Help me decide on head unit please

[snshami]

Hi, I have narrowed down my choice of head unit to the following:

Alpine CDE-101
http://www.alpine.com.au/showItem.php?item_id=45

Pioneer DEH 4350UB http://www.pioneer.com.au/Products/Car% ... 350UB.aspx


That is as far as I have gotten. They both cost about the same and have similar features. The Pioneer is around $20 more expensive but that difference is nullified because I need to buy a seperate cable to connect my ipod.

Can someone with a clearer mind than mine and a bit more experience please help me decide.

Oh and I have learnt my lesson I did not make a poll out of this one.

[Bauer]

before I cast my poll-less vote, when you say ipod, do you mean ipod, ipod touch or iphone?

[snshami]

I am not sure. I suppose they both would support everything with firmware upgrades but I am not sure.

[Bauer]

here is what i wrote in another thread a while back.

I know you have both said Ipod so I will assume that is what you have. If it is an iPhone (or maybe even an iPod touch) then be sure to check the charging voltage as these 2 are differ from the normal iPod. When I bought my Alpine head unit I found that Pioneer etc would play iphone but not charge. My sister bought a brand new suzuki swift with an ipod jack in the glovebox. Wont even recognise her phone.

So my advice is that before you buy the Pioneer (I have that Alpine unit so I know it charges) play with one and plug an ipod/iphone into it to make sure it does what you want. If they say it will charge a phone/touch, get them to prove it. If you dont have an iphone I am sure someone in an audio store will.

I couldnt stress to you enough how important that is. It may sound trivial but I guarantee you that the day you get in your car with a flat iDevice will be the day you wish you bought one that charges it.

So if a poll goes up, Id vote Alpine

[Entice]

I'd go the Alpine 103BT.
u can get them for 315 delivered, and they also have Bluetooth

why this unit? cos I'm looking at one too!

[snshami]

here is what i wrote in another thread a while back.

I know you have both said Ipod so I will assume that is what you have. If it is an iPhone (or maybe even an iPod touch) then be sure to check the charging voltage as these 2 are differ from the normal iPod. When I bought my Alpine head unit I found that Pioneer etc would play iphone but not charge. My sister bought a brand new suzuki swift with an ipod jack in the glovebox. Wont even recognise her phone.

So my advice is that before you buy the Pioneer (I have that Alpine unit so I know it charges) play with one and plug an ipod/iphone into it to make sure it does what you want. If they say it will charge a phone/touch, get them to prove it. If you dont have an iphone I am sure someone in an audio store will.

I couldnt stress to you enough how important that is. It may sound trivial but I guarantee you that the day you get in your car with a flat iDevice will be the day you wish you bought one that charges it.

So if a poll goes up, Id vote Alpine

The charging bit is a very good point. I have checked the Pioneer literature carefully and it does not mention charging anywhere. Does the Alpine charge from the front USB as well as when you have the Ipod connector going to the back of the unit. How do you find the green illumination. Does it match the green lighting of the car. Do you have any pictures of it in your car. Was the sound a big improvement over the stock stereo?

[snshami]

I'd go the Alpine 103BT.
u can get them for 315 delivered, and they also have Bluetooth

why this unit? cos I'm looking at one too!

The 103BT is certainly tempting. Where are you getting this price from?

From my perspective I was trying to decide on the features I wanted. You see my MX is a weekend car that I use for pleasure trips and not much else. I did not want to spend too much money on the sound system but also did not want to end up with an out dated system. The problem I found is where does one stop.

From the basic $109 Kenwood that only does Aux in and plays MP3 on CD to USB/Ipod Connectivity typically at the $200 mark to BT and SD car at $300. Where does one stop. With BT I guess one needs to find a spot for the mic. Where are you planning to put it.

I have been swinging back and forth in this dilemma for a few days now and it is not an easy decision.

[Lokiel]

See if you can download their user manuals and make your decision based on whether or not they do what you want and how easy it is to do it.
If you want to use your iPod as your main source of music, choose the one whose interface mimics your iPod the closest.

[lee]

My Kenwood head unit has a USB port at the back, which tidies the front up nicely. I have the microphone from mine running up to the instrument panel, between the fuel meter and the tacho. People can tell I'm in the car, but they say they can hear me fine, even with the roof down.

[bear2230]

I have just had installed the Alpine103EBT
3 Reasons.
(1) It has a built in bluetooth that works,its a Parrot bluetooth unit. They are great.
(2) It has quad Illumination so works well with red, orange, green or blue displays. Orange/red works for my NB8B and the green is perfect for NB8A.
(3) Alpine work great with I-phone and they charge your Ipod and your phone at the same time.

+ it has a great subwoofer control for your DoofDoof (I think that's a word)

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ALPINE-CDE-103EB ... 2c548cefe6
My advice is buy it locally in case it stuffs up you have a warranty.

Also have a look at the double din unit, it looks great in the console.
http://www.elite-electronics.com.au/ind ... cts_id=213

[bear2230]

Pictures

[taminga16]

Hi,
Upgrade your speakers, buy some dynamat for the doors and install one of these.
Greg.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QBG614/ref ... _pe_vfe_t1

[snshami]

Hi,
Upgrade your speakers, buy some dynamat for the doors and install one of these.
Greg.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001QBG614/ref ... _pe_vfe_t1

Hi, I already have upgraded my speakers. See this thread please viewtopic.php?f=55&t=45612&p=575581#p575581

I did not use Dynamat because I don't anticipate that my 6.5" Alpine bass drivers will be able to cause significant resonance in the door panels to justify the cost of the Dynamat.

With the stock radio the problem is that it does not have enough power for enough head room (maybe using the incorrect terminology but I mean high sound levels without distortion).

More headroom is one reason for me wanting to upgrade. The second is being able to use all my music, the majority of which is in digital format.

[Noddycar]

The Kenwood I just installed is louder than I can bear (without distortion) and has a front USB slot which supports charging of my Iphone.... It also allows you to change tracks etc through the head unit, although I generally don't touch it while driving.

I also purchased a simple Griffin handsfree cable, which plugs into the Aux socket on the head unit. It has a 3.5 mm plug which goes between the Iphone and head unit, but also has a brilliant microphone to turn your radio into a handsfree...... In truth, I don't think I will use the USB on the front of the radio often, but the handsfree cable has been connected constantly, as it allows me to play my music and then switch to a call without changing modes on the head unit. All of the callers have said the call clarity is great (no echo and clear speech). I have not tried connecting the bluetooth and the USB together, but if I was using both it would be a simple matter of hitting the mode button to go from Aux to USB, so its not a big deal.

I know Alpine would probably offer superior sound, but I like my music loud and the Kenwood is too loud for me in the confines of a small interior like the MX-5, so I will never turn it up high enough to get distortion. The quality of the sound is far superior to the stock unit, especially since the speakers have been replaced.

[snshami]

How did you cope with the difference in lighting colours.