You Wanted Sound Quality, Right?
Written: Oct 01 '02
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Pros: LOUD, Clear, HP/LP Filters, extra Preouts, semi-eq, XM Ready, Ai-Net, CDText, Sub Control
Cons: No MP3, addons are expensive
The Bottom Line: Sound Quality Extreme at a NORMAL price! Amazing
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| jnoschese's Full Review: Alpine Car Stereo CDA-7873 Camcorder |
You Wanted Sound Quality, Right? Wrong. You get Sound Quality AND technology. Finally, a resonabily priced deck loaded with stuff that should be there without getting it aftermarket.
Anyone who buys car audio stuff knows that it can be costly when looking for awesome sound quality in your vechicle. $100+ for a good pair of speakers. Most cars have 4, so thats at least $200 right there. and the most important, is the deck, well, this Alpine goes all the way, and I'm so happy I did it.
When I bought my car new, the next day I went out and ripped out the stock radio and speakers, and went all Alpine as I wanted to do it right the second time around.
At the time the deck didn't have a low pass filter, so adding a subwoofer required an amp with a low pass filter, this way my low sounds would only go through the sub, giving me more volume, with less distortion, because of "less music" going into the sub. Since the sub doesn't play freq's of 200hz or higher, why send it there in the first place?
Well, this Alpine takes care of that with its built in Low Pass filter. You can set the filter at three stages, 160hz, 120hz, and 80hz. It also has a High pass filter so you can stop low freq's from going into your normal speakers. I believe they are the same freq's. This way when you set them, you don't have unnessacary bass going into your 6x9's or 6 1/2's, or whatever your using. It also helps not blowing or distorting them at loud volumes, which this unit can produce.
This baby sports 60watt's per channel, which has finally reached the level of most external amps to door speakers and the such. Before, I had 35watts, and let me tell you, what a difference, and now, I didn't have to pay another $250 for an amp and then get it all rewired!
You are able to set the subwoofer output volume straight from the deck, which is a plus, since you have complete control of your subwoofer, you can even turn it off if your friends are complaining about vibrating all over the car.
Of course, your subwoofer's amp will need to be set to your liking, but minor tweaking from the deck is excellent.
In the treble and bass controls, you are able to raise or lower them like most stereos, however, there is a built in EQ curve that allows you to set where you want, lets the treble, treble up at. You can choose from 10kHz, 10.5kHz, 12kHz, 18kHz or something to that effect, I can't remember off the top of my head, but what this does is curves the treble range giving it a nice EQ effect and making the highs, what they are suppose to be. The same can be done for the bass, as well.
BBE, like my older Alpine unit, this model has it to. This basically enhances your lows and highs giving it an EQ'd effect, which makes the quality sound excellent. The BBE in this model is much better when working with the treble and bass controls in my opinion.
AiNet, your able to hook up other alpine components with the AiNet controllers, like a disc changer, dvd player, etc, and since the player has CDText, if your component has it, it will display on there as well.
CDText, great feature. It's one of the reasons why I bought the unit since it doesn't have mp3. Since I make my own CD's, and my CD-RW allows me to use CDText, I always put the song titles on, and when I listen to a CD, it display it! Excellent feature, I still can't figure out why real CD labels don't use this when you buy a CD.
Angle, a feature I don't use, but you are able to angle the player if you installed it low, this why you can see the deck at all times, I believe it has three angles you can view it in other than the standard.
BackFwd, or something to this nature. This feature is suppose to be used if you have a convertable or speakers that don't live up to what they do. I believe what it does it revert the bass to the rear speakers and keeps the highs in the front, this way you can enjoy your music a little more...I guess...I don't like this feature on my setup, personally, it takes away a lot.
You can also setup the dimmer on the display so that when you turn on your lights to the car, the display will dim down. This feature doesn't seem to work in my car, maybe because I didn't hook up that wire, or my car doesn't have that feature to begin with, not sure, doesn't make a huge difference to me, hee hee
XM Ready, this baby can handle the new XM sat radio. A great feature, I don't need it personally, especially at another $300-400 for all the things it requires.
Remote, it doesn't come with a remote, but my older unit did. Oddly enough the remote from my old deck works on it. Pretty cool when i'm out fishing and have the radio on, and like I said before, cool that I can turn off the sub so my battery doesn't drain so much when the car is off.
What can I say..this is a great deck, loaded with sound quality features. Thats what you get out of an Alpine.
The other thing that turned me on to this model, is that it actually had a "volume knob." Most of the other models now have button volume. I don't know what it is, but the actual knob gives me a feeling that I'm actually doing something.
Highly recommended if your looking for sound quality and high volumes. This baby cranks. I now lower my radio at lights, cause I feel bad for others. Hopefully my hearing will stay intact.
p.s., adding a subwoofer will make a HUGE difference in any system.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
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Epinions.com ID:
jnoschese
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Location: Long Beach, NY
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
Insane New Yorker with a knack for electronics
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