Forgive my ignorance, but what is Ai-Net and why would I want this feature?

 

Ai-Net is Alpine's 'interface' (for want of a better word) for connecting their devices (head units to stackers etc) on their higher-end head units.

Apparently it is smart in terms of knowing exactly what the device you are connecting is. On my last car I installed a fairly extensive Alpine system including a monitor head unit (Alpine CVA-1005e), a DSP processor, Video CD stacker, TV tuner etc. The CVA-1005 could actually tell what each device was (ie differentiate between a 12 disc and a 6 disc stacker etc).

 

it's also an intelligent system that has the ability to be daisy-chained in installation - whereas before, one needed to route all peripherals to the head unit or to a switch box of some sort (if you had that much stuff). with AiNet, one can merely plug changer into DSP into amp into head into video, etc. so long as everything is AiNet compatible - in any order, wherever in the car you want - wiring is simpler, use is simpler. you can almost think of it as USB for your car.