I've got both...which one do you think is better?

I can't make up my mind which one to go with.

I have the eclipse hooked up now and the alpine new in the box. The eclipse is pretty nice, and has a shitload of settings to customizing time delay and crossover points, but its pretty boring looking.

Alpine looks so damn cool, and has no internal amp so I think it should sound really nice...but I have never used it.

 

I think that alpine may be the same one I have. Mine has no internal amp but I can't remember the model number off hand.

When I think of eclipse I always think of a headunit without a detachable face. They said that if it was ever stolen noone else could use it. My thought was always that a stupid theif wouldn't figure that out until they busted open my window, pryed the headunit out of my dash, and got home to hook it up.

just my 2cents

 

thats a really good point. there is no detachable face or flip face on the eclipse

the 7998 looks like this




I don't think it has detachable face though...but it does flip around so you cant see it.


a huge plus of this one is that it is xm compatible...the eclipse has nothing for satellite radio

 

hands down, the eclipse is the best deck on the market. maybe not in the looks department, but definately in the sq!! STICK WITH ECLIPSE!

 

I love the symetrical look of the eclipse. Not too flashy, but very classy looking.

 

Well, if anyone wants the eclipse its for sale.

I'm going with the Alpine. Eclipse is just way to plain looking for me, I'm bored with it.

 

You will like the 7998, I own it and love it myself. Lots of people have mentioned that the 7998 is the best sounding Alpine short of the F1 status deck. That costs about $3k last time I checked.

 

that alpine hu is very nice

id def go with it over an eclipse pos

 

lol your kidding right.


I think the eclipse is a great deck, the sound quality is amazing and the crossover/equalizer settings are fantastic. You can customize everything in pro mode, each speakers time delay seperately, eq slopes, etc. Or in regular mode choose from preset general settings. It also has a great feel, the rubber rings on the dials are sturdy and make it really easy to use, and the whole thing just feels solid and well made.

I'm really happy with it...but when I saw the 7998's go on sale for $400 on crutchfield...had to jump on that.


oh yeah...and eclipse pisses me off since you can't buy anything of theirs online.

 

im just kidding about eclipse, just not my fav brand... i like onlinedeals and the styling on teh alpines

the higher end alpines have all the sq features you mentioned and i think they look better i have no doubt that the eclipse is a good unit.

 

update.

This was the best decision I ever made. This Alpine deck is absolutely incredible. It sounds MUCH better than the Eclipse. The outputs are only 4v compared to 8v on the Eclipse, so I think its the lack of any internal amplifier that makes a huge difference. But anyway the Alpine is much clearer...sounds and instruments are much more distinct, instead of kind of muffled together on the Eclipse. Vocals really stand out and even the bass sounds tighter.

Plus the thing looks awesome. I'm so glad I swapped.

Oh but one thing that screws up the comparison...while I was installing the Alpine I removed a dvd player, sirius receiver, and sirius antenna that were under my passenger seat. The rca cables had previously been running right alongside the power and signal wiring for these, so that could have affected the quality of the Eclipse sound. The guys I paid to install my first system were idiots.

 

Ugh, yeah they were. Beet, mess with the settings on the deck, it has time correct and EQ's all over as well. I'm too lazy and had my install shop tune my Time correction for me, and it sounds great.

Make sure you HOLD the Media Expander button, you get more options, try it and you will see.

I also like that I was able to change the button backligting to Amber when I changed cars

 

the alpine is way more baller

 

Well, I have the Elcipse CD8053 which has no internal amplifier, so maybe that helps a lot. However, running the RCAs along the power, is a big no no and probably effected the comparison greatly.

 

TC is pimp for sure