Anyone have any experience with these three head units? I am looking to remove my factory CD/Tape radio and replace it with a CD head unit that also plays Mp3's. I have had an Alpine in the past but never owned one of the others. I am looking for excellent sound quality with the option of adding an amp and subwoofer later. Thanks for any help.

 

1.Eclipse
2.Alpine
3.Blaupunkt

Eclipse is the clearest in my opinion and most expensive. They all have preoutputs for your amp. Alpine is good, but not much to look at. Blaupunkt i have never seen or heard. You can't buy eclipse online.

 

Now remember this is just my opinion, but Kaplunk should not even be grouped with the other two. I have an Alpine 7893 and love it!! Plenty of clean power, even without external amps (I do have external amps, but you really don't need them with this radio unless you are hooking up a sub). I have heard many good reviews of Eclipse. However, I believe once you have a good thing, stick with it - will only have Alpines from here on out!!

 

You can't by Eclipse online?

http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/Sal...3270&catref=C1

 

Lightningcrew, did you have a bad experience with Blaupunkt? I am probably leaning toward either Alpine or Eclipse because I have seen them in the stores locally.

Only downside I see to Eclipse is the lack of detachable face. I know they say that they have a security feature but the young punk radio thief probably doesn't know about this. I had a Kenwood mask radio but I think the Alpine I had a few years ago was a better unit.

 

You can't buy Eclipse online from an authorized dealer. If you buy from Ebay you will not get the security warranty, etc. Same goes for JL Audio.

 

Well you can, but your equiptment will not come with a warranty. So you figure it out. You can't buy memphis audio online either with a warranty. I had an alpine cd player and I loved it. Pioneer makes good cd players also.

 

Actually, there is a VERY LARGE majority of manufacturers that do not warranty online purchases. Some companies are more strict than others.. but then there are also some AUTHORIZED ONLINE DEALERS. www.sounddomain.com is probably the most extensive authorized online dealer as far as the # of brands that allow them to sell their products online.. but their prices are not that far off from retail I don't think.

Eclipse has NO authorized online dealers. If I was gonna buy something eclipse.. I would probably check with my local authorized dealer prior to purchasing. Check to see if you think the price difference from dealer with warranty to online with no warranty is worth it. Eclipse offers a long warranty I believe.

 

Goalie88 -

I have the Alpine 9813. Good unit. Wish I had got the 9815 for the XM radio display capabilities, however.

Every manufacturer has it's positives and negatives. I'll tell you my "pet peeve" with the Alpine: You can only get the clock display in 1 mode setting of the front panel. If you are displaying any CD-related data at all, the clock is gone. THAT SUCKS !!!

I can't believe Alpine didn't allow for a little clock to be displayed all the time, if so desired.

Overall, I guess that's a pretty weak complaint when I consider that the unit does everything else so well, huh.

Anyway, whatever you do, go to a retail outlet and USE THE UNITS. Take a MP3 disk with you and change folders, tracks, etc. and see how the units respond. Operate the remote without looking at it. Is it intuitive? Does the unit have a Mute function ? Very handy for incoming calls, toll booths, etc.

Just some ideas to look for.

Blaupunkt makes some very nice units, but they can be pricey.

As far as who makes the best HU? I'd say it's the one you can afford and that looks and sounds good to you. If you spend enough, any of them will be indistinguishable from each other sound wise. (I'm supposing you will be using an amp here).

It's the features and ease of use that you will have to learn and be happy with for the next few years, so be sure to get what YOU like, not what anyone else likes.

 

I don't think eclipse makes a mp3 player
The AI (auxiliary input) feature on the alpine is excellent as well. For instance, I have either x-box or PSII + my CD changer(6mp3's) + XM + notebook computer(for nav./music database; on occasion); in addition, I could run 2 more components into this input; 6 total.
just imagine, 6-6 disc changers, each playing mp3s, at about 8 hrs each disc, thats 48 hours of music per changer x 6 changers = 288 hrs music, with titling. thats a bunch of tunes dood.

