I am going to return my Alpine CDA 7897 due to the fantom face feature not working due tot he design of the dash. I want to spend about $800 max on new one. MY choice are either from Alpine, Clarion, or Pioneer.
I am strongly leaning towards the Alpine CDA9815.
Anyother suggestions.

 

i love the alpine 9815 but the only reason that i didnt get it was because it has blue lights and that would not match my dash to well... i would have to say that i would stay with the alpine line....

 

I Love my Premier DEH-940. Its my first Pioneer unit, after replacing my somewhat older (but much better than today's X-Plod nonesense) Sony Mobile ES equipment. Like my ES head, the Premier has built in DSP which is of major importance to me to get good imaging, auto eq mode, organic liquid crystal display and plays MP3s amongst many other things (including 6v preouts). It too has bright blue lighting for the buttons, although the display is green, and i hope to add some blue LEDs to the dash eventually so then it will really match.

Premier 940

 

I would have to vote for Alpine as well. Either that or maybe Kenwood Excelon or Eclipse. I love my Alpine 7893. Does not do MP3's but, I really did not want it to. For $800, you could probably get a pretty good indash screen. Just a thought.

 

I want a indash screen but, if i get the screen it would be the ALPINE CVA1004 and it needs a cd changer and a processor for better sound quilty. I also am thinking a screen would be usless without DVD or Playstaion. So it will be the ALpine 9815 for now. WEll i just got back from the audio place and later this afternoon they are takin the 7897 out and installing the new Clarion735 which I was gonna but for the RSX anyways but now ill keep it in the TL till I really decide if I want the 9815 or soemthing else.
I still have a $300 credit at the audio place. How much do u think the ALPINE d-900 screen will cost.

 

Shawhite: what model do u ahve and any pics of your dash board.

 

i have the cda 7894 and it will be installed with a tme-m760 screen above it and a cha s634 cd/mp3 changer in the trunk... i had the pioneer avx-p7300dvd and in dash 6 disk changer but the pioneer unit keep breaking so i got rid of it... hey dnd if you want a screen i would suggest waiting for the new alpine iva-d900 (or something like that) ... it will support dvd/cd/mp3... or maybe the eclipse av8132... but i will post pics of my dash as soon as i complete the install..

 

dnd...That is a good point about all the extra gear. I forget that when I got my Eclipse, I found someone desperate for cash. I picked it up brand new for $500. He gave me the receipt for it. He paid $1,200. I picked up the 7002 and a 5083 12 disc changer and I have $650 invested. Throw in the PS2 and we are under a $1,000 for an indash screen with 12 disc changer and DVD and games. It was a pretty lucky deal and the way around.

 

Just got the Clarion 735 installed for now,till I decide what the hell I wanna do, . I am thinking I may be doing to much to the interior and the audio now.Heres couple of choice tell me what u guys think

1. Get the 9815, and then emphasis on the exterior of the car like, lowering and rims.

2. Get the CVA 1006 and a CD changer. So thats $1600 but no DVD player yet.

3. AlpineCVA 1004, with cd changer and Alpine Eq.

4. D-900. which will be around 2k plus

5. Screw this alpine obsession and get the Clarion 835. With the touch screen. For that I would only have to pay grand and woudnlt need a cd changer.

 

http://www.acurainspired.com/forums/...=ST&f=10&t=474

 

hey shiffy no disrespect but the sony xplode line is junk... that last good thing sony made was the mobile es line...not to metion that this is not the forsale forum.... and dnd my response to your question is a question... do you really want/need a tv in your dash... if so then i would definately go with the alpine iva d900... the reason i would not go with the clarion is because everyone i have know that had a touch screen monitor has complained about dead pixels after normal use for short period of time... you really cant go wrong with alpine... but i didnt see any mentions of eclipse in there... personally i think eclipse makes some of the best headunits out there so maybe that is another brand you might want to consider... not to metion that eclipse make a 6 disk indash cd changer or a double din unit with the screen on the front and a tape deck and cd player behind it (model 7301).... as for the exterior mods well that is a different story.. i am not a big fan of lowering my almost $30 semi luxury automobile.... i mean the rims will look nice but i think when you start lowing the car it starts to look kind of ricey... in my opinion you might as well just go ahead and put a big alumanum spoiler and a big ass exhast pipe and you will be ready for the fast and the furious 2.... just my 2 cents of course...

 

I totally agree with you on the exterior part. I am gonna lay off the lowering. I really dont think I need a screen, well no one need a screen. When thinking, I Was like when would I even use the screen? I am always workin or at school so screen would just be a bad invesment unless it was a show car. I didnt mention Eclipse due to the dealer here dosnt sell any eclipse.
thanx for the info.

 

hey when you decide to buy the alpine gear give me a shout i will hook you up with the guy that i get all my equipment from... he has some great prices... so if you are interested just give me a shout...

 

Right now I am fine wit the lil Clarion, and will proablly abuse that for awhile till I get more Ideas. Most likely I will just get a nice lookin Cd player. Only wish alpine made some nice ass doubledins. So right now the 9815 it is.

 

the baddest double din out right now would have to be the eclipse 7301...

 

I would agree with Shawhite about the 7301. If I could trade my 7002 and get one, I would in a hearbeat. Take a look at this one. Not available over here I guess but, looks pretty sweet.

http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showt...threadid=10094

 

WOW that alpine is SWEEETTTT. I cant find a pic of the Eclipse though. OK So Shawwhite and X2. do you guys approve of the Alpine 9815. ITs not a bad deck for $450

 

The 9815 is awesome. I do not think you could go wrong with it. Here is a pic of the Eclipse:

http://www.audiocar.com/project_detail.asp?proj_id=cad

 

yeah the 9815 would be a good choice...

