Quote: Originally posted by 89blackGTA Dang, i havent ever met so many people that were so patient as to wait for EXACTLY what they want. I just get something close and grab it right then and there. Brian Ya you should really get it. It kicks major ***. I just have gotten used to not even looking at the radio for it's clock. That's what I ware a rolex for

the deck looks good at night. I'm looking forward to the daytime pic.

Alpine is the best quality head-unit your gonna find. I guarantee it. Pioneer just sux. The Pioneer PH4400 always ate my discs, and never turned on when I wanted it too. My Sony is WAY better than the Pioneers - nodz -

LOL.....

I've sold Pioneer, Sony, Alpine and a dozen other brands over the years. All have been reliable until Sony came out with the X-Plod garbage. Everybody has problems with all models occasionally, but overall they're all reliable.

As for sound quality... the Alpines are mediocre. They aren't bad, but the 1 bit DAC limits them. The best sounding affordable decks that I've heard are still the JVC Digifine decks... 24 bit Burr Brown DACs are a great thing. I'll probably wind up with one of those... that's the deck I keep comparing everything to.

The new MX feature on the ALpine decks is killer.

It's makes almost anything sound amazing....

Multi Bit (24 Bit resolution) 1-bit Burr Brown DAC

What do they mean by that Jim? Whats the diff between a 24 bit BB DAC, and a (24 bit resolution) 1-bit BB DAC.

I grabbed that from a site selling Digifines...

Daytime pics

2

And lastly.

I don't like any of that DSP ****. I like my music unprocessed.

KJ, thanks for the pics. That's a 100% improvement over last year's design. Last year the buttons were green and they put the amber bulbs behind them. They got away with it at night, but during the day they looked silly. These look MUCH better.

Not a problem....

Jim-

The 7894 does look decent during the day (as we can see in KJ's pics), but they ARE green buttons lit from behind. When the decks off they are greenish.

Anyhoot, any idea about the JVC's DAC? Is it actually 24 bit? The wording on that site through me for a loop.....

i'd have to second the opinion on nakamichi and blaupunkt (mainly the older model blau's though). you can get both on ebay for relatively reasonable prices. I've used blaupunkt 3-series and 5-series stuff and they seem to work fine (yes, it's late 90's stuff though). and I have a nak 35z from ebay (got it for $70) that will find its way into my '91 someday. Personally I refuse to buy any of the new stuff on the market...it's just horrid in terms of appearance and use. I've heard about nak's reliability problems and poor tuner (am/fm performance) but the nak 45z is about the best CD sound quality you are going to get in the price range, period. as for blau's, there have been several of the 3-series in the family, and one 5 series too, and have ALWAYS had good luck with these! they aren't built for high end sound quality (just plain old DACs and stuff), so they are just a run of the mill deck in that area, but simple to use, clean looking, and reliable.

examples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1393412244
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1394961585
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1393785961
http://www.enteract.com/~centwist/CarAudio.htm

The JVC uses 24 bit Burr-Brown DACs. They don't say that in their literature (*** only knows why) but I read it in a press release that I found on their website when they first released the decks. A google search may uncover more info too. I do know that going back and forth from the Alpine 7863 and the JVC SH77, the JVC definately had a slightly smoother, more relaxed sound. It was a subtle difference, but one that I could hear.

Here we go... I did a search.
http://www.jvc.com/pressbox/MOBILE%2...NAL%201221.htm

Cool. Thanks a bunch. I did a search and i must not have sifted good enough. A whole bunch of online vender pages came up...

Definetely good to know though. Ill have to check out those JVC decks when i get a new one for my car. I am (or was) pretty much sold on the Alpines, having only briefly played with the JVC digifines at work for a few minutes.

I have a bad taste in my outh from JVC, my gf's car had one (it was DEFINETELY a 150 dollar piece of crap, so i know its apples and oranges) but good good was that thing nasty.

Then a coworker of mine wanted to upgrde her 2k Cougar with an amp and 4 speakers, and she had a JVC POS too, and ill be damned if they werent the biggest pieces of garbage, lol.

I guess you typecast certain brands after awhile, id always associated Alpine with some great stuff, and JVC with some Crap.

Looks like i have more research to do

Trust me... I'm as anti-JVC as anybody. THe stuff is garbage... but those Digifine decks are a different story. Those things are great, and JVC sold the hell out of them, so I'm hoping they'll spawn a sound quality war between brands... though I'm not holding my breath just yet.

Jim,
Ive got the pioneer 8400 in my blazer, which replaced my eclipse deck which i hated! The eclipse deck i had was nasty, it didnt even sound that good, plus the display was crap. When the pioneer went it, my system sounded much better and the display was viewable during the day (thank *** for the organic backlighting). With the screen up it is pretty plain and basic, it shows with the track time or the clock time. With the display down, it looks really trick and i havent ridden with a person yet who hasnt fallin in love with the deck. It is pricey, but i charged it six mos no interest so its all good. I am sure you'd like this deck if you went with it. Any questions on it just PM me id be glad to try and help.

ya jim I'm installing one tommorow for a guy, I'll try to snap some pics and stuff for ya

cool.