JVS AND ROCKFORD!!! LMAO!!!

 

jensen all the way..come on now..

 

RALF! When I got my car it had a XS JENSEN speaker in the drivers side door! I took it out and threw it in the street! Some guy in a mustang was speeding by and ran it over! He came back (I guess he thought I droped it or something) And asked me how much he owed me... I gave him $5 and said thanks He just looked at me wierd and got back in his car

 

lol..good one :thumbup:

i actually heard that they amps aren't too bad...you get what you pay for?

 

Arent to bad is a nice thing to say to some one who just bought a pile of ****!!!

 

dude u are totally wrong............. u could make this same judgement with everything, CARS, HOUSE, computers, clothes.......

Alpine are the top of the Headunit makers.... why?? best features, usefull features, nice placement. why are they considered the best?? for the past 10 years, their headunits are the most durable compared to other companies. their HU from 5 years ago could be used with some of the new technology (ai-net.... ect.)......

There's no doubt that alpine are the top of the class. ASK ANYONE WITH DECENT KNOWLEDGE. ask the car stereo enthusics.... they'll say alpine. why?? features, quality, and it sends out non clipping power.... less distrotion....

speakerS?? that's a different thing........ the new type x speakers are great speakers.... BUT FOR THE 800 DOLLAR PRICE RANGE.. NO THX. OVER PRICED LIKE EVERY OTHER ALPINE PRODUCT. yes i used to have an alpine deck, yes i used to have alpine subs, yes i used to have alpine amps...... it's because i didn't know nothing about car stereo's.............

the f1 series is the best no questions ask. theres no disagreement there. if u don't got the money, and don't think its worth it, that a different story. IF this deck was around the 1000 price range, it would be the best selling deck.

also..... if someone is building a system, build a system thats decent all around. THERE'S NO POINT OF HAVING A 1000 DOLLAR SUB, AND a 1000 dollar amp, with 3 dollar wires, 50 dollar speakers, and a crap headunit. will it be loud??? yes, will it sound good?? no.

 

I don't think that I'm wrong, of course, you could make that argument with anything! I don't htink that you are wrong either, we just have different perceptions of what's out there, and what characteristics are important to us.

That's what marketing is based on. People's perceptions of the total value of a product. Again, why do people buy BMW's instead of a Yugo? Sure they both get you there, but BMW not only has the added features, but it also carries a notion of elegance, performance, prestige, safety, ect..... You never buy just a car....you buy a whole package and part of that package is image...the same is true for consumer electronics purchases....you don't think so....hear me out....

You like their features, eh? Personally, I don't need any of that bass engine crap or a changer control, or a flip out face. Is the alpine still better for me then the next unit?

Do you really have the quantitative data to back up that statistic...or are you just making that one up? If so, throw down the link, I'd like to see the actual data for my own personal education.

I'd consider myself to have "Decent Knowledge." There's more then one top dog out there...if you don't agree with that, then you are being closed minded....again, it's marketing. Again, hear me out....

Everyone's perception of "the best" is a mish mash of the performace of a product coupled with it's perceived value (again, look at my earlier post) If Jensen really came out with the best head unit in the world, would everyone run out and buy it immediately? Probably not...why....they have a stigma associated with thier brand name. Jensen's latest line of amps acutally tested to rated power.

Test my theory this way....what do you think of when you hear Alpine? you are probably thinking head units, car audio, performance, and high-end? Probably not speakers....What about JL...first thing that most people will say is Subs...why, they cornered that market for a while....everyone used them. Now they realeased amps and components....they are gaining market share beacuse of the image associated with thier subs...why can't the same work for Alpine...if no one gives them a chance in the speaker arena yet they make the best things out there, the product line will still fail.....

Same goes for MB Quart. Whould you ever think that MB Quart made great subs? Most wouldn't....why they own "components", not subs. Scott Buhwalda competes uses MB Quart subs....and does very well, but I bet if you ask the general audio user out there, how good are MB Subs, you will get the "....uhhh I know their components are the best out there, but I guess their subs are ok"

Alpine just so happens to carry a positive stigma. There are many other heads out there that are arguably as good or better then Alpine. Eclipse and Alpine are always duking it out for the top ranks...they are different heads, and they are targeted toward different users. Who's to say that I don't like an Eclipse deck better then you, and you think I'm f-ing nuts? Who's wrong then...guess what, neither of us!!! Last time I checked, Alpine doens't offer 16V balanced outputs on heads....Eclipse does...if I need that feature....Alpine is no longer top dog to me, now is it?

Those speakers may not be worth 800 TO YOU, but they may provide the level of performance (plus added value: i.e. looks, prestige, manft. support etc) that another guy is willing to pay for. Some people are willing to pay for the Alpine name. People don't like taking chances.

Sony is a great example of this. Generally speaking in the home audio/theater arena, Sony is accepted as a top quality brand. I happen to own a few of their products (a pair of Wegas and a DVD player) People know the TV is high quality, so they also assume the DVD is highquality too...it's easier to stick with your brand because you have an expectation level set for sony. There may be a DVD player out there for less that's better then the sony you bought, but you didn't think about it because you don't what the risk.

You are entitled to your opinion, but don't tell other people they are wrong because they are willing to pay more for a product then you are. Again, not saying that there are products out there the may or do perform better. Car audio is subjective....

Yes, there is a disagreement ther....that's just close minded. There are more heads or combinations of units out there that perform as good or better. There is no "best" there will never be.... I'd happily trade a nice CD transport and a great outboard DAC (thinking of ID DAC-20 (used price ~1500) or the IDONE - if it ever comes out) for an F1 Status.

