Among these two head units, and I'm sure not everyone likes them, but in your opinion which one would you like better??

Alpine CDA-7897 for $415 shipped

- or -
Pioneer DEH-P8400MP for $360 shipped

Sorry for the dumb noob poll, just curious. I'm selling my old Panasonic CQ-DF602U if anyone is interested.

 

I voted for the Alpine, but I'm kind of biased.

IMO, Alpines are better if you know how to tune a system by the crossovers, bass, and treble. Pioneers seem to be better for just casual listening and just wanting to find a premade preset. That's been my experience. Go to an Audio shop (or even Circuit City - I think they carry Alpine, now) and test 'em yourself.

 

When I initially hooked up my system it sounded ok. After playing with the crossover settings on the Alpine it sounds incredible. Tuning makes all the difference in the system and the Alpine is great for tuning.

 

Like my Alpine better than my old Pioneer.

 

Go with the Pioneer DEH-P9400MP I just ordered mine and got it for 495 shipped....they have a best price guarantee, so if you find it somewhere else for cheaper they will beat the price....and shipping is only 6.95

The Pioneer DEH-P9400MP is so much better if you want something that will give you an EQ and a lot more control over your sound.

 

I choose Pioneer I have the same head pictured I love it. I paid 300 for mine my cousin has that alpine they both sound great but it all comes down to tuning. My setup is the pioneer head mb quarts component in the front mb quat 6.5 in the rear Alpine mrv f450(great amp) and alumapro 12" my system is amazing with the pioneer. I would go with pioneer for the head and anything else I would get alpine just my 2 cents

 

Alpines have alot of adjustability. They are never the best looking though. I prefer alpine. I have the 7998, it is a great head.

 

I would go with the Alpine. They have a new model out, I believe the 9813 that has a built in EQ. Like the other guys said, after you tweak the Alpine, you can't beat the sound.

 

i dont know about you guys but i prefer a h/u that you dont HAVE to 'tweak' to sound good

 

My alpine sounded good untuned. After I tweaked it the difference is amazing. Tuning is important. No matter what you say a tuned system will sound better than an untuned system. Lemme guess you don't have any mods for your car either...

 

well, maybe we are talking about a different 'tweak'
once you tune your alpine, you don't have to fiddle with it everytime you start your car do you?
thats the crap im talking about, radios that you have to constantly change this and adjust that, i hate that

i like how the pioneer looks but the alpine is probably better

nope, just fine tuning

 

Thats an obvious one........Alpine!!!

Dave

 

Oh yeah. Once you have it set it is set. Well as long as you do it right. I mean you hafta find a happy medium for all songs. For instance you can't tune your bass with Lynard Skynard. You put rap in and you end up with bass that's too loud. You need to listen to a lot of different stuff and tune for the best overall response.

 

WOW!!!! Why get the Pioneer 8400 when you could get the Pioneer Premeir 840?? close in price a TON more features, Xtra outputs, dedicated Sub outs.. AS WELL AS double the warranty...

I have been a car audio nut for many years, and on top of that a sound guy/musician for even LONGER!!! At any rate.. the Pioneer PREMIER series are wonderful units.. not only do you have bass, mid, treble.. but also frequency choices for all 3, AND choices on how steep the rolloff is above/below that chosen frequency..
NOW.... on top of those 3, you also have another bass/treble option that you can boost/lower, and choose freq. for... so in escence you have a FIVE band EQ on them.. also have a sub control to turn it on/off, Xover choice as well as level and even PHASE control.
ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT, if you are by yourself quite often, they have their SEQ level, so you can change where the sound "image" is from.. meaning if the highs are focused more in the front/front right/front left/rear/rear right/rear left... Can do the same with mids or lows...

The older alpines from mid 90s were GREAT, when they became mass market company, and started selling to places like Circuit CIty, their quality has DROPPED TERRIBLY!!! However, Pioneer, though they make MANY cheap entry level units, their top units are WONDERFUL..

I have had Alpines and Pioneers since about 94 on up.. and I now have a Pioneer Premier DEH 740... MP3/CD player, front/rear/sub pre-amp outs.. all the above features I mentioned...

MANY MANY MANY Votes for the Pioneer.. IF you go to the Premier series.. must go to a Pioneer dealer for them...

 

huh? I was told the only difference between the 8400 and premier840 was the warranty.

 

Actually it does appear there are not as many differences on the 8400 and 840 as there is in the 7400 and 740..

Anyway, the warranty is double (2 yrs) also has the steering wheel remote, rather then credit card style remote. Also has a rotary volume control.. on Pioneer's website you can compare the 2 side by side... you can usually find the premier for the same price.. and there is no downside to it.. They also use a different classification for the premier internal amplifiers... IF you do not plan on hooking up all external amps.. Take care and keep any questions coming..

 

I have the 8400 myself. I like it alot

 

I just installed my new Alpine 9813 , and OMG it's awesome! It even plays MP3 files and Windows media audio. You can have 7 hours of music on one CD. I took out a top of the line Kenwood ; the Alpine is 100% better sounding and has better features. This deck has all sorts of adjustments for sound quality. You could play around with it for weeks. The advantage to built in crossovers is the ease of use (no more crawling in the trunk to turn *****) and they are all digital, no more pots to add noise.

 

Alpine is better then Kenwood, no doubt.. but no contest to the Pioneer... IMHO... (see above)

 

That's good about the warranty. Both these units feature a rotary volume control. I don't know what kind of EQs and crossovers are built into the Pioneer , but the Alpines are very flexible indeed.

 

Alpine.. Has always been better.. Pioneer = lots of unnecesary BS..

 

I never liked that split screen on the pioneers. One screen to break is enough. Two is even worse

 

Alpine ....I've been usin Alpine since they had pullouts...lol

 

A friend of mine has the pioneer and i have the alpine 7995. having used both units for a decent amout of time i would have to say my pick is the alpine. The controls are much simpler. I also dont like the look of the pioneer with the dual face. it looks too fragile.

If looks are a big factor then i would say go with the pioneer because of the screen. The alpine isn't the best deck in the looks department but it makes up for it with SQ.

 

Both choices seem good. Definately stay away from Sony