they stole my HU a few months back, and thse past few months driving around with no sound has been a bit.....insane!

i don't plan on making anymore changes to the system. i'm done with everything. i just want to find a good HU that will accommodate my amps and speakers. wondering if anyone had any suggestions for something that is moderately price. and by moderate, i mean that if you said something was $99, i'd be all over that like a fat lady on a twinkie. i really dont' want to spend a lot of money. i just want what's enough to provide good quality sound.

Speaker setup
-Diamond Audio 300.2 (150x2)
-Diamond Audio Hex 600s mids with Rainbow Tweeters
-Diamond Audio basic rear fills

Sub Setup
- Eclipse 7232 Amp (1000x2 rmx, 2000x2 max)
- Diamond Audio TDX 12's

for the most part, i think i've had a pretty strong and clean system for the past few years. i just feel i'm done with the whole scene. no more dvd playing as i've ripped out the headrests. i am looking for a basic HU for FM radio, connecting my ipod (99% use), and the only EXTRA, but not necessary, would be bluetooth connectivity for my blackberry. i really could care less for anything more.

so...does anyone have any suggestions that wont' hit the pocket too hard. i've was looking at the Kenwood KDC-MP335, which seems pretty basic, has 3 pre-amp outputs, and i can get the ipod add-on for it. puts me at under $200 for the whole thing. just started looking, so i haven't really looked at anything else.

oh yeah, one more thing. a part of me feels like i should hold back since we're so close to the 2008 line-up and see what else is being released. anyone else agree.

 

I'm really happy with my Panasonic cq-c7205u, they can be found all over for well under $200.

ipod controls (with adapter cable)
3 preouts (5v)
rear aux in
bluetooth capable (with adapter)

 

Yes. I remember when I bought my Max back in January of 2006... I had to wait a few weeks for Alpine's new lineup to be avaliable on Crutchfield's web site. At the time, they had just announced a new high-speed iPod interface cable, which was only $30 versus the $100 for the old style (like so many other brands). I ended up with a CDA-9856 for $200. Wish I had the Biolite display, as the Max tilts it up towards the roof and makes it easy for the sun to wash it out on sunny days.

 

Get a CDA-9885, that should accomodate all your needs...

 

funny, i was lookin at the 9885 this morning. it sure do look perty...and so does that pana.
god this is annoying.

 

I have a cde-9881 in the gf's car, and a cda-9887 in mine, absolutely no complaints on either one. 9885 can only be right in the middle of both. Great units.

 

Wait til January, or a couple more weeks since the '08 Alpines are already shipping..

 

BTW .. 'moderately' priced is not on the cheap, it would be more mid-high level. You want CHEAP priced n00bcakes.

 

happen to have access to the 08 alpine line-up where i can read up?

 

yeah, i dont get why so early. At least I think its early..

 

Nope, Im still anti Alpine. Try Crutchfield.

 

 

Its def early for Alpine, now theyll flop at CES. Although there is talk of the now released '08 lineup to be a temp on and more/replacements will come around spring time. Considering everything now is already obsolete, then replaced for a few months, then replaced yet again in spring doesnt speak to highly of whatever the hell their doing over there..

 

BTW .. don't you have a sheet with the replacements on it yet?

 

on what? the 9887?

still havent called my rep

me = teh lazy

Im leaving this job shortly anyways

 

The whole lineup..

 

So my rep came in today. I got the sheet you're referring to..

The whole lineup is not getting released right now, its really just the HU's and a very small amount of add-ons to the upper end ones.

the 9886 looks fantastic - buts its essentially the same deck as the 85 unfortunately. Typical Alpine...

He said the reason the '08s are already shipping is because it basically isn't cost effective to make any more '07 decks (they ran out), ie, they should have made more last year. Apparently they didnt figure they'd sell as much as they did, or something.

 

Meh the whole lineup or just HUs = same ****. HUs are the bulk of their sales anyway, hence the reason they ran out.

 

Is there a 9888 or something?

 

alpine- used to be my fav, not any more. their hu's are butt ugly, their displays are tiny, hence not user friendly. pioneer's hu's are alot nicer and a little cheaper, i have 1 i bought in july that : 1. has ipod interface 2. has bluetooth 3. has cd and am/fm and 4. has aux for my sirius radio. you can go to pioneers website and check them out starting at 150.00 for a pretty decent 1.

 

the way they look hasn't changed in almost 30 years, and they still sell plenty of HU's, so obviously they're doing something right.. Their displays aren't any smaller than others, wtf are you talking about? and they have the some of the most user-friendly and easy interfaces out there.. have you ever tried fiddiling with an Eclipse?

 

And they also many have ipod/sirius/cd and am/fm... duh/ and aux options, just like pioneer.

 

before getting stolen:


stolen:


after:

 

Nice how do you liek the 9885?

 

it's good. i like it
it gives me the needs w/out hittin the bank too hard.
the ipod controls still need work, to be honest. must be a patent thing cause i dont' understand why the scroller wouldn't act JUST like an ipod. it would be so much faster. the stupid enter button is annoying.

but other than that, it's great. it pumps it loud, i and i LOVE the direct subwoofer controls. that was my pet peeve with the eclipse. i couldn't control the sub only, especially with a wide variety of music taste that i have.

installation was cake. took me all of 2 hours, which included removing the old unit.

 

They took just the screen and not the entire unit? Weird ...

 

eclipse. period.

 

Yea...... no

 

Bunch of idiots..just for a frekin screen. Frustrates me hearing about those damn theives....

 

you will soon see, thats all I can say. Except I do some of the new toys at CES....

 

I dunno, we'll see. I'm very happy with my current Alpine though. Much happier than I was with the Pios/Eclipse I've had.

 

Copper chassis, dead head , plethora of tuning options, redeisgned/improved graphics, etc ... only time will tell.

 

Hm what other tuning can there be?

 

But it/they dont have copper chassis,no internal amp,bluetoof,etc ..

 

Time will tell what I may be "missing" out on

 

applies to DD units also? don are you holding out on me?? I upgrade every year so you better not be holding out on me!!

 

I always hold out


... a little.

 

In for updated units. Time to swap out the Nak.

 

Hmm CD7200 mkii... Looks alright same face, so I'm guessing same motorized action? UGH!

Hope there are alot of things taken care of coming from the 7100 into the 7200.



I'm sure it'll be slightly (if not more) higher priced than the old....

 

dude did that idiot just stole the screen? it hurts to see it. was the screen inside or out when they stole it. seeing that gave me chills coz i have a flip out too.
best of luck
D