common reactor

I have recently decided to buy an aftermarket head unit for my S, and I went to look at a few today. Some were really nice for like $250, and I could spend that if I really wanted to, but I saw a Sony for $180 and an Alpine for $180. Don't know the models, but the Alpine hu had the hookup for the ipod, which sounds great but my friend has it and I can't stand it.

I've been looking at mp3yourcar.com and I'm considering buying one of those neo ions. Would the Alpine not be able to hook up to the neo ion (which is just a wire that goes from the back of your hu to your mp3 player) because it's prewired for their own adapter?

Also, for the money...Sony or Alpine?

SuzukaS

Id save up for a step higher ($350.00) Alpine. The CDA-9857 is what quite a bit of people on here have, i have also, and for the money is a very good sounding head unit. I havnt looked at many Sony's so i went to Crutchfield and looked. If that is the company you really want to go with, id at least get the CDX-GT705DX ($279.99). The two Sony's above it are also nice, the MEX-1GP at $299.99 and the CDX-GT805DX at $329.99. All of the headunits i listed have controls for ipod, and have 3 sets of pre-outs if you decide to go with and amp.

SergeS2K

Deffinetly get Alpine, Sony headunits SUCK IMO. After a Sony I got a couple years back I switched to Alpine and couldn't be more happy.

common reactor

Thanks for the advice, guys. I had an alpine before, and I didn't have any complaints. I went back today and looked, and I don't really like the Sony. I did however look at a pioneer that was really nice for about $270...again sorry I don't know the model number but does anyone have experience with pioneer?

NEODYMIUM

I have a DEH-P6800MP which may be what you saw (based on price). I like it because my mp3 player plugs right into the bottom of the faceplate. You don't get a stealth install but it doesn't bother me. I wasn't too thrilled about buying an ipod adapter for an additional $100+ on top of a headunit cost, so the pioneer works for me. One complaint, the radio seems to be very sensitive to scratched cd's. I believe my stock unit plays scratched cd's better.

ARMS

I think the alpine $180 one you saw is probably the 9852 which is the one I have. I also bought the ipod cable for my ipod. The controls are great. The sounds are good. The overall quality already satisfies me but of cuz if you want to go to higher end one for the even better quality, go ahead it's worth the buck.

common reactor

The only reason I'm steering away from Alpine is because it doesn't have the normal aux. outlets in the front or back. I need one and the alpine is made specifically for their ipod hook-up, which is reall overpriced.

My friend has the Alpine, and his is about two years old, and the sound is awesome but it's very slow and hard to get to the song or artist you want. I am pretty sure I'm going to buy the neo ion mp3 hookup instead.

common reactor

You are not the first person to say that.

common reactor

Yes, the DEH-P6800MP is the hu I was looking at, and thanks. I found it for $220 on Crutchfield.com, is that a good price?

I appreciate your honesty on the hu playing scratched cd's poorly or not at all...and usually that would be a deciding factor for me. But since I'm going to have some sort of mp3 hookup, I'm not too worried about it.

Now bear with me here, I'm pretty bad with electrical terms and such cause I only can comprehend with engines...but what do you mean by stealth install? And you said you didn't have to spend $100+ on an ipod adapter...does it connect to an mp3? Thanks.

NEODYMIUM

The faceplate is motorized. When you plug an mp3 player or anything that will plug in to the jack you need to lower the faceplate-that is it drops down about 1 inch and angles towards the sky. You plug the player into the bottom of the faceplate. That's why it's not stealth. You still have the option of buying the ipod adapter for the radio. I like the motorized faceplate, the audio control functions and the overall appearance of the radio.