Quote:
Originally Posted by 81ShrtBox
I've been selling Audio/video since 2002. Alpine is nice, thats whats in my daily driver. Its a nice looking unit, been having it in there since 2003. I had A Clarion Pro Audio radio in my old 93 Suburban. Best radio I ever owned, and by far one of the ugliest. If you want pretty, pioneer or alpine. And the pioneer from Walmart and best buy isnt the same as from an automotive carstereo dealer... looks the same, but its not. Eclipse units are nice, but Eclipse doesnt make radios anymore. And i wouldnt stop buying clarion because they make are a brother/sister to Jensen. Jensen actually makes some nice units too. There are alot of higher end brands that are affiliated with cheaper product lines... everybody cant afford high dollar electronics. Smart economics comes into play when a company does this  |
Yeah I can understand where you are coming from, however, I was told by local Car Audio *Lombards Auto Sounds in Goleta, CA*, would primarily carry Eclipse and Clarion, however, as of the past 5 - 6 years, they have been carrying Alpine, Kenwood and Pioneer. I asked them what happened to Clarion and was told their quality went downhill and they are FUGLY.. I did not believe it until I hit up a Frys Electronics and Damn they are FUGLY. From what I have heard that since the whole Jensen, Clarions high end has had some reliability problems but considering my last Clarion system was a 2000 maybe 2001 and that was when they were at their best in my opinion. Even they were not ugly but actually great looking. I would agree about buying any stereo from Walmart and Best Buy, even considering Kenwood and Alpine from there are not going to be the quality like buying from an actual Car Stereo company.
As for low end car audio, I would not discount JVC, Kenwood, Alpine and Pioneer. I would avoid Boss and other in house brands. Now Planet Audio is supposed to be good, however, their amps, I would avoid as I have seen they get a bit too hot when being ran.
Now as for my opinion on Alpine though, Alpine CDA-9887 with KTX 100 EQ *imprint*, KCE422i *iPod cable that I am not using*, kca-400BT with kwe-460e *cable to hook up the bt to the deck*, kce-433iv *ipod cable from bt*, I got the entire package for $ 200 shipped. The Imprint is what really made this sound amazing. Which when I go to swap my 68s cab to my 71 AC cab, I am thinking Alpine as well, whether I pick up another 9887 or a newer model, I can still use the Microphone and Software to use the imprint!
HTH,
Charlie