Is this head unit any good? (Alpine) - advice please

[TopGear7]

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade the head unit in my O6' Fiesta. The most important feature to me is iPod functionality and connectivity.

Opinions on this please:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/...


Also as it's double din it'll fill the whole gap and thus look more oem. I like to keep everything looking original.

Thanks in advance.

[Mazdarese]

Looks like you need to buy a seperate module for Bluetooth. Does that matter?

[Shotgun Rider]

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-i...

Quite a bit more expensive but I have this which is a great unit if you want it for iPod control and can live without a CD player.

[varsas]

I bought an alpine (not this one) last year of t'interwebs. I had it in the car for about 2 weeks before removing it. It looked horrible, all nasty and plasticity. It also felt horrible to use, all the buttons where loose etc. I actually didn't think I cared about such things but it was so awful it had to go. Only fit for an old landrover IMHO. Sony ones are much better. I would go and actually see it before you commit to buy.

[NiceCupOfTea]

varsas said:

I bought an alpine (not this one) last year of t'interwebs. I had it in the car for about 2 weeks before removing it. It looked horrible, all nasty and plasticity. It also felt horrible to use, all the buttons where loose etc. I actually didn't think I cared about such things but it was so awful it had to go. Only fit for an old landrover IMHO. Sony ones are much better. I would go and actually see it before you commit to buy.

Depends on whether you are worried about how it sound or not IMHO. Alpine are one of the best in the business as far as sound quality is concerned and I have found mine faultless over the last 2 years. More than I can say for my previous 2 Sonys which have both packed up and had crap sound quality.

IMHO you can't go wrong with an Alpine head unit.

[ManBetterKnow]

varsas said:

I bought an alpine (not this one) last year of t'interwebs. I had it in the car for about 2 weeks before removing it. It looked horrible, all nasty and plasticity. It also felt horrible to use, all the buttons where loose etc. I actually didn't think I cared about such things but it was so awful it had to go. Only fit for an old landrover IMHO. Sony ones are much better. I would go and actually see it before you commit to buy.

which alpine head unit was this out of interest? i am a car audio installer and i have played with ALOT of alpine units and even their entry level kit has very good sound quality,our shop doesn't even sell sony because they generally have very poor sq, alpines are regarded as on of the very best in the industry and have done since the 80's i am yet to hear a single alpine unit that sounded bad.

[TopGear7]

I think I'm pretty much set on the one I posted. I've been in store to look at it and looks good quality, certainly the same as or superior to the others on display. Still any opinions on it would be welcome.

However the guy said the cable it comes with won't charge my phone. Which is a bit ridiculous. He said I'd have to buy a special Alpine cable which can be wired around the back and that will charge it.

While I was at Halfords I ssaw some HU's with DAB radios and they looked pretty good. However they are either Philips or brands I've never heard of. There were only five overall and neither was double din. While I think it'd be pretty good to have one with DAB I'm not sure if any of the HU's offering at are really of any quality.

I do have TuneIn radio on my iPhone so I can still listen to digital radio stations I suppose.

Edited by TopGear7 on Saturday 24th September 15:05

Edited by TopGear7 on Saturday 24th September 15:09

[TopGear7]

Mazdarese said:

Looks like you need to buy a seperate module for Bluetooth. Does that matter?

Not really, it would have been a bonus to have, but nothing essential. Although considering my friends HU which he picked up for under 50 pound new has bluetooth built in which allows him to make and recieve calls off of it, it's surprising an Alpine one worth five times as much requires a 150 pound add-on for it to do the same.

[Shotgun Rider]

TopGear7 said:

I think I'm pretty much set on the one I posted. I've been in store to look at it and looks good quality, certainly the same as or superior to the others on display. Still any opinions on it would be welcome.

However the guy said the cable it comes with won't charge my phone. Which is a bit ridiculous. He said I'd have to buy a special Alpine cable which can be wired around the back and that will charge it.

While I was at Halfords I ssaw some HU's with DAB radios and they looked pretty good. However they are either Philips or brands I've never heard of. There were only five overall and neither was double din. While I think it'd be pretty good to have one with DAB I'm not sure if any of the HU's offering at are really of any quality.

