As per title,i'll start of with the most important thing,my budget which is around rm4xx give and take(hopefully)

currently looking at Alpine 9843,and trying to compare it to Pioneer 3950mp / 4950mp and also some Sony ones...

quite like the Alpine 1 but first like to compare a bit and wondering if there are any better ones for around this budget..


opinions???




thanx in advance

I'm not an ICE guru, but one thing I can advise is if youre really not a Sony enthusiast please refrain frm using a Sony HU.. why?

I dont know if its just me, but Sony HU's CD lenses are very sensitive and prone to break down. Before this I was using pioneer MP3 HU (DEH-3650mp) for 4yrs with no issues, then early this year I decided to use a Sony HU (CDX-GT450S) for my other car and after 3mths it already had issues when trying to play my CDRW's (hard to read).. went to claim warranty but now still facing the same issue.. again.

I cant comment abt Alpine HUs but frm what ive heard they are quite reliable and functional players, but recent Alpine designs (400-600 price range) seem to be less appealing... imho

If i were you i'd go straight for the pioneer players. They are very reliable, sounds great (even with stock speakers), very well functioned, and quite pleasing to the eyes. If u have the 'extra' cash why not take the DEH-6950 IB (rm680.. seen selling in garage sales).. Damn cool and i think its worth the money with loadsa functions (USB, ipod support, etc).. it also comes with an blue OLED display!

Try to ask around summore for feedback regarding these HUs.

All in all its all up to you to choose, cause its your money. but frm my experience with pioneer for all these years, I wont change to any other brand again..

cheers!

This post has been edited by Fasap: Oct 23 2007, 04:26 PM

Ya,heard not so good things bout Sony ones too...but thought Alpine 9843 is good,read reviews on the net all says good ..In fact i quite like the design

Pioneer ones is the safest bet i guess???but the design is pretty ordinary for what i can afford

Well, cannot compare Alpine n Pioneer, ALpine is consider as a very high end model while Pioneer is a mid end model...just like Pioneer is Honda and Alpine is BMW, n there's Porche....but i dunno wat brand... -.-"

but d Alpine im looking at is the base model...just wana know if its better or worse than mid-end Pioneers 3950 or 4950

For my opinion don't take a Sony one if you play a lot of pirated cd even own burn.

For me try to for fujitsu or eclipe. I am using eclipse now and i have no problem with it even pirated cd

Mmm...then i cannot answer u ad, but I'm using 4950 now, b4 i buy Pioneer, everyone told me dat Pioneer is very reliable n provide very good sound quality...

Base model means only can read cd but not mp3 or pirated cds? I am listening to my own burned mp3 cd in my 4950, no problem till now, used for 4 months only...

the Alpine can read cd/cdr/cdrw and mp3 oso...u using 4950 huh,im oso considering that,and it has 4x50w compared to the Alpine 9843 4x45w...does that make any difference???

Arent those the built-in amplifier ratings? guess you get more 'power' out of a 4x50W than a 4x45W..

pls correct if im wrong

Just my 2 cent only, Actually Pioneer & Alpine HU sound a bit difference...
If you listen carefully for the range that Zer0 c00L mension, Pioneer a bit bassy, Alpine one more toward treble...just my 2 cent only

'power' = bass???

even on stock 60w speakers???

also.. W (watts) is the unit for power, so bigger wattage bigger 'power' lol.. joking

Maybe.. as loon1031 stated pioneer has a little more bass in it.. come to think of it my old 3650mp really is a bit bass-y and I needed to set some tweeters to give a sound in my liking..

HU and ICE as a whole are quite difficult items to rate, they need proper (and sometimes difficult) setups to be heard properly. Summore, each person has their own preference of bassy-or-trebly goodness.. hell you can buy a CapAyam brand HU but use high-end speakers, xovers and such, and still get good sound..

imho.. nowadays all modern (branded) HU are so good they are incomparable in terms of sound to each other. In the end, its up to the buyer to buy one that suits his needs (looks, function, budget).

so whether its pioneer, alpine, sony, kenwood, clarion, CapAyam, all are good... but for ME ill go for Pioneer 1st because of its reliability and functions

cheers!

will those rm 400- 500 pioneer cd player support for subwoofer if one day i want to upgarde to subwoofer?

uh.. dunno..

but what i do know is the 4950 and 3950 have RCA outputs for front+rear+subwoofer..

so i say yes you can upgrade to a subwoofer..

I duno the mechanics of ICE setups but i do know the facts stated on the box only

cheers!

This post has been edited by Fasap: Oct 23 2007, 10:41 PM

Pioneer also sounds good to me,but just kinda like the Alpine coz its famous..

i suppose so

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Added on October 23, 2007, 10:56 pmso now its Alpine CDE-9843 vs Pioneer DEH-P3950/ 4950 MP

comments anyone???

This post has been edited by Zer0 c00L: Oct 23 2007, 10:56 PM

breaking down... alpine 9843 is the basic model for alpine range in 2005(if i am not wrong here) so you will not expect it to hav a high fidelity out of them... same goes to the pioneer 3 and 4... both are mid end from the pioneer but i dun see any difference between them on the spec list... unless you could let me see the internals mayb there is something different there... they both both sound the same and well... a price difference...

so my comment... for these three models, get one tht has the most functions and future upgrade options... numbers of pre-out pairs, the features, AUX inputs options and such...

sound characteristics wise... some say pioneer are warm, some say they have more bass, my experience with 5750 with various setups, i say they are neutral... a pinch of everything... SQ wise, well counldnt hav any thing really good to talk about until i heard the P80...

alpine.. people say they are bright, people say they are natural sounding with very good SQ... i had one 7998 also with various setups... i say they are bright... need a good combinations of amps and component set to compliment with them... unless you like it bright... then focal... haha...

45wx4 and 50wx4 are all bullshit... the true wattage are not even close to 20w rmsx4... and... my 20cent worth experiences tells me tht i cannot differenciate them both provided they are clean, true power... even sometime till 20w difference... so dun expect much from the internal amps...

anyway... cheers... time to sleep...

guess then the pioneer 4950 is the most future proof within my budget,thanx for the clarification on the wattage

sure... no problem... hit back with an update...

This post has been edited by craziechild: Oct 24 2007, 11:06 AM

Goodluck man.. hope your choice wont be in vain

do post some feedback ya!

hehe,will do...thanx alot guys....now waiting for cash only