Alpine Head Units

[haydenm315]

I heard only good things about Alpine head units so I bought one after getting the sho. I bought a lower end model that still had decent features for my simple self. For all of you that care, it's an alpine 7892. After my accident the headunit needed to be sent back for repair. It never had very good skip control, but would skip on almost every little bump in the road after the accident. After getting that unit back, I traded my friend for an alpine from a year earlier that was a higher end model. This damn thing has problems reading a lot of burned cds. The buttons are also sensitive to the point where if I push them sometimes the head unit will reset. I checked all of the wires twice and pushed buttons as I was holding the unit and it still reset. I was trying to listen to a good song the other day and wasn't in a good mood due to the skipping. Every skip made me more irritated and put me in a serious state of anger. Finally I had enough and gave the head unit a hard straight right. The unit reset itself and came back on with the visualization frozen. THe head unit also got pushed back into its hole about a half inch on the right. The head unit is working much better now and isn't skipping as much. Performance differs by temperature and day. Things are really bad in cold weather for the 7892. The lights go out on it. Another friend of mine with a high end alpine has the same problem. As you can see, I have had bad experiences with alpine head units. I've heard kenwoods are bulletproof. What does everyone think? Are Alpine head units really overpriced junk?

 

[RI-SHO]

I've had no problems with skipping with the procalmed worst CD-R skipper of them all from 1999 the Alpine 7949 head unit(top unit in 1999 w/o a TV was $850), and nothing is better than the Alpine ERA-G320 EQ digital processor they make for the money(was $700+ in 1999).

Here they are still going from all my other cars they have been in:

You have been very unlucky with Alpine just like I have with SHO's just go on to another brand or be stubborn like me and stick with them till the end.

 

[olympic]

I think the quality has gone down over the past few years. I had one of their CD players up until recently. I bought it in 1991 and it lasted over 10 years without one problem! It still worked but wouldn't play in cold weather so I gave it away.

I now have a Panasonic CD/DVD player and I'm quite happy with it.

 

[BlackOnBlackATX]

um, ive never had any problem with *any* of my Alpine stuff. nor have any of my other friends who have tons of Alpine equipment. in an ironic twist we all have also agreed that the kenwood excelon was the worst sounding deck we ever heard aside from the $39 special at circuit city. sorry man, sounds like you just got a bad one somehow.

 

[Sho Nutz]

RI-SHO:
and nothing is better than the Alpine ERA-G320 EQ digital processor they make for the money(was $700+ in 1999).

I second that hole Heartedly.

I have run Alpine head units and EQ exclusively for the last 10 years and have had no problems with them.

CD changers have a small problem with the eject button, but other than that, I am more than happy.

 

[haydenm315]

RI-SHO:
I've had no problems with skipping with the procalmed worst CD-R skipper of them all from 1999 the Alpine 7949 head unit(top unit in 1999 w/o a TV was $850), and nothing is better than the Alpine ERA-G320 EQ digital processor they make for the money(was $700+ in 1999).

Here they are still going from all my other cars they have been in:
You have been very unlucky with Alpine just like I have with SHO's just go on to another brand or be stubborn like me and stick with them till the end.

Wow man. You bought a much higher end line than me. Your setup is simply awe inspiring. It's comforting to know that alpine atleast does their high end products right. I spent a total of maybe $500 on the head unit and amp. I bought a 7892 that is fair to say got mangled in the accident I had. It worked but skipped on any little bump. I had it repaired and traded it for a 7865. I don't care about that satellite or mp3 stuff. The 7865 is older, but is a higher end model. It has problems reading a lot of cdr's and it's picky at what speed you burn at. 2x usually works fine. Commercial cds work flawlessly. Pushing buttons makes the head unit reset itself, however it hasn't done it since I redid the wiring yesterday and fixed the short in the trunk. My mrd-300 amp is cutting out now. I think it may be power related, but I'm not sure. If I turn up the volume past 15 it cuts off. The sub is thumping at that level but not what I'm used to.

One of my friends is convinced that kenwood is the way to go. He said they're solid and the buttons actually work in sub 30 degree temperatures.

 

[RStalveyARFF]

I have a 9811, absolutely love it! And with the cold weather, taking the faceplate inside at night would solve that. It's the liquid crystal freezing.

 

[Aspect]

Dude you have some issues!!! A good right hand to any ELECTRONIC piece of equipment will not make it work any better. shrug

All of the Alpine equipment I've had and friends of mine have had, work great. I love Alpine equipment, I just don't like alot of the newer designs.