I do have TuneIn radio on my iPhone so I can still listen to digital radio stations I suppose.

Edited by TopGear7 on Saturday 24th September 15:05

You should be able to get a replica cable on eBay for a fraction of the price of the genuine Alpine one.

Edited by TopGear7 on Saturday 24th September 15:09

[v8will]

NiceCupOfTea said:

IMHO you can't go wrong with an Alpine head unit.

Yep, I've had my CDA-9835 now for 7 years and it is still a brilliant piece of kit. Alpine or Clarion would be the only 2 headunit manufacturers I would consider (within a sensible budget)

[Perd Hapley]

Shotgun Rider said:

http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-i...

Quite a bit more expensive but I have this which is a great unit if you want it for iPod control and can live without a CD player.

[TopGear7]

Just reserved it in store. Even there fitting is surprisingly competitively priced, I contacted some independents and they wanted three times as much.

Does anyone know whether you have to print off and take the reservation with you? As I've already got a text from Halfords with the reservation number. Really cannot be bothered connect my printer up!

Edited by TopGear7 on Saturday 24th September 15:52

[NiceCupOfTea]

Fit it yourself! Slide the old one out, replace the cage with the new one, plug the cables & aerial in, and push in the HU.

If you let them do it chances are you will end up with it fitted badly with scratches on your dash and the first time you do an emergency start it will fall out!

[varsas]

ManBetterKnow said:

varsas said:

I bought an alpine (not this one) last year of t'interwebs. I had it in the car for about 2 weeks before removing it. It looked horrible, all nasty and plasticity. It also felt horrible to use, all the buttons where loose etc. I actually didn't think I cared about such things but it was so awful it had to go. Only fit for an old landrover IMHO. Sony ones are much better. I would go and actually see it before you commit to buy.

which alpine head unit was this out of interest? i am a car audio installer and i have played with ALOT of alpine units and even their entry level kit has very good sound quality,our shop doesn't even sell sony because they generally have very poor sq, alpines are regarded as on of the very best in the industry and have done since the 80's i am yet to hear a single alpine unit that sounded bad.

I didn't mention sound quality as a problem. The unit was a CDE-111R.

[TopGear7]

I doubt anyone really cares but went I went for the one above. Fitting was ridiculous - the guy Halfords didn't look like he had a clue and kept looking at his magazine saying I might need this and I'll probably need that. So took it to some independents. Ford have stupidly decided to install a three-tier OEM HU in the MK6 Fiesta. So the centre console has to be taken out, the two tier bit cut then the surround had to be sanded down and then the HU could be fitted.

What I'm surprised about is, is the improvement in sound quality. I'm hearing elements / instruments in songs which I wasn't before, which is bizzare considering I haven't changed the speakers.

Had quick question - what's the purpose of the 'Loud' function. I press the button and the music becomes louder. What's the difference between that just turning the volume knob and putting the volume up?

Edited by TopGear7 on Monday 26th September 15:46

[NiceCupOfTea]

ISTR that "loud" makes it a bit bassier so that it sounds more balanced at low volumes...

Doesn't surprise me about the Halfords staff! Can't believe you have to chop up the dash though! Is there no blanking plate to fill the gap?

[5lab]

nah I think loud emphasises the entry to notes. Kinda like upping the 'sharpness' on a tv set. Gives you the impression of 'more' but at the degredation of the actual source

[andy-xr]

I wondered whether you'd have issues fitting it when I started reading, I remember changing the OEM head unit in my Focus and needing a filler plate to put either a single or double DIN unit in there, seems Ford are out to get you whichever way you turn on it!

[T84]

Careful, my MK1 Focus was 1.8 DIN, check this isn't the case with your car.

[NiceCupOfTea]

You can probably get blanking plates/fascias on ebay, did for the Puma (it was crap though, never fitted properly and keeps falling out!

In fact:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_kw=fascia&_k...

You didn't let somebody hack your dash about did you?