A few months back I picked up a Alpine 9820XM head unit. It will not play mp3's but my Alpine disc changer will so that's not a problem. It has XM radio built right in which I think is a great feature. This HU is far superior to my old Eclipse unit as far as sound control and clarity. Best off all, it's only around $350.00

 

i have the alpine 9815... veyr happy with it...

 

I asked around town and the shops are saying they dont have the satellite radio tuner for the Alpine headunits. Will any made by a different manufacturer work?

 

Later this year, XM Direct will be released with an Alpine adapter. Once that occurs, XM will be able to used with the Alpine HUs seamlessly.

 

Alpine 9833 , never looked back. don't need the fancy lights with the radio door IMO.

torque is in the '04 BTW.

 

Apparently, I've gone in a completely different direction than most.....I just had a Blaupunkt Bremen CD72 (professionally) installed. I did not incorporate the Lucid DCI (yet) so I'm using a device called a "thumber" to control the volume of the device. The install allows me to connect my (3rd gen) iPod directly to the headunit. My next upgrade is to swap out the speakers and to add a signficantly amount of power to my setup. I'm upgrading to Focals K2 165 K3P powered by Butler Audio's Tube Driver Blue TD475s. I'm getting two (2) amps to power one set of speakers each. If anyone is interested, I'll post some pictures.

 

Arzzael: Pics would be good

 

I expect to pick up my car on Saturday (8/28). That seems like an eternity from now. I'll take and post pics immediately thereafter.

BTW, I listened to my setup extensively before making the purchase ("i'll take painfully obvious for $200") and I could not believe the power and clarity. HOWEVER, the Blaupunkt and Focals are not a bass heavy components. It has no problem delivering and rendering some serious sound. It's just not adding anything that isn't there. Needless to say, I can't wait!!!!!!

 

I went with last year's top of the line Eclipse and am pleased as punch. It depends what you're looking for though. I personally like the UI on Eclipse HUs better than the Alpine's but the sound quality is comparable on both. Eclipse decks require a separate controller to get MP3 playback, but you also get voice control of the HU and cell phone dialing with it. Eclipse has a 5 year warranty and lifetime theft replacement too.

For DVD my favorite is the new Eclipse unit with touch screen and DVD + CD slots:






http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/avn/avn_top.htm


I disagree with the statements that you can't appreciate a good stereo in this car while moving. I'd say under 60 mph, top down you're fine. (In LA that's about as fast as anyone goes on the freeway anyway). Sure, the car's not as quiet as a recording studio but the sound can be amazing in this car (free rides if you're in SoCal to prove my point ) After that, a stereo can sound good but the noise floor is high enough that you're ears don't want the volume it would take for a really clean sound.

 

Agreed, 9833 rocks!