xero-cool

I am torn between the two. I am planning to run a head unit with some component speakers in my integra probably without an amp. I might decide to add an amp later. Which should I choose?

Any Experience with either one of these?


Alpine
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-s...avf=Y



Kenwood
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-s...avf=Y


Modified by xero-cool at 7:12 AM 4/21/2004

NA95d16z6

ALPINE owns. flat out. dont even consider the kenwood.

xero-cool

May I ask why you feel so strongly about the alpine? I am personally leaning towards the alpine also.

NA95d16z6

Alpine has the cleanest signal out there. hands down. if you can afford it i reccomend a V-Drive unit because it Virtualy eliminates the need for a seperate amp. 23 RMS watts per channel, and VERY clean. I live and breathe Alpine and Infinity.

Plus the motorized face on the kenwood is prone to breaking. one slip and its good bye face.

ATF Kuk

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NA_95d16z6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alpine has the cleanest signal out there. hands down. if you can afford it i reccomend a V-Drive unit because it Virtualy eliminates the need for a seperate amp. 23 RMS watts per channel, and VERY clean. I live and breathe Alpine and Infinity.

Plus the motorized face on the kenwood is prone to breaking. one slip and its good bye face. </TD></TR></TABLE>

ur truly dumb, alpine does not have the cleanest signal out there, i bet u the kenwood would sound better. do u even know anything about the kenwood? doesnt sound like it because if u did, u would know that the the kenwood has 24 bit burr brown convertors and 5 volt preouts which beat the alpine out, just those 2 elements are better in signal processing. take a look for urself moron.

alpine:• 60W MAX x 4 V-Drive™ Power Amplifier
• Bass Engine Pro™
- 6-Channel Digital Time Correction
- 6-Position HP/LP (24dB/Octave) Digital Crossover
- 5-Band Parametric EQ
- Subwoofer Level Control with Phase Selector
- 3-way or 2-way electronic crossover with adjustale slope
• MediaXpander™
• XM Satellite Radio Ready
• MP3/WMA/CD-R/RW Playback
• CD Text and MP3/WMA Tag Informtation Display
• Quick Search Function
• CD Text, CD Text Display, CD Text Scroll
• Versatile-Link™ Ready
• MaxTune SQ Tuner
• BlackOut Display
• Regulated 1Bit DAC
• 3 PreOuts (4 volt)
• MM Driver (Hard Disc Drive) Ready
• MobileHub™ Ready
• Swing Mechanism with Detachable Face
• RUE-4187 Wireless Remote Control Included

kenwood
3D MASK Pro motorized, detachable face
fine-dot 3-D multicolor FL display
plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs
plays MP3 and WMA files
24-bit Burr-Brown D/A converter
CR-2 tuner
18 FM/6 AM presets
seek tuning
digital signal processor (includes seat position and cabin size settings, 3-band parametric EQ
Dolby Pro Logic II
SRS WOW sound enhancements (raises the soundstage, improves imaging, and strengthens bass)
System Q EX Sound Control (6 EQ presets, speaker size matching)
System E's+ crossover system
source tone memory
SIRIUS tuner controls (SIRIUS radio subscription, tuner, and antenna required to receive the satellite radio signal) — service is available only in the lower 48 states, not available in Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories
HD Radio-ready (will control Kenwood's HD Radio tuner, available in 2004)
CD changer controls
dual zone audio control
5-volt front, rear, center, and subwoofer preamp outputs
Amplifier Management System (AMS) — provides remote control over compatible Kenwood Excelon amplifiers (new models available in 2004)
rear auxiliary input
wireless remote
clock
22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels
CD frequency response 10-20,000 Hz
CD signal-to-noise ratio 110 dB
FM sensitivity 9.3 dBf
warranty: 2 years

NA95d16z6

i have a POS pioneer in a car mated to infinity speaks. sounds way better. its all about the setup.

the speakers are where its at. you could run the best head unit on mediocre speakers all day and still get **** for music. or you could run great speakers on a great (not the best headunit) and get much better sound. just like with cars its all about tuning.

my friend has a sony deck that he uses on ehis equipment and hes gotten it up to 140Db with no distortion. and sony sucks most of the time. its all about the tuning.

i could make that alpine sound a million times better than that kenwood on the same speakers/amps.

tweekerz

Eclipse ownz...

sopiwnykg

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NA_95d16z6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i have a POS pioneer in a car mated to infinity speaks. sounds way better. its all about the setup.

the speakers are where its at. you could run the best head unit on mediocre speakers all day and still get **** for music. or you could run great speakers on a great (not the best headunit) and get much better sound. just like with cars its all about tuning.

my friend has a sony deck that he uses on ehis equipment and hes gotten it up to 140Db with no distortion. and sony sucks most of the time. its all about the tuning.

i could make that alpine sound a million times better than that kenwood on the same speakers/amps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

140 dB with no distortion isn't something to be proud about. I have hit way higher numbers with a sony deck. And A high quality deck will make a way bigger difference on a system with medicore speakers than a medicore deck with high end speakers. Think about it... Sound starts from the deck. If it is **** from the get go it's gonna remain shitty.

Ludeboi

Kenwood all the way! cant go wrong with their security features and that pimp *** screensavers. I currently own an x759 and planning on upgrading to a newer one soon!

john666

I love alpine... i have had few different brand HU's and I have alwayz been unpleased with them.. Everyone has there opions, my friends use to love there kenwood, eclipse, pioneer, clairion HU's. but once they sit in my car, sooner or later they test out a alpine hu, they notice alot better sound quality and afew features they were missing.. Im sure that kenwood is pretty good and comparing the prices between the alpine/kenwood, they run about the same.. IMO you dont really hear alot about people being unpleased with alpine.. but u alwayz seem to hear, is this unit better then a alpine.

