Need a good head unit with a lot of power output
 

I'm not very experienced at all when it comes to audio.

I purchased my car, and the only modification was an aftermarket head unit and speakers

The head unit was an older ken wood and I did not like how the face itself looked. I decided I would purchase an alpine unit that I thought looked better $100-$120 unit. The new head unit made a noticeable difference on the all around sound. Everything sounds worse. Very noticeable

The speakers are boston acoustics and a friend who knows somewhat about audio said that they were pretty high watt speakers and that the head unit I had was reall underpowered.

My question now is there an alpine head unit that I can purchase that will provide enough or at least a good amount more power to the speakers. I would prefer not to get an amp. The previous head unit the speakers sounded good but I unfortunately sold it to a friend of a friend.

Cliff notes.

Do they make a high watt head unit by alpine I can purchase to replace the cheap alpine head unit I recently installed and made my overall sound much worse.

I will get model # and specs up soon I would prefer to not run an amp

iirc from when I was shopping for my headunit, all Alpine's run at 18W RMS x 4, 4ohms. Yep, here's their top of the line deck.. I know you said you didn't want an amp, but why not consider the KTP-445A, it's small enough that it will fit in the passenger side dash and it boosts the output of your deck to 45 Watts x 4 @ 4Ω/2Ω. I've seen pix of this amp (or an older/similar sibling) installed somewhere in this forum.

It's also cheaper than buying a new HU.

I will do some research on the amp.

I truly appreciate the response.

I'm used to amps being huge and bulky. If there's one I can position under the dash on the passenger side I would definitely consider it.

While I think the amp in question is a good idea, I doubt the Kenwood produced appreciably more power,
so I'm guessing there's a difference in the setup/tuning of the two headunits. It may be worth breaking
out the manual and playing with some of the settings to see if you can get sound you are happy with at
low volumes, and then you can see if you need an amp to get the same sound at driving speed.

an Alpine is your best bet, esp in your price range. the optional amp pack is supposedly very good too.

The bestows popular single din HU's are the Kenwood Echelon 997X, Alpine CDE 148BT, or Pioneer DEH 80PRS. Do a search in Crutchfield as it will help you learn the features that you might want to consider. I'm going to purchase the Kenwood as it offers the best sound quality based in reviews I've read, full color variability, and front and rear USB options. It also puts out 22W x 4 vs. 18W x 4 in the other two these three are similar. You just have to decide on looks, options needed, and the price point. Also think about getting Modifry DCI for driver side stereo controls.

^hmmmm, serious question, depending on what features are needed/wanted, would it be better to buy a more expensive deck (ie.Kenwood Excelon KDC-X997) or a cheaper deck (i.e. Alpine CDE-147Bt or even CDE-143bt) and pair that with a small amp (Alpine KTP-445A)?

In the OPs case, since he already bought an Alpine deck, it would be cheaper to go with the Amp, in addition he would also be getting more power; 45w x 4 vs 22w x 4 for the Kenwood.

Any of the Alpine BT series would work it that's what you're looking for as your first choice. Depends if you want HD radio, BT connectivity, time sensitivity, etc. you can get the Kenwood X997 for less than 250. I would go for the best you can buy within your budget. This way your not replacing decks every year.

When looking at those head units (the alpine BTs they same to have the same output as the HU I have currently)

I'm going to look into a newer ken wood deck. That's what I had previously and it sounded great. It was just very out dated.