Recently, a test was done at ID comparing the above situation. A Macrom CD Transport connected to the ID DAC-20 was compared to a Denon Z1. That's denon's flagship head at 2500 a pop. The ID DAC was the unanimous winner. Check out the post on elite:

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showt...4&pagenumber=1

The F1 unit for the most part is a mobile multimedia system ( I know that the 7990 is a straight head, but the entire system is signal processing, MM switiching all in one.).....If I want MM, sure it's probably the best thing out there if you throw away the price....but think about it...if I just want two channel stereo, all that extra crap is no longer important. True, there's a ton of exceptional quality, technology and features in there, but saying it's better then EVERY concievable combo out there....that's a tall order.

If anyone's interested...check alpine's F1 gear here:

http://www.alpine.co.jp/alpinef1status/flash.html

I agree with you here. You should plan a whole system, and include a budget for installation.

What is really getting argued here is what is a brand worth to someone. Again, saying one brand is "THE BEST" is close minded. A products actual value is rarely just it's performance. To make things more fun, perfomance is different from person to person.

Again, I don't think that we are disagreeing on a fundamental level. Your perception of Alpine's overall worth is better then mine....and that's ok. That's why there are so many companies out there offering high end gear...it's actually a good time to be shopping for audio. I guess what I'm trying to say is...buy what sounds good to you, looks good to you, and leaves you enough money in your wallet to put gas in your car.....a car no matter how cool it looks is still lame when it can't leave your driveway :thumbup:

Also, I'm not trying to pick on anyone, and I know this all sounds a bit like a wishy-washy marketing presentation, but there is more out there then simply product performance that leads people to say Brand "X" makes the best Component "Y"

Sorry that was so wordy...

 

I apologize from straying so far from the original question....I get wordy when I have a point to make...sorry about that.

The sales guy is going to try to hype their most expensive gear. IT's the nature of the beast...go to a shop that carries Eclipse and not Alpine...ask them what they think of Alpine? I doubt they will praise the Alpine, calling it a "Rolex."

As a note for the last two posts, I'm not using Eclipse to say that it's better then Alpine...I just picked a brand at random...you could do the same with any other brand...

Is one guy more knowledgable then the other? Maybe, are they disagreeing because they really feel that the Alpine is a POS, no way...they are trying to make a living.

My point is that you should decide what features are important to you, then decide what you want to spend. Then find out what head fits your model of the best thing that fits your requirements. Listen to everything that you want to buy. Too many people buy on looks/price alone. When shopping for heads, I make a big deal out of the button layout.....I happen to like rotary knobs...these are the things I look for...yours may be different. A flashy 500 head may be exactly what you want...I can't tell ya.

I did the same thing when searching for a head. I have all my processing external....everything, a total of 93 bands of EQ for goodness sake!!! All I needed was a head that looked pretty good, was easy to use, and sent a clean signal to my EQ's.

I looked at Alpine, Eclipse, Pioneer, Nak, Kenwood, Sony, and more...dind't like the combo of features, designs, and pricing.

I didn't want an internal amplifier (it degrades sound), I didn't want MP3 support (no SQ there) I didn't need any EQ or crossovers (again, I have superior external solutions that most head/processor combos can't match in performance and flexibility)

What I chose: Clarion HX-D10. Why....no internal amp, and you can turn of all processing....everything, no tone controls, no fading, no sub level control. It has a nice display, not too flashy, is detachable, and it was CHEAP (~300 authorized from crutchfield...this head sold for +700) I was extrememly price sensitive at the time. It has the ability to add an external signal processor, changer, and satalite radio.

It was the PERFECT fit for my criteria. IT worked for me....

The average guy probably doesn't want/require the same things I do.

Now, that is enough of me typing, I'm tired, I have to be semi-productive today.

 

hi curly, thanks for all the info. the reason why i started this thread in the beginning is because i am planning on getting an MP3 player and have come down to two brands, Alpine and Sony, the Alpine CDA-7894 and the Sony CDX-MP70. i dont see much reviews on the sony deck and most ppl seem to be ragging on sony decks all the time but personally i think its a pretty good deck and looks pretty cool. as for the alpine deck, the specs seem to be a lot better for a cheaper price although i could prolly get both for the same price on ebay. many ppl had great reviews on the alpine deck. after thoughtful consideration and playing with the decks in stores, i think i would get the alpine deck because it would match my dash since its black, silver would look a little too tacky. but now my concern is, i see another alpine deck which is one level up, the CDA-7897 and dont know if should invest the extra money in this unit instead. it has the dissapearing face and all the specs look to be the same except this has some sort of better "bass engine" thing. anyways, i am not buying it cuz i believe alpine is top of the line or anything altho there is no doubt that its one of the best brands for headunits. i've had 2 sonys in the past two years and i am pretty satisfied but i know more about car audio now so its about time to move to alpine. i used to think the alpines looks kinda plain but its starting too look quite good.

 

ok,, for the dude that said i was comparing Xplod to JL,, i wasnt,, just using the name to say u need to hear different stuff. and i have compared JL mains to Xplod mains,, god JL is in another league,, i went from xplods to JL VR-600CX. that was a huge difference. and about have the CDA-7874 distort. i can make it so that head unit doesnt distort. i have only spent about $2000 and i can make it not distort all the way up to max volume. yeah the speakers start to crack,, thats cause of the ****ty main amp i have. Alpine Flex 4. the flex amps suck ass,, the V-12 series, another story,, but once i replace that and get an alpine EQ,, the damn 7874 will be all i need. so dont say that sux. i have it and it kicks mfing ass. then again i went from Xplod to old school sony to Alpine. so if i am wrong in the head units,, then sorry. but one thing is for certent. i hate Xplod,, through and through. the h/u Xploded on me!