lifespan of alpine..depends on the model. there are no set time that it will break. some will go out earlier than others.


ever since alpine went for the las vegas scheme, quality has gone downhill. the era of the cda-7949, cda-7909, etc were the high quality era. can't say much for today

 

but the today's alpine decks are still higher quality than others i guess? And when you say "quality" what do you mean? Is it mostly functionality you are talking about?

 

quality as in reliability.


motorized deck tends to go out quicker, especially with their face mechanism because moving parts wear out in the long run.


then again, i only own three alpine decks

 

so when you compare two decks (different brands) which are similar, the sound quality is negliable? what matters then is the reliability??

 

100% agree. I've personally used Panasonic (great power, the display and buttons introduced some noise- could only hear it after installing Zapco amps), Clarion (awesome), and Eclipse (really awesome).

Tim

 

SQ is definitely a consideration, but if you're not going to amp some high end aftermarket speakers I wouldn't worry about it. My Clarion ($750, 24 bit d/a's) has awesome SQ. The Eclipse also has incredible SQ. I would compare the two, but they're in different cars running a different front stage (Zapco & Dynaudio vs Zapco & Oz Audio). One key thing IMO is the ability to use crossovers and EQ's. The Clarion and Eclipse have built in EQ's and the Eclipse has a built in crossover. For the Clarion, I run an external Zapco crossover. Even a 7 band EQ can dramatically improve your RTA score.

Tim

 

wow, things get a bit more complicated when you really go high end i guess? Well i guess since i am not an audiophile, and i wont be running $400 components, and just sticking with the stock speakers, i think the panasonic head unit will do since i can get a great price on it, and it looks decent..... and hopefully works decent so no one out there has the panasonic CQ-5310U with any insight?

any of you guys run rear speakers and regret it?

 

Okay guys, i got more questions.

What do you guys think about jvc cd receivers? specifically this one:

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?model...L027174&page=2

 

rear speakers? what's that?


I have little clue on the JVC deck. from the past, they are ok. they probably improved and i wouldn't mind trying them out. at least i would get that one before another alpine. lol