Mocky57

i am looking for a headunit for my ek and was thinking about the alpine as well.
has anyone seen one installed in an EK? how does it fit? is it a flush finish or does it stick out like some of the other aftermarket stereos seem to do.?

spark plugs.

i don't see why a deck for $449 is being compared against a deck for $579...http://<a href="http://www.crutchfie...-b...avf=N</a> is a better deck for your money...either way...alpine ownz. tried and true.

john666

i checked on e bay.. kenwood runs 390ish alpine 340ish. without shipping.

xero-cool

yes exactly. I was comparing these 2 based on prices I got from ebay. I don't like the black and white display of the alpine cda-9835.

As far as features goes it is both the same I believe (9833 and 9835 alpine) so I chose the 9833 over that 9835 (save a 100 bux for something I dont want anyway)

Thanks for all the replies. Seems to be more people like the alpine. However the 24 bit D/A burr brown converters seems impressive.

What difference exactly does that make compared to the alpine?

john666

well.. i was jus looking around online.. 24 bit d/a converter = circuit that converts digital data into analog music signal.. im a moron.. so maybe someone can tell me if thats something compareable to alpines "MediaXpander (restores clarity and detail to compressed or broadcast audio) "

SlowTeg

I'm in the market again for a headunit/system and I have an alpine in my other car. I love how it looks and it sounds great. I seriously can't understand why people even like these style headunits..?! Maybe I'm just old fashioned but these flip down nonsense faceplates that have displays are so goddamn hideous IMO. I used to have a simple kenwood cd player MANY years ago and I was very pleased w/ it. I sold it to a friend after owning it for a good 4 yrs and I know it worked well for at least another 3+ years, so kenwood makes good quality stuff. I personally like alpine's design and like the rotary ****. To each his own..

-Mike

xero-cool

Any true audiophiles can give me a reason to choose one over the other?

bump bump

Y8500rpm

ALPINE wins no questions asked.....

xero-cool

Just bought the alpine cda-9833. Hope it's everything I am hoping for :D

ATF Kuk

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Y8500rpm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ALPINE wins no questions asked..... </TD></TR></TABLE>
wut makes u say that? i have a question for u. have u heard the kenwood in person?

ATF Kuk

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NA_95d16z6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i have a POS pioneer in a car mated to infinity speaks. sounds way better. its all about the setup.

the speakers are where its at. you could run the best head unit on mediocre speakers all day and still get **** for music. or you could run great speakers on a great (not the best headunit) and get much better sound. just like with cars its all about tuning.

my friend has a sony deck that he uses on ehis equipment and hes gotten it up to 140Db with no distortion. and sony sucks most of the time. its all about the tuning.

i could make that alpine sound a million times better than that kenwood on the same speakers/amps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

OMG... u r the biggest ******* idiot. let me tell u why. first off the whole paragraph u just wrote talks about how its not about the headunit, its about good speakers and great tuning.

with that in mind, ur last sentence contradicts everythign u wrote about. the last sentence says that u can make that alpine headunit sound better than the kenwood headunit.

now, how can u make the alpine sound better than the kenwood if u say its all about the speakers and tuning?

vteg

NA_95d16z6, you are contradicting yourself.


xero-cool, Either of those hu's will perform well. IMO, all you need is 4 volts pre-out. As you get above 4 volts the differences are minute at best. Richard Clark had a thread about this. The difference between 4 and 8 volts is not audible(to humans anyway ), if your setup does not have a lot of noise in it. As soon as you turn on your engine both setups will sould like crap if that makes you feel better.

BTW, if you are going to pay 500+ for an alpine, do yourself a favor and get a 79xx series and an amp.

xero-cool

vteg,

Thank you for your post. you seem very level headed and knowlegeable....

As you can see in my above post I have just purchased the alpine cda-9833 headunit for 340 shipped.

Right now I am getting some speakers. I already have a pair of infinity kappa 6.5" 62.5i coaxials I am going to use in the rear of my integra and am thinking of purchasing the kappa perfect 6.1 components 6.5" for the fronts powered by this headunit.

Link here:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=846480

Could you please answer some of my questions there also?

Thanks!

ATF Kuk

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vteg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> IMO, all you need is 4 volts pre-out. As you get above 4 volts the differences are minute at best. Richard Clark had a thread about this. The difference between 4 and 8 volts is not audible(to humans anyway ), if your setup does not have a lot of noise in it. As soon as you turn on your engine both setups will sould like crap if that makes you feel better.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dont care wut richard clark says, but with my rf deck, it has 5 volt output, when i got the HPX, there was a lot less dstortion at high volume, the HDE expansion was not on, so no processing was happening. just crossed at 60 hz. i dont care wut richard clark says, i just know that i heard a difference

nsxxtreme

What are the differences in designs? Higher voltage lower voltage. Now why would one want higher voltages at the source?

The higher voltage decks were introduced because a car is a noisy environment, so it is in hopes that you will drown out the noise. IMO this is the incorrect way to fix things. You should find your noise source and eliminate it. I could be completely happy with a 2 volt deck assuming I have an amplifier "designed" for 2 volt inputs.

As far as hearing a difference, I think either you have a piece of equipment that is happier recieving higher inputs our your brain does.

Most home audio equipment doesn't even come close to car audio outputs. Car audio is reaching line level ouput levels.