Just got off the phone with Alpine. Alpine stated that there is no difference between the Old 4 Volt vs. the New 2 Volt. He said that the 9855 was a great unit but too technical for the average person. They never did a recall on it and they still have the first production run racked into their technical board that runs 24/7/365 and has had no issues. He stated that the 9855 might sound a hair better with the EQ settings regarding the highs but the 9857 would still be able to dial in almost equal. So I guess they are pretty much equal. He said that the technology on the decks vs. amps the 2/4 volt thing doesn't matter anymore and that everything matches

 

I went to an Alpine dealer here in town and asked him the same question. He told me not to bother switching to the new deck. According to him, the 9855 sounds better than the newer decks. Also, I was willing to buy a new one off him, so he passed up a sale, which leads me to believe he was being truthful.

 

i was in the same situation...cept it was between the 9853 whcih is pretty much the same thing as the 9855 or the 9857....im sticking to my 9853 even though i could have gotten the 9857 for 320 which is a killer price.....everyone says the 9853/9855 will sound better than the 9857 soo...i have no idea how im going to tune this thing with all the EQ, time correction and all that stuff but..ill find a way.

i believe the 9857 has just treble and bass settings....but a bit more advanced but prob much easier then tuning the 9855. if i were you i'd stick with the 9855.

i havent installed my 9853 in yet...but i hope i can cope with the glidetouch.

 

So if I can geth both HUs for the same price which one should I get...
The 9855?

Thanks soooo much for the replies! = )

 

Yeah but you already had a 9855, not a stock deck. The 9855 is a better unit with the EQ. Since the OP doesn't need/care about the iPod interface I'd suggest the 9855 (since he doesn't care about the glide either). For me the 9855 was out because of both glide strip and the (more) crappy old ipod interface.

 

I would definately go with the 9855...it also has a better resolution on the display and the motorized face. Time correction ROCKS too, makes a big difference...Try playing with it to see how it works by adjusting it to extremes. Thats what I did, and then when I dialed mine in by ear I had it within .1 MS of what I came up with taking measurements later.

 

I have decided to wait till tomorrow... I'm still wondering about the 2v vs. 4v and the EQ/Motorized Part.

How hard is it to learn the 9855? I have heard the setup is a PITA?

Keep the comments rolling... = ) Thanks!!!

 

[QUOTE=senfinger,Apr 27 2006, 07:23 AM] Just got off the phone with Alpine. Alpine stated that there is no difference between the Old 4 Volt vs. the New 2 Volt. He said that the 9855 was a great unit but too technical for the average person. They never did a recall on it and they still have the first production run racked into their technical board that runs 24/7/365 and has had no issues. He stated that the 9855 might sound a hair better with the EQ settings regarding the highs but the 9857 would still be able to dial in almost equal. So I guess they are pretty much equal. He said that the technology on the decks vs. amps the 2/4 volt thing doesn't matter anymore and that everything matches

 

The 9857 has an excellent display which is very important in a convertible with the sun beaming in. Also it has the ipod connectivity which is also very good. I have an ipod connected to my 9857 and I love it. Also I think that perhaps the fine tuning is wasted on a noisy convertible.

 

The higher the volts that a pre-out provides, the better the signal strength to your amp, and then your amp doesn