mp3 headunit advice please!

[chrishill 0]

I'm going to spend some of my xmas bonus on one, and i've been looking at the alpine units as i know they're one of the best for sound quality. They're a bit pricey though.

 

just wondering if the alpine mp3 units are 'better' in the same way as the CD headunits are, or if JVC/Kenwood/sony etc are worth a look.

[Bally 0]

Hi Chris, I'd got for an Alpine or maybe a pioneer.. have you tried http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk ?

[GazzaG60 0]

ive been running my Aiwa MP3 for around 3 yrs now. it was one of the first available along with a JVC and a Denon.

 

I paid 300 for it then. you can get um for around a 100 but quality, im not sure.

 

my mate has a clarion cost about 310 and is a good bit of kit.

[del68 0]

If you already have a Cd head unit try looking for a MStation, definetly the dogs for MP3 tracks and connects directly to your PC to add /remove tracks. Search for one on Ebay, I know there have been a few on there lately going very cheap as apposed to the normal near £400 mark.

[chrishill 0]

yeah bally, looked at caraudiodirect.co.uk and incarexpress.co.uk, both WAY cheaper than halfarts. I've got a sony CD unit now, is the sound quality of the alpine noticably different?

[20valver 0]

My brother has an alpine MP3 head unit. He did pay close to 300 for it but it was well worth it.

 

Sound quality is imense, and their are pleanty of little adjustments to keep your personnal taste satisfied.

[Ady_G 0]

I'd try http://www.cel-direct.com/

 

They got a couple of good Alpine Mp3 head units for £230 & £260, also a 6 disc Mp3 auto-changer.

 

I'm looking to upgrade to an Alpine Mp3 from an old Alpine tape deck in the next couple of weeks cos Alpine has the best sound quality IMHO.

 

Cheers

 

Ady

[Bally 0]

yeah bally, looked at caraudiodirect.co.uk and incarexpress.co.uk, both WAY cheaper than halfarts. I've got a sony CD unit now, is the sound quality of the alpine noticably different?

 

I found the alpine has a few setting to enhance the sound quality.. everyone has different tastes though.. I've been looking for a new unit, just never get the chance to buy one:( :roll:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I've got one of these and am very pleased with it. I've always had Alpines up till now, Pioneer from now on :lol:

 

Kev

[VR6 0]

I've got the Pioneer 7400mp3 head unit.

 

Absolutely supoib - never skips over bumps and has enough features to keep you happy for a while.

 

Had JVC in the past but I generally stick to Pioneer nowadays.

 

(Anyone want a Pioneer 6-disc changer? :D )

[Bally 0]

Hey Kev, my bro & me two mates have that unit, they rate it... :D

[J a m e s 0]

alpine mate.

[Guest]

I've got one of these and am very pleased with it. I've always had Alpines up till now, Pioneer from now on :lol:

 

Kev

 

what model is that Kev?

 

looks lovely, I have a Kenwood stealth which came with mine, no complaints so far, but I love the look of that Pioneer 8)

[VR6 0]

][H'PSKE3OR .... hehe

 

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/product ... ts_id=2381

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The Pioneer does actually look superb in the C. I didn't think it would being brushed metal and a titanium sort of colour, but it just looks so neat because it is thankfully absent of the usual crass displays and myriads of buttons, most of which serving no real purpose.

 

Insert CD with 200 odd MP3/WMA files, press go.....listen.....

 

K

[Jim 2]

I've got the same head unit as VR6... quality piece of kit & highly reccomended! :D

[chrishill 0]

hmm, tempted by that one now, i'd looked at it but thought it was some weird wood effect which put me off, but if you lot think it suits the C then i may just go for it...

[Supercharged 2]

I've got the Pioneer 7400mp3 head unit.

 

Absolutely supoib - never skips over bumps and has enough features to keep you happy for a while.

 

Had JVC in the past but I generally stick to Pioneer nowadays.

