Broadfield wrote:Maybe if you are talking about a 10 year Alpine, maybe!?!

Can't be. The 7894 is easy as hell to navigate, and its about that old. It also sounds amaaaazing! You don't happen to have one of these sitting around do you? I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Actually, I have some questions regarding some car stereo equipment. Think I could email you, or you email me, so we don't have to jack this guy's thread? Not that it matters, as I think he has made his decision...

AppleBonker, I have an unused, new in box (but still 6yr old) Kenwood Sirius tuner left over from my old Kenwood KDC-MPV622. I don't know if it would work for the Kenwood you have in mind, but if it does you are more than welcome to have it. I would get you a part # on it, but I am not at my parents house.

Broadfield wrote:
Are you guys for real? I guess to each his own, but I have always considered Alpine the easiest. Depending on whether it's a screen or radio: hit "settings" or "menu", then scroll through the options, hit "enter" to go into that option and "return" to back out. How the hell does it get much easier than that? Maybe if you are talking about a 10 year Alpine, maybe!?!

Oh well, I have carried every good brand under the sun, at some point in the last 17 years, and have always kept Alpine around because of it's simplicity and overall performance. However, I will admit that logical to one person is not logical to another. I think PC's are ridiculous hard to use compared to Macs. Others think the opposite. It's a good thing we have choices

Idk what kind of Alpines you were messing with but the new ones are so friggin easy to use it's a no brainer.

AZ89two4Tsx wrote:


Idk what kind of Alpines you were messing with but the new ones are so friggin easy to use it's a no brainer.

Maybe the cheapest ones with fewer features. Go higher end (the one I'm talking about was $350) and its like being stuck in a corn maze, except you can't just cheat and break through the walls. The button to go up the menu hierarchy is different depending on which menu level you're in. Why? Because Alpine felt like it. Why does the Menu button change Q-sound adjustments instead of left and right arrows? Just because. Maybe its to force people to use the manuals. But hey, you can tell it to say happy birthday to you.

They sound awesome though.

In the spirit of arguing, I'm 100% alpine fan, and i've had my fair share of headunits, the Alpines are by far the best in aesthetics, funcinality, ease of use, etc.

Word.

to me.

and your mom.

and Broadfield.

and the other Alpine fans.

Fight fight fight!

this things a turd. atleast the one i picked up was. i bought it new & found a panasonic i liked much better. donated the dual to my sis. it was dead in less than 6 months.

im pretty partial to JVC. i had an el kameleon (the old, old school one) that lasted three years, through a car fire, being hosed with water, and ultimately, getting stolen...

SERIOUS WANT:

I owned this one a decade ago:

By far, Nakamichis have the cleanest sound, simplest interface, and most OEM-like appearance. Its too bad they ran into financial trouble and shrank their distribution network.

My dad put a mid-level Alpine with MB Quart speakers in his MB W124. It sounds amazing.

Thanks for all the input guys, keep it up. Despite popular opinion I have not made a solid set in stone decision. I do know what my budget is, and I absolutely have to stay within it, and this budget dictates that I have to stay in the sub $150 range. $150 has quite a few options, but most of those don't have HD radio (especially HD radio built in) and while they all pretty much have Ipod connectivity, only a handful allow control-ability of said Ipod and only a handful have USB support so I can keep my Ipod touch charged.

The main reason why I was looking at the Duals to begine with is because they have HD radio built in, Ipod connectivity and control-ability and on top of all of that it has Bluetooth support all for around $150. Bluetooth isn't that important to me since I don't talk on my phone in my car b/c it's annoying. If I could find a site that has discount prices on car audio then I'll look at the more expensive options. Not a fan of Crutchfield because unless you happen to catch them when they are having a sale they are too expensive. I have checked Sonic Electronics and while they are a little cheaper and offer free shipping I'm not sure if I can trust them.