 

TOday I am gonna go back to Ultimate audio and really check out the 9815, if they got it in. Also another thing I am thinking of is going back to a sealed enclosure and see how much that would run for a custom sealed.

 

what can i do to the dash to make it not look so damn simple with a single din?

 

hehe, we are thinking alike.

 

put an eq or do what i am doing and put either the tme-m760 or tme-m580 above it to fill in the space...

 

Do this:
[IMG][/IMG]

the pics are just after making the dash trim, and then after adding a burlwood trim kit to tie it all together. The headunit is mounted flush to the trim so its gotta real clean, stock appearance.

 

that looks good but the two wood colors dont match..

 

It does look good. I have never been a big fan of the all wood look however.

 

The color is close but the trim kit is a little more red. I depends on the brand of trim kit you buy I guess. The headunit trim plate was made from a sheet of burl ABS from selectproducts.com and its a dead match for the factory trim. The rest of the trim kit was from an ebay deal by a company called nycdashes.com. I didnt notice the color was off until i had already started putting it on. Since its peel and stick i figured they'd hassle me about returning it, plus they charge a restock fee so i knew what i was getting into when i ordered from them. The good new is I didnt pay that much for the kit and i could always change it out later if i find a brand with closer match. The only real important piece is the trim around the dash and that one i made myself. The rest of the stuff can be bought practically everywhere.

btw, i dont kow what happened to the pic i uploaded. Looks like i was plyaing around with some borders in a photoshop plugin and accidentally screwed up the pic becuse thats how its saved on my drive at the moment. I may have a better pic somewhere to upload.

 

dnd2984: What exactly was wrong with the design of the dash? Does it have something to do with the angle that the headunit would have to be positioned? I am interested in installing the 7897 in my TL. Any info would be appreciated.

 

OK i got the CDA 7897 back in august worked great for the first 3 weeks and then on the left side of the deck it started hanging and wouldnt come out. So the audio place ordered a new one and same problem and then order me a 3rd deck and it worked fine for about 4 month. Then in january it started haning agian and this time it was sent to alpine to get fixed. So i got it back 2 weeks ago and same problem occured. So they took the whole dash apart and rebuilt it and in the manual it says mounting has to be less than 30 degrees and thats the problem our dash have such an angle and it just wont work without modifing my dash piece and then it wont look flush mounted

2002acuraTL: hows the sound quilty on the Pioneer. I have heard it isnt so great( thats what I have heard though). But i wanna get that same pioneer u have or the 8400. My dash looks just like yours to.

 

i dunno who told you the Pioneer unit doesnt sound good. I know there are a lot of 'brand loyal' people that will say all sorts of stuff about other equipment if its not about the brand they have. I was in car audio installation for about 15 years so i have heard plenty of that in my day. Take it for what its worth mostly just talk.

Actually, this is my first Pioneer, which i bought to replace my 1996 Sony Mobile ES stuff. I got this deck because i wanted MP3 playability, and I wanted DSP (i am a big fan of digital time delay to create good imaging, especially needed in a car where you sit so close to the left front speaker in relation to the other speakers in the car. The time delay will make it sound like you are sitting right in the middle of speakers.) I have this head powering a 4 channel Soundstream amp and a PPI amp for my stillwaters subs. The sound is quite nice even compared to my mobile ES stuff, which equipment was state of the art when it was new (and probably still is even today but for the fact that it cant play MP3s like the Premier)
In addition, the Premier unit has 6 volt preouts all around, built in front and rear high pass filtering, and of course full sub crossover and level control. Another neat feature is that the unit will automatically raise the volume as ambient road noise picks up, (ie when you are driving up at highway speeds, or when you open a window) and then lower it back down when the noise level drops. I have it set to the lowest sensitivity and i have to say it really does do a good job. Lastly, the deck has a real clean look and nice interface. The organic liquid crystal display can display all sorts of animated visuals, although I prefer to just leave it on a single background picture. Supposedly you can upload any image you want to the deck with an optional computer link adapter.

All in all, a great value for what i paid, which was $550 through ebay. I bought my the very first week it came out last March after the 2002 CES show. Now you can get the deck for about $500. search for a seller named "bumpertobumper7" on ebay. I have bought a few items through him, including my Polk Momo 6.5 separates. His prices are very good, his merchandise is all brand new, and he ships fast out of NJ.

One final note, if you are thinking of going with the Premier, get the 9400 over the 8400. The DSP is the only difference between the decks and its worth every penny for it.

 

I've had my CDA-7998 for about 6 mos. now and not had any problems. Is it just on this particualr model, or univeral to all of the fantom faces?

 

Apline 7998... Of all the Alpine headunits (or any headunit for that matter) i have never seen a HU with better sound quality or better tweakable functions. This HU is awesome, and $800 is about right... I would have gotton it but i want a touch screen... like the KVT-911DVD or the 915 when it comes out....

 

dnd2984

Do you know if the headunit was wired directly to the battery or not? I've read in another forum that the FantomFace units do not open properly if the installer fails to hookup the headunit directly to the battery. I can't remember the details as to why this happens, but I do know that it was unique to the Alpine FantomFace headunits.

I've been itching to buy either the 7897 or the 7998, especially after seeing what it would look like in the TL.....Install by Streeteffectz

 

heres a pic of my dash with the 7897and my old equipment in the trunk i will get new pics up soon. Now picture the dash with a clarion 735. its just temporary till the Alpine 9815 comes out to the audio shop.
http://acura-tl.com/forum/showthread...hlight=dnd2984

 

You don't need to tell me, especially since I just ran a new (read my thread in here) comp amp...I love this thing. I got it for $750 no biggie, but still $50 is $50.

 

After Reading all the features of the 9815 its my finally choice. check it out at alpine1.com all the features of the 7998 besides the fantome face and biolight.