PS the sound is great fromn the alpines, eclipse is great too, but the lack of mp3 capability was the determining factor with me, pl usand I had a pair of eclipse point source speakers go bad on me(voice coil seperation).

I have a 7995 got it for about 400 bucks two years ago

 

Go with Alpine I have the CDA-7995

"http://ecominet2.alpine-usa.com/img/asb/cda-7995.gif"

and I love it.

 

B-Man hit it on the head. All three make nice units. Cost, features, looks, how things work or flow should be the deciding issues. None of them are any better than the other, it is all in the eye of the beholder. I have owned the top end of Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, for Head Units and have been pleased with all of them. There are however little things that made me choose each one over others at one time or another. I am currently running a Pioneer DEH-P740MP HU. Previously it was an Alpine.
Don't buy something based on someone else's opinion, do the research take into consideration opinions and then form your OWN.
You will be happier in the end. Good Luck

 

LISTEN TO ME!!!!!!
Eclipse is the best out there. They only have 1 model that plays mp3 right now and it is only $209 at this shop my friend works at. They have a 3year warranty and if it is installed by an eclipse dealer you get the 1 year anti theft warranty. If it is stolen within 1 year you get a new one for FREE. Also you can program a "key CD" to it and it reads the first song off it. If the CD player ever looses power you have to put in the "key CD" for it to work again. This model looks cool and has 2.7volt pre outs for an amp.
I ust to have a jvc cameleon in my old truck and replaced it w/ an eclipse and the difference was night and day.......GO WITH THE ECLIPSE!!!!!

 

Thanks 03 Silver, I think I am going with the Alpine 9815. A few key features MP3, XM radio, detachable face. I know Eclipse has their security network but I just think anybody walking by might not know about Eclipse's security until after they smash the window.

 

Regarding the Blaupunkt units-

The main consideration I have always given Blaupunkt is their FM tuner technology. They are very aggressive in this area, which is the single point where these units shine.

I am a techie, Blau's new batch of DSP tuners has me eyeing a new purchase. I listen to the radio a lot in the car, and the station I like is 70 miles away. Interestingly the two radios I've used that pull in the best, consistantly listenable signal are a 12 year old Blaukpunkt and the OEM stereo in the F-150 ('98 model year). Between friends/family cars with various radios (Delco, pioneer, Aiwa, Alpine) the Blau wins hands down when it comes to radio reception. I've bought two of Blau's radios, but the last one about 6 years ago (had the diversity tuner with 2 antennas) got reception that was out of this world, but it went kerplunkt after 3 years. If you normally listen to a local, strong station (or don't listen to the radio at all), then there probably isn't anything all that special about the Blau head units, and frankly, their faceplate/display styling on the new units looks cheesy (They're still using backlit segmented LCD?). I've seen the high end JVC and Pioneer CD receivers that look pretty slick, but have to pass on both because their tuners just plain suck. The Eclipse and Alpine units have FM sensitivity ratings in the 9-13 db/fw range which is good, but these "bench" ratings don't always correlate with real world performance (Alpine and Pioneer especially). The new TOL Blau units are rated at 3 db/fw (using a dual antenna, 6 db/fw with a single antenna), and Blau's bench ratings in my experience hold true.

In case you're not a techie, the lower the sensitivity rating the better the radio will be at pulling in weak stations, think of it in terms of being able to see a 100 watt light bulb or a 25 watt light bulb at a specific distance. The difference between a bad OEM or aftermarket (say 13-16 db/fw) and a good (6-9 db/fw) radio correlates in my experience into about 25-40 miles further away on flat terrain from the station where you can still listen to it, provided there are no adjacent or same channel stations interfering with the signal you are trying to pick up. Be wary-some brands don't actually perform as well as their spec leads you to believe, and some of the newer factory radios are getting much better--to the point where they are outperforming a lot of "good" aftermarket radios.