cheaper on the net?

[vert2go89]

I've seen a few saying can purchase sound equipment on net for less than retail stores.What sites for alpine systems? I've checked sony and pioneer systems and the sony seems to have same as pioneer but for less money.I also noticed that the sonycdmx630 had 90db cd signal to noise ratio and the pioneer 6400 had a 94 db.Would this mean the sony had better noise control?Or is the higher number better?Most systems are around 94 to 96 that I have seen so far. I haven't been able to compare the alpine yet with these two.I have been told that purchasing an alpine you don't get better sound just that your paying bigger bucks for the name.Is the alpine better than the pioneer?And what makes it better? I have an JVC 580 in my vette now and when I checked specs on it,it puts out 17rms watts where as the pioneer 22 and sony 22.5 rms per channel.

[Kale]

http://www.etronics.com has great alpine prices.

Dont buy Sony, they are notoriously bad. and I'm not just jumping on teh hate-sony bandwagon, I've personally seen them die after a few weeks.

Alpine gives you quality. Some believe different head units sound better. I'm one of them.

I'm using a Clarion myself, though. I picked it because it has no internal amplifier :)

Heres ho wi suggest buying head units:

1) Throw out JVC, Sony, Panasonic

2) Shop for FEATURES

if you find 2 head units from 2 different brands that have the features you want, then BRAND shop

Cehck uot http://www.sounddomain.com and http://www.caraudioforum.com

do searches on teh model and brand of head unit yorue looking at
see if people are posting topics like "I love my Alpine!!" or "I hate my POS skipping sony!" or "WTF My clarion wont read disks???"

There you have it.. your very own consumer audio reports.



[Modified by Nevermind, 6:09 PM 12/26/2002]

[vert2go89]

thanks for the site nevermind.I also found out the higher number is better for cd noise ratio.the alpine has highest noise ratio i've seen so far.
another question is what would i want mp3 player for.yeah i am finding out i have been living in a cave as it seems.

[GTLocke13]

KENWOOD!! :D People just don't say that name enough around here.

But seriously... signal to noise ratio is the... umm... ratio of signal to noise at the input to the internal amplifier. A higher number is better. If you're going to go with a head unit over $300, make sure it has a SNR of at least 100 dB. $200-$300 you should be looking for 95 dB and up.

Another number that's really important is the THD, the total harmonic distortion. I won't go into what it is here, but the lower the number the better. This number applies to the internal amps on the head unit, so if you get a really high end unit with no internal amps, it doesn't have a THD. Anything over 0.1% is unacceptable. 0.08% is good, and as good as it gets for most car audio stuff. 0.06% is great, but I don't think you'll find that on anything but really high end component amps.

One other thing, if you want to eventually hook up an amp, look at the preout voltage. Don't get anything under 4 volts.

2) Shop for FEATURES

:iagree:
My Kenwood head unit is really good sounding, but its great because of the features. It has digital filters on all the outputs... high pass, low pass, and adjustable Q (which kicks butt). It has level controls for each source (tuner, CD, satellite) as well as for the preouts. A 3-band EQ with adjustable center frequencies tops it all off. Being able to tune the sound to that degree really makes it a gread head unit.

[_Nomad_]

I have been told that purchasing an alpine you don't get better sound just that your paying bigger bucks for the name.

Who ever told you that is either jealous because they can't afford an Alpine or they have no clue and are talking out of their arse.

Good rule-of-thumb...you can never go wrong with a good Alpine. :yesnod: :thumbs:

Other than that, Nevermind pretty much summed it up. :cheers:

[oldace84]

Thanks for the links....
tony
will help me decide where to buy...
:thumbs:

[vert2go89]

well I decided to get the alpine7893 and turned out one of the guys at work had the same model in his pick up so I got to hear it in a vehicle.
I got it for $263 on etronics and car toys had it for $349.Crutchfield.com was same price as car toys.

[Dokken]

Here is how I got my Alpine 7894 for $300 delivered. It works perfectly and there are better feedbacks on members, this is just an example..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1948674635

The Alpine sounds so good it'll make you wrestle with fertility. I have been a Pioneer and Blaupunkt user. The Alpine takes em out easily. I'm sure it's not the final or absolute sound. However I can at least say high output with great clarity. The C4 cabin worked nicely with their speakers too. Components worked like a charm.

:cheers:

[92TripleBlack]

I have been told that purchasing an alpine you don't get better sound just that your paying bigger bucks for the name.

Who ever told you that is either jealous because they can't afford an Alpine or they have no clue and are talking out of their arse.

Good rule-of-thumb...you can never go wrong with a good Alpine. :yesnod: :thumbs:

Other than that, Nevermind pretty much summed it up. :cheers:

:iagree: http://www.pricegrabber.com
Skip the kenwood unless you want lower sound quality and reliability to be an issue.

[M396 #00-011]

Skip the kenwood unless you want lower sound quality and reliability to be an issue.

Come on now, lets not let your opinions clout the truth. :yesnod: