New head unit

1996blackmax

My HU only lets the bands get so close to prevent this .

I prefer the added flixibility a parametric EQ offers. This is especially true when you can see any nasty peaks in your system and adjust accordingly.

1996blackmax

audiobliss wrote:

But just imagine how much of an improvement you'd be experiencing if you had gone with Eclipse, eh?

+1 on this one .

cam5860

The only thing about the alpine units are you cannot turn the crossovers off.

Therefore you are forced to use them instead of getting to use the crossovers on the amp.

Thats one thing I like about pioneer decks you have the choice of turning **** on and off.

1996blackmax

The Alpine units I've had all had the ability to defeat the x-overs.

cam5860

I mean I can set my slope's to full range. But far as crossover points I can't turn them off on my unit.

cam5860

I was over at circuit city tonight looking around and they are getting the eclipse stuff in now.

They had the 1000, 2000 and 3000 headunits in. But are still waiting on the 4000's to come in.

The salesmen said they are not going to carry the 5000 just up to the 4000. They also have the fullrange eclipse speakers in and they sound damn good shocked the hell out of me.

MacLeod

Huh? Maybe I need to check mine but Im not using my h/u's crossover. Im using the ones on my amp for the sub and the SR's passive x-over for the comps.

1996blackmax

Setting the slopes to fullrange is the same thing as defeating the x-over.

cam5860

I wonder if there is much difference in the crossovers in a headunit compared to a amp. I mean I would think on a high end deck the crossovers would be pretty precision.

cam5860

I was over at BestBuy also tonight and I was playing with the alpine 9855. It is alot more advanced than the 04 models.

But that glide touch **** is difficult to use. I don't think I could get used to it with all the settings you have to adjust on that unit.

1996blackmax

I like buttons.

1996blackmax

That is one very nice display though...... oh I guess I kind of already said that .

MacLeod

Its not really as hard as it seems. The only settings you really use it for are the advanced settings and not really stuff youll use while in the middle of driving. The radio stations presets use the glide touch but all you have to do is touch the bar under the number and its pretty easy.

For example, you hit the menu button then slide the glide touch to pick what you want (crossover, TA, etc) then press the function button to enter that mode then use the volume, track and other buttons to make the adjustments. You actually dont use the glide touch much at all.

The display looks great. Its not flashy or fancy at all and looks all business. It has some animation on the display but you can defeat that. Mine simply shows track/time/clock and date.

cam5860

It is a nice deck I would not mine owning one. But Im thinking about buying that new pioneer the 6800. It has a 7 band graphic eq also and it's only 260 bucks.

MacLeod

This is my second Alpine and Im again completely satisfied. The only unknown is how well the glide touch will hold up.

When I was first getting into car audio back in the late 80's, all the "cool" guys had Alpine so those were always the head units to have for me. But after all these years, I never had one till my 9807. So far Im sold on em.

Greg Peters

I've had 5 or 6 higher end Alpine H/Us over the years and have never been disappointed. I had a couple of Pioneers that were good also, but they ended up breaking eventually.

It's not to say you'll never outgrow an Alpine head unit, but the quality has always been there in my experience- both for sound and build. When Alpine's specifications became CEA compliant, a lot of people thought they'd gone to crap when they saw lower numbers for watts rms. I'd really rather know the CEA standard specs for real-world expectations purposes.The 2006 models, however, are a different story...

If you consider that Alpine makes a range of H/Us from $169 to $1699, its best to compare apples to apples. Almost every manufacturer has pulled off a lemon or two. The 9855 will probably not be looked on as a lemon for reliability- most people who bought them and hate them didn't want something as complicated and tuneable as the 9855, picked it up only because it was "top of the line" (below F1 Status series) and didn't know what to do with it once it was installed. Mac won't have that problem.

1996blackmax

I had them since the early 90's. I still have a 7292S pullout in my garage, as well as a TDA-7558. The TDA-7559 which is the exact thing as the TDA-7558 (one has gold lettering and the other white), was the last high end tape player made by Alpine. So a little history there . Also the 7558 actually put out its 4V rating.



I have said it before, if it were not for my 7949 not liking CD-R's I would still have that in my car. I had a couple of these, as well as the matching processor for it, the PXA-H600.





This was also a very nice HU. Had two of them.



We will see in time if I go back to them.

1996blackmax

Greg Peters wrote:

The 9855 will probably not be looked on as a lemon for reliability- most people who bought them and hate them didn't want something as complicated and tuneable as the 9855, picked it up only because it was "top of the line" (below F1 Status series) and didn't know what to do with it once it was installed. Mac won't have that problem.

