MrKlean187

I am looking to upgrade my current Alpine head unit that I bought off of another member when I bought my s2k. It works great but I would like to add Pandora streaming functionality and possibly some more power/features while upgrading. I am looking for a higher end Alpine unit as I already have the Modifry DCI and all other Alpine products, coincidentally. I will be powering my alpine components and subwoofer with separate alpine amps. From what I have gathered already I was looking at the CDE-HD149bt model but that is from 2013 so I feel they may have a more updated model. I saw the CDE-153 bt but is still $200 cheaper than the 149 which leads me to believe the older model has more features?

Link with info on cde-149bt:
alpine cde149bt


Current head unit:


ipod in glove box:

oth

A quick comparison of the specs on Alpine's website shows that among other things, the 149BT has:

• 4v preouts rather than 2v (potentially lower noise if you use an external amp)
• digital time correction (tune to adjust for speaker location in car)
• HD radio tuner

Looks like it's generally a higher-end headunit, but whether it's worth the extra money to you...

CDE-HD149BT
CDE-153BT

MrKlean187

I did notice some of those, like the HD radio. Does HD radio even exists anymore!? I just find it weird a unit from 2013 is the best single din model available from Alpine even beating out the new ones.

aphex4000

HD Radio still exists and is likely used by many of the major stations in DFW. Perhaps you were thinking about Satellite Radio (XM/Sirius), which also still exists. I don't really listen to either, now that the bluetooth integration allows streaming from Pandora, Soundcloud, etc...

I just replaced my ancient Kenwood KDC-X991 with the Alpine CDE-HD149BT, and could not be happier with finally making the Kenwood/Alpine switch. The buttons on the Apline have adjustable illumination color, but the display does not (which I suspect is a good thing) which surprisingly makes it very readable in sunlight. I had a bad experience with a Kenwood KDC-X994 which has a similar type of display, but the Alpine is far superior. The Alpine TuneIT app works surprisingly well, and I ended up using a a downloaded tuning created by another S2000 owner. I highly recommend the Alpine CDE-HD149BT.

DaPhatty

+1 For the Alpine upgrade. I, too, had an older alpine HU (might even be the same one that the OP has) that I replaced with the HD149BT. I much prefer the new USB AUX port over the dedicated iPod port as I can now charge my lighting based iPhone while using it for music. The Pandora controls are ok albeit quite basic. (No thumbs up/thumbs down, cannot switch channels.) The ultimate benefit to upgrading for current Alpine users is the existing harness will work so the head unit truly is plug and play.

MrKlean187

aphex, the last time I looked into the hd radio it was very limited where reception could be found and you had to buy another receiver to utilize it. It came out after Sirius and xm but never really caught on as much, I guess kind of like when they had HD dvd. It looks like I am going to go with the 149bt, where did you find the tuning numbers to download? Hopefully, my gf gets it for our anniversary next week, if not I'll buy it off ebay.

daphatty, I just run the cord from the unit to my ipod in the glove department door and forget about it so the port isn't as much of a concern to me.

aphex4000

MrKlean187, I'm so late to the HD radio game that it was already common to see the tuner integrated into the head unit by the time I was looking at various models. You can find stations just by using the seek function on the head unit, or you can look them up for you area via the link below. I was able to find 47 listed for the DFW area.

http://hdradio.com/stations

Irukandji

Sorry if I'm hijacking this post, but I figured you all would be the best to ask (as this is recent post).

I just installed the Alpine CDE-HD149BT yesterday. I used the Modifry DCI & Modifry harness but it appears the Mute button on the dash doesn't actually mute the audio.. it just reduces the volume. Perhaps I have some setting wrong or something... One of the reasons I opted for an Alpine unit was the ability to "Mute the audio, some HU will pause" as stated on the Modifry website. I am aware Pioneer units, such as the MVH-X560BT only "attenuate" the sound, hence my choice of the Alpine.

Thanks

-Greg

jetrep

Maybe there is a setting that alters the mute settings to attenuate? I was messing with my Pioneer the other day and noticed I had that choice in the system settings

oth

I suspect you are out of luck (I couldn't find any mention of adjustable settings)...

(from the CDE-HD149BT manual)