which unit, alpine 9855 or nakamichi cd400

[rountreesj]

ok, so i'm looking to get a new head unit and i can't decide whether to go with the Alpine, great reviews and functionality, but the wite face bugs me and the silver stuff, not so sure. the nakamichi looks like it will fit nicely and looks like the money will be in the function, not in the shiny faceplate.

My question is can anyone give me som REAL imput before i uy one or the other, i'm leaning towards the nak, but i just dunno!!!! ggggrrrrrrrrr, or a business radio would do, but i need preamp hookups and ability to run bypassing the stock amp situation.

Thoughts? input? i may just throw caution to the wind and take the plunge on the nak.......

[Hey-U]

CD400 or bmw CD43 or Becker Traffic Pro

[SoEm0]

I love my alpines, i dont have any experience with the cd43 or that particular nak. I have not had much luck with the naks, all the ones my friends have used have had one issue or another. I have owned a bunch of high end alpines and eclipse decks over the years. Love the alpines but i have to say the new models are ugly.

[rountreesj]

Jensen Heavy Duty JHD3510 what about this guy?

[StereoInstaller1]

is there an echo in here?

[SoEm0]

is there an echo in here?

LOL
I dunno about jensen head units, but everything else they make seems to be pretty much junk.

[StereoInstaller1]

LOL
I dunno about jensen head units, but everything else they make seems to be pretty much junk.

Yeah, true. Except the KA series of amps, which are damn near as nice as ultra top end shit like Audison. they were $900 MSRP for a 5 channel...oddly enough, they didn't sell well.

[rountreesj]

yea, sorry, luke, i realize i've beaten this dead horse yet again. appears, all of them suck, and i need to build my own head unit.

[Dagamus(NM)]

I am a fan of the alpine-9887. I have two of them and the imprint system for tuning them. I retune when the weather changes and I go from hard top to soft top or vice versa.

Not cheap, but you get what you pay for.

[StereoInstaller1]

yea, sorry, luke, i realize i've beaten this dead horse yet again. appears, all of them suck, and i need to build my own head unit.

Oh fuck, please do!

I swear to fuck (my personal god, thank you) ALL of my customers want the same thing, and not one goddamn unit on the market.

[318Joe]

So what characteristics/features would your dream unit have that others on the market do not?

My personal peave is the fitment in the dash. How f@cking hard is it to design a headunit that fits flush, or nearly so, in a DIN opening? DIN has only been around for 20 or so years.

[Eric Giles]

I have the Alpine 9835 in my 325is and the 9855 in the M3. They are both very similar with their features, with the main difference being the Glidetouch face on the 9855. Personally, I much prefer the 9835 with its conventional buttons over the 9855's Glidetouch. They both have amber lighting and actually integrate very well with the E30 dash overall. I like them because of the 3 way active crossover, time alignment, parametric EQ, etc.-very full featured head units with very good sound quality overall.

[rountreesj]

well, i have an external equalizer, the main things for me if i had to build one would be:

Looks, simple black with simple buttons
internal amp for about 15 w rms to all 4 corners
internal crossovers
separate bass adjustment
two or three aux imputs
All AMBER LIGHTING
dependability
fitment.

Really, you would think with all the bmws and old vw's etc...out there....someone would make something fitting.....the nak looks pretty good, but i read nothing but complaints about it online, fragile, skipping, and picky about cd's.

and luke i am unsure if you are being serious or facetious, lol, but if i had more connections, i seriously think i could design something decent....too bad it's only a notion...maybe if enough of us get together and compile a list we could contact a major manufacturer and get something done....seriously!!!!

[StereoInstaller1]

Add USB and Bluetooth!

I want all analog controls too, including a front panel subwoofer control.

I am SO thinking about seeing if I can find a Z1 and continue to use my AVIC F-500BT as Bluetooth and USB, plus Nav.

[SoEm0]

I would want

1. Dry system
2. Simple clean design
3. usb/ipod connection
4. BT
5. Great sound proccessor
6. 5v Preouts


I might just build and install another carputer LOL