Hey all,
I am taking my first step down the long road to car audio heaven, and
am getting a new HU for my '94 Hyundai Excel (hatchback!). I've
narrowed it down to the following 3 MP3 decks, all available at local
shops (too lazy to buy online right now).
Alpine CDA-9807, $400
Pioneer Premier DEH-P550MP, $350
JVC KD-S890, $450
(all prices Canadian $)
All have 3sets of pre-outs and all the basic options/controls i was
looking for, so either will work, but i'm just looking to see if
anyone has had experience (good or bad) with either deck or if there
are some cool features or whatever that might give one deck an extra
little edge over the others... I am looking for an SQ deck, to run
speakrs off of until i can afford amps and better speakers/subs
My first impression says Alpine, since its got more flexibility in
picking x-over points and bass/treble adjustment center freq and eq
settings. The guy at one store said the JVC sounds way better 'cause
of its 24-bit resolution DAC... i don't know if i buy that. The guy at
another store says that high-voltage pre-outs are overrated... that
one i have no good basis to acccept or reject.
ANY ideas/suggestions/opinions would be helpfull!
Thanks,
Dan

I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


Paul Vina



"Dan D" wrote in message
om...
Hey all,
I am taking my first step down the long road to car audio heaven, and
am getting a new HU for my '94 Hyundai Excel (hatchback!). I've
narrowed it down to the following 3 MP3 decks, all available at local
shops (too lazy to buy online right now).
Alpine CDA-9807, $400
Pioneer Premier DEH-P550MP, $350
JVC KD-S890, $450
(all prices Canadian $)
All have 3sets of pre-outs and all the basic options/controls i was
looking for, so either will work, but i'm just looking to see if
anyone has had experience (good or bad) with either deck or if there
are some cool features or whatever that might give one deck an extra
little edge over the others... I am looking for an SQ deck, to run
speakrs off of until i can afford amps and better speakers/subs
My first impression says Alpine, since its got more flexibility in
picking x-over points and bass/treble adjustment center freq and eq
settings. The guy at one store said the JVC sounds way better 'cause
of its 24-bit resolution DAC... i don't know if i buy that. The guy at
another store says that high-voltage pre-outs are overrated... that
one i have no good basis to acccept or reject.
ANY ideas/suggestions/opinions would be helpfull!
Thanks,
Dan

I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


24bit vs. 1 bit. Apples and oranges, Paul. I thought we had this
discussion before?

But that was my point, Mark. The JVC ISN'T a 24-but converter, it's a
1-bit, just like the Alpine. It even says so on the JVC website. I think
my old KD-SH77 was much better sounding than JVC's new stuff.



Paul Vina



"Mark Zarella" wrote in message
.. .
I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and
the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution
but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


24bit vs. 1 bit. Apples and oranges, Paul. I thought we had this
discussion before?

Thanks for your opinion, Paul.
However, after much thought and time, I ended up spending a little
extra $$ and going with a Pioneer Premier DEH-P750MP. I really did
like the Alpine, and the "scroll-thru-tracklist-with-volume-knob"
feature was amazingly handy, but i found the 750 to be more intuitive
and easy to use (which is good for my wife, therefore also good for
me! ), and the extra audio customizing capabilities will go a long
way to helping me make it sound just the way i like, rather than what
the preset EQ's tell me i should like!
It was a very tough choice; for a while there, I was almost gonna go
with the Alpine.... and i'm sure i wouldnt have been disappointed
either.

Thanks again,
Dan



"Paul Vina" wrote in message news:Ipgyb.259660$9E1.1379500@attbi_s52...
But that was my point, Mark. The JVC ISN'T a 24-but converter, it's a
1-bit, just like the Alpine. It even says so on the JVC website. I think
my old KD-SH77 was much better sounding than JVC's new stuff.



Paul Vina



"Mark Zarella" wrote in message
.. .
I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and
the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution
but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


24bit vs. 1 bit. Apples and oranges, Paul. I thought we had this
discussion before?

Hi Dan,

Can I ask where you picked up that DEH-750MP in the end? Where did
you get the pricing for the original alpine and pioneer HU's?

Gordon

(Dan D) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for your opinion, Paul.
However, after much thought and time, I ended up spending a little
extra $$ and going with a Pioneer Premier DEH-P750MP. I really did
like the Alpine, and the "scroll-thru-tracklist-with-volume-knob"
feature was amazingly handy, but i found the 750 to be more intuitive
and easy to use (which is good for my wife, therefore also good for
me! ), and the extra audio customizing capabilities will go a long
way to helping me make it sound just the way i like, rather than what
the preset EQ's tell me i should like!
It was a very tough choice; for a while there, I was almost gonna go
with the Alpine.... and i'm sure i wouldnt have been disappointed
either.

Thanks again,
Dan



"Paul Vina" wrote in message news:Ipgyb.259660$9E1.1379500@attbi_s52...
But that was my point, Mark. The JVC ISN'T a 24-but converter, it's a
1-bit, just like the Alpine. It even says so on the JVC website. I think
my old KD-SH77 was much better sounding than JVC's new stuff.



Paul Vina



"Mark Zarella" wrote in message
.. .
I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and
the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution
but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


24bit vs. 1 bit. Apples and oranges, Paul. I thought we had this
discussion before?

I'm from Belleville, Ontario, so there isnt all that much choice of
audio shops around here Mind you, the one (minor) advantage of the
small city is that theres never more than a 7min drive between any
shop, so its easy to go back and forth till I make up my mind!
The JVC was priced at RedBall Radio, the Alpine was at Kawartha TV &
Stereo, and both Pioneer units were found at Sound Concepts.
Lemme know if you need any more info...

Dan


(Gordon) wrote in message . com...
Hi Dan,

Can I ask where you picked up that DEH-750MP in the end? Where did
you get the pricing for the original alpine and pioneer HU's?

Gordon

(Dan D) wrote in message . com...
Thanks for your opinion, Paul.
However, after much thought and time, I ended up spending a little
extra $$ and going with a Pioneer Premier DEH-P750MP. I really did
like the Alpine, and the "scroll-thru-tracklist-with-volume-knob"
feature was amazingly handy, but i found the 750 to be more intuitive
and easy to use (which is good for my wife, therefore also good for
me! ), and the extra audio customizing capabilities will go a long
way to helping me make it sound just the way i like, rather than what
the preset EQ's tell me i should like!
It was a very tough choice; for a while there, I was almost gonna go
with the Alpine.... and i'm sure i wouldnt have been disappointed
either.

Thanks again,
Dan



"Paul Vina" wrote in message news:Ipgyb.259660$9E1.1379500@attbi_s52...
But that was my point, Mark. The JVC ISN'T a 24-but converter, it's a
1-bit, just like the Alpine. It even says so on the JVC website. I think
my old KD-SH77 was much better sounding than JVC's new stuff.



Paul Vina



"Mark Zarella" wrote in message
.. .
I have owned all 3 brands (and all of each companies top end units) and
the
ALpine is by far the best sounding. The JVC simulates 24-bit resolution
but
is still a 1-bit D/A converter. I'd go with the Alpine.


24bit vs. 1 bit. Apples and oranges, Paul. I thought we had this
discussion before?