The first batches will. Look around other forums, many people had issues with them. They did fix the problem with the models that came out later.

audiobliss

1996blackmax - That last Alpine HU you posted a pic of, IIRC, isn't it a 7998? Do I understand it from your post that you have two of them laying around?! :eek:

1996blackmax

I had two of them. I had my 7949/PXA-H600 combo and bought the first 7998 to replace them. While the 7998 is a very nice HU, and nothing Alpine has made since the late 90's tops it(besides the F#1 gear), it was still not at the same level as the combo it replaced. I bought another combo and again got tired of the CD-R thing. I then got another 7998 to give it another shot. I really wanted to stick with Alpine. I finally ended up going with Eclipse. First the CD8454, then my CD8455 that I have now. I think my CD8455 is the only HU I've had that gets close to the sound that the 7949/PXA-H600 produced. I have not been as happy with a HU since I had that wonderful combo. I actually got my first PXA-H600 processor from a guy in Australia as they were pretty rare. I tried to get it here in the U.S, but nobody had them and Alpine had stopped selling them.

1996blackmax

Forgot to mention the 7998's have been sold. I still have the ability to get one still in the box brand new. A family member has one that has not been installed yet. I don't see it being installed anytime soon either .

Greg Peters

1996blackmax wrote:

The first batches will. Look around other forums, many people had issues with them. They did fix the problem with the models that came out later.

So was the problem with "the strip" breaking, or what? I have done some surfing on the subject, and the biggest gripe I came across was the confusion resulting from using the dreaded strip.

1996blackmax

The glide touch would not function correctly on some, and I think there were other issues (can't remember exactly). If I remember correctly people were warning each other that when you buy one to make sure it had some dot (forgot the color) on the box, as these were the newer ones that had the bugs fixed.

audiobliss

What would one of those 7998's sell for? Just a ballpark? Maybe $150? Or $500?

IIRC, the 7998 didn't have internal amplification, and instead of the faceplate coming off, it just went inside the unit, right?

1996blackmax

Correct on the 7998. My sister bought one brand new from Crutchfield for $359 dollars . It was $399, but she bough the rest of her system and received a nice discount on all her gear.

It had no amplification, face hid inside the unit, and had upgraded guts inside (input/output capacitors as well as other stuff). Nice SQ hu.

I think these HU's still fetch from around $350 to $450 or so. Depending on condition, and if they are new.

1996blackmax

Actually if it were not for it not fitting in my wife's car, she would have that in there instead of the CDA-7894.

audiobliss

Having heard the P860MP and the 7998, how would you compare them? Also, it *seems* as though I remember reading about there being reliability issues with the 7998...is that true, or am I just making something up?

Greg Peters

1996blackmax wrote:

The glide touch would not function correctly on some, and I think there were other issues (can't remember exactly). If I remember correctly people were warning each other that when you buy one to make sure it had some dot (forgot the color) on the box, as these were the newer ones that had the bugs fixed.

Interesting bit on the early 9855s. I have one I'll have to research. By the same token, the swing face design had some problems too. Never had a problem with the 9813. I've found that almost everything lasts longer if you handle with care.

So as not to send out the wrong idea, I know Eclipse makes very good head units, and would never knock them. The main reason I never bought one myself was the lack of a detachable face. They were supposed to require insertion of a certain CD if the power was cut (as an anti-theft feature) in order to function. I know people who have had them stolen by theives who didn't know any better. The Eclipse H/Us look high-end, and do attract curious theives.

I prefer the anonymous "black rectangle in the dash" look. I had an earlier Alpine detachable face cassette/cd changer controller around '92/'93, and when you popped the face off, there was a raised Alpine logo underneath. I prefer the later design- no telltale logo (and even no CD slot on swing-face models).

1996blackmax

audiobliss wrote:

Having heard the P860MP and the 7998, how would you compare them? Also, it *seems* as though I remember reading about there being reliability issues with the 7998...is that true, or am I just making something up?

You are correct, some the 7998 did have some issues with the face not retracting when the car was turned off. Alpine had a tech bulletin on how to fix this. It was something dealing with the remote turn on wire. I never had those issues with both of the units I had. On my first one, a couple of times the face came out when turned on and did not go up all the way. It then went back in and then out all the way. This happened during the first couple of months, and never again for the 2 years I had it.

If I were to choose between the Alpine and the Pioneer, I would go with the Alpine. The 7998 is a great HU, just not at the same level as my previous Alpine gear that I had.

1996blackmax

Greg Peters wrote:

Interesting bit on the early 9855s. I have one I'll have to research. By the same token, the swing face design had some problems too. Never had a problem with the 9813. I've found that almost everything lasts longer if you handle with care.

I actually take very good care of my audio gear .