat. It's a cool effect if you ask me...

[crispone]

What makes the "older one's better"???


Simple... VA/VE, LTA's (or APR's, Long Term Agreements/Annual Price Reductions and Value Analysis/Value Engineering) coupled with material economics and "KAIZEN", or incremental improvements in processing.

All products begin their life-cycle as an initial design execution... then attempts are made to reduce COST-side of the product, and improve the SALE-side "value-added", or at times JUST one or the other... this never-ending cycle result in various "design changes", etc... to facilitate the use of less costly materials, commonization, process simplification, etc, etc... and sometimes result in the FIRST YEAR of a given design, (while also risking "bugs") to often respresent the highest COST CONTENT, and at times, QUALITY of materials... that are later substituted for lower cost alternatives to continue to remain competitive.

Ever see the note on a spec. sheet that says "specifications subject to change without notice"?


There you have it. (It's actually MUCH more complex than that... but that's a "nutshell version" of "WHY" with respect to cost and construction of a product...)


-crisp

[theprodigy79]

Crisp hit the nail on the head...

Dat, you are correct to state that many of the newer units do NOT have the features your headunit has... The Time Correction is one of the BEST audiophile feature you can find on ANY unit! If you use it properly, you will never go back.

I know your unit also has a built in active crossover, which I actually prefer over using the passive crossovers on the amps...

You have one model higher in the same series as funboy... a lot of the same features with a few upgrades... Same reliability, sound performance and everything, so he should be one of the better people to tell you how it is.

Kamuri... Either you just really know how to pick 'em, are one unlucky son-of-a-gun, or there IS a potential trend if you've been using the same dude to install all of them... I've installed/used Alpine headunits for more than 12 years and have NEVER had an issue... Admittedly, I usually stay with the older stuff for my vehicles (with exception of the IVA-D900, but that's even a few years old now), but I put last years CDA-9857 in my best friend's ride when it was new and it's been nothing but great. More currently I've actually been using Alpine speakers and have been very impressed (I didn't want to put my Z6s in my Supra, and the Type Rs I put in my friends car impressed me, even when powered with just the headunit).

So yeah... I dunno man, there have been a couple people on this board in the past who have claimed all the Toyotas they've ever had were complete pieces of crap as they moved on to Nissan or Honda (or God forbid, American)... so there are always exceptions I guess.

-James

[DatSRBoi]

THanks guys. Makes me feel my money was well spent. Too bad its going into a honda with gay speakers........ Now to hunt for some new sets.

[funboy102]

yeah, Prodigy is right. Mine is one right below Dat. I did some research before I bought my deck. Just to name a few, (the more important one), I have most of his features, but his version also adds "i-Personalize", where you can go onto the Alpine website, do your time correction, EQ settings, and Crossover settings there, then download the settings to a CD, and then import it into your deck. Neat huh? I also have time correction, EQ, and x-over built into my deck also, but must all me manually done at the receiver, not on a computer. In addition, Dat 9831 also has the nice ass dot-matrix display, soooo nice. And the screen itself is also larger by bout quarter-inch on top and bottom, which can be seen in the picture.

Yeah... quite frankly, the model year that Dat and I got is 2nd to the last best one. I remember the year after this, they added some kinda "touch" feel button sensor bar at the bottom, you guys remember what i'm talking about? That was pretty cool. After that year, all the deck started to get more "cost-friendly"

As for competition... I'm still waiting for Alpine to make something to compete with Pioneer's Avic-D3, Avic-N2, etc... Alpine doesn't seem to have any indash DVD player AND Navigation ALL in one. What's up with that...

off topic, check this out... http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/product ... l=iDA-X001 cool huh?

[Duffman]

i must be one of those rare few that find alpine to be the biggest peice of garbage...

gone thru 3 alpine decks, 2 amps or so and an alarm..

all having failure rates of 100% within 6-8 months..

cant blame it on install.. same guy that did my car did several others with no problems at all

ALPINE = GARBAGE!!!!!!

Yeah, you must be the only one

I've never had a problem with either of my Alpine stereos - the only issue I had was the wire that went to my amplifier melting due to 1) texas summer heat; and 2) me being dumb and letting it coil over itself in my trunk.

Here's the unit I currently have, an Alpine CDA-9853:


My first Alpine unit was a CDA-7892:


Rock solid units, amazing sound, and the best clarity I've seen for the price.