 

I got one of these for sale, PM me if interested

[VR6 0]

Link to the Pioneer 7400 for the benefit of Supercharged's sale :)

[Campaign 0]

My own personal views on Alpines are kind of mixed really. I used to swear by them, as they always had good sound quality (in the CD and Cassette days), but whenever I bought one it only lasted at most 2 years, usually only about 18 months before the face plate started losing contact with the head unit. It wasn't that I used to go for the cheap models either, £600 head unit with a dodgy face panel is no fun! I went through about 3 in 5 years.

 

Recently I've been using Pioneer head units, although the Corrado has a Sony MP70 which is simply superb, with it's little solid feeling tray for loading the disc rather than the brushed runners. The C also has an M-Station with 60Gb drive in it, but I hardly use this any more.

 

The Vento has a Pioneer 5500, and the Mrs has a Pioneer 4500 in hers.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

My own personal views on Alpines are kind of mixed really. I used to swear by them, as they always had good sound quality (in the CD and Cassette days), but whenever I bought one it only lasted at most 2 years, usually only about 18 months before the face plate started losing contact with the head unit. It wasn't that I used to go for the cheap models either, £600 head unit with a dodgy face panel is no fun! I went through about 3 in 5 years.

 

Same here mate. I've been an Alpine fan ever since 1992 when I nearly bankrupted myself buying a chassis removable (face plates rare in those days!) Alpine cassette player. It was solid, reliable and sounded awesome, which came as no surprise given Alpine is the sister company of Nakamichi. Anyway, in 1994 I moved onto a 7514L (face plate job) which was utter rubbish structurally, but still sounded good.

 

Then in the mid 90s, Alpine told Halfords to get knotted when they were keen on selling their products in their superstores. Alpine sales then flagged (due to their snobbery) and once the carrot was removed from their arse, they got with the program and started knocking out a larger and cheaper range, but at the expense of build quality. And to make matters worse, they moved away from their 'less is more' ethos and started producing for the 'more buttons and lights is more' market.

 

A shame, a real shame.

 

This is why I love the Pioneer. It's an Alpine of old and Alpine just can't compete (at the moment) with Pioneer's superb Mosfet output stage, or their reliability and build quality.

 

Just my thruppence worth...

 

K

[dubbprince 0]

not much mention of kenwood...but i rate kenny units to be honest.

I've never tried pioneer or alpine much, but my mums rocco has an alpine cassette unit it it and my old polo had a sony cd player.

I upgraded it straight away with the Kenwood Z828 mp3 player...very nice graphics but a little too plasticky. It cost me £280 2yrs ago and lasted me throughout my polo years. The corrado isn't so lucky, it just has a cheap kenwood tape player.

I'm going to hopefully be getting the Kenwood M-7024 mp3 version of their latest range. Top the flagship model, but its got the same features my old Z828 had with a little more.

 

What i noticed about my friends Sony Mp3 cd HU is that it didn't take long loading up tracks and the time between track changes was un-noticable.

My Z828 took a while really...about 3seconds.

I think the latest range is far more better though and obviously kenwood must of uprated their units over 2/3yrs!

 

I've heard VERY good things about alpines units, especially the ones which require a constant battery live wire as they have 60watts per channel and run at a higher voltage than 14.4V ( i think its about 17.4V).

 

Its down to personal tastes really, the clarion units are VERY VERY tasty! brushed faces, colour changes, all sorts and very cheap too considering i think they have DAB.

[Henny 0]

Anyone thought about the Blaupunkt units? They've got some cracking models out at the moment which will do CD, MP3, Memory card, AM, FM, and DAB out of the box and have CD multiplayer control as well...

 

Good sound, more features than most will ever use and not bad prices too... 8)

 

just a thought.... I was considering getting one until I got hold of my Clarion TV system cheap... :lol:

[pimp 0]

I've got an Alpine CDA-9815RB MP3 unit. Sounds tens times better than the kenwood mini-disc player I had in previously. Once I got the time alignment right the sound staging is excellent. I wasn't too sure about it but now I've got it I'm well pleased.

[G60Jet 1]

The Kenwood MP3 players are Great, just dont get the MASK system ones as there is a design fault with the ribbon cable, in short after about 12months normal use they snap