baboya96

So, I bought my Alpine HU (CDA-9830) from Crutchfield back in May, 2005. Had the system installed in June and been enjoying it since then. Lately, I noticed my CDs skip alot (both mp3, and regular burned CDs, unfortunately, I never play original CDs b/c i don't own any). I called the shop where I got the installation, they are saying they can take the unit out and send it to Alpine directly for repair but I would be without any stereo system for 3 weeks and shipping would come out of my pocket.

I called Crutchfield and they are saying send the unit back to them using 'prepaid' shipping label which they supposely included with my unit (I have to look for it first) and they have their own aftercare department to fix these units. If something major, then they would send it to Alpine. They are saying it would take about 4 weeks. Now my question is which do you think it's better?

I still have my stock hu so I'm thinking about asking the installation guys to put that in for me while I'm out of my Alpine hu. Is this even a common problem? Please help.

RickRoush03

i'd say send it to crutchfield. that way you sent it to the guys you bought it from, and its out of your hands.

I'm Batman

I would send the unit to Crutchfield for repair. As far as putting you stock HU back in, are you running an amp on all of you speakers or does the HU power your mids and highs?

BEETROOT

Send it to Crutchfield.

I'd imagine they will get it back to you much faster than 4 weeks also, Crutchfields customer service is terrific.

baboya96

well i called the place i got installation from and they are charging me 50bucks each time meaining one before i send my unit to crutchfield and one after i get my unit back.. DEF not worth it. my HU is supporting my mids and highs. (stock ones). I have separate amp for my sub.

I just don't know how common it is for ppl with alpine hu to have these problems. I also have problem with my FM frequency. Lot of static noise for local channels.

BEETROOT

Wait, what is the shop charging you for? $50 just to physically remove the deck? You can do that yourself in 2 minutes....

And have you tried one of those lens cleaner cd's? Maybe you just have some dust in the deck.

baboya96

yeah they are charging me for that... but then it requires taking the panels out and metra kit so it's not really plug and play kinda thing.

No i haven't tried lens cleaner CDs thinking the unit can't be old enough to require that yet. I think i'll just take the unit out and send it to them. I don't see anything that would be better than that.

baboya96

oh little off topic but beetroot, I tried login onto ur server and download things and it'ss aying i dont have enough credit to download any and I have to upload things. So basically do I have to upload time to time in order to download things?

BEETROOT

What do you drive? I know on the 2nd gen CL/TL the trim pops out very easily, metra kit is just 4 screws and you have it. Takes literally 2 minutes.

And dust on the lens isn't an age thing, it could happen anytime. Wouldn't fixing the problem yourself for 10 bucks in 5 minutes be better than $100 and sans stereo for a month?

BEETROOT

Yes. It counts bytes, for every 1 byte you upload you receive 5 download credits.

Although server is offline now, my free trial of the software ran out and I didn't feel like paying the $50 to buy it.

baboya96

oh I got cha on the server thing.

According to someone's pdf on do-it-yourself .. it seems alot more intricate than just taking couple of screws out. I think i'll just go ahead and send the unit it hoping it wouldn't really take 4 weeks. thanks for advice tho

g1underground

iTrader: (1)

I had to do the same two years ago, well worth it. Crutchfield's works great with there customers