I'm thinking about purchasing an Alpine CDA-9851, but wanted people's opinions first. I've searched and haven't come up with much. So.. what is the general consensus on the 9851?

TIA

 

I have that head unit in my S2k and am loving it. I added in an iPod interface and Sirius to round out the sources. I have done a fair amount of sound dampening with dynamat and Quiet Car in the rear end, the doors, and under the driver/passenger carpets. I initially replaced the OEM speakers with Lucid's Kenwood rear speaker solution and matched them in the front, but after the other sound mods, I think you can do better with something like the Alpine head unit and a better set of front speakers alone. The Alpine head unit does a very nice job of balancing out the results of what I have done so far and gives me lots of flexibility with input options. I have no regrets about buying this unit at all.

I am not a believer in heavy duty aftermarket amplifiers/subwoofers because this is a vehicle that sees a considerable number of HPDE track days per year and I don't want the extra weight. If your singular goal is to build a no holds barred top end sound system in your car then my opinions might not be the best advice. My top end sound system is in my house with far better acoustics.

YMMV

 

I opted for the 9847 due to a number of reasons - amber face lighting to match the rest of the car, less features I wouldn't use (satellite radio, physical remote control), the static face you can remove (opposed to a swing face that would hit the S's door), plus its nearly $80 less for essentially the same radio.

The Alpine sound is very clean, plus you can use it with the Alpine iPod interface and Modifry's DCI, fyi.

 

I love mine, but it does have some documented problems. The swing face on some have failed (including mine) and I had to mail it back to get fixed. If you get one, dont get rid of the stock HU, as you might need it (remote chance). It sounds great. I wish there was more room for tweaking (PEQ would be nice, as well as a Q control for the sub out).

For a few extra $, look at the Blaupunkt Brehmen. I think its like$350 from crutchfield now. MAJOR adjustability.

John


Actually, the swing face as 3 settings. It does not hit the door, if in the UP position. When opening, if the door is down, there are no clearance issues.

 

I was going to purchase a 9855 specifically because I wanted the 4v pre outs, but I managed to get a smokin deal on a 9833 (last years model but still with the 4v pre outs) so i went with that.

FYI - I also have no clearance issues with my 9833.

 

Yes, you can set the face not to swing, but the default will hit a closed S door. I've seen this be a problem when a mechanic disconnects the battery while working on the car, and then when he/she reconnects, the radio swing gets stuck. never seen this on an S, but when it came time to buy, I figured, why bother.

Since I keep my door closed and just use the dash controls, I figured why deal with a functionality I don't really need and that presents another point for the radio to break. (My last HU was a Kenwood, and the swing face broke.)

 

Not true... My HU came with the default setting of full closed. You have to select Tilt1, Tilt2, or Tilt3 options in the setup menu. I just reset mine this morning (mids and highs just cut out randomly), and it was fine.

I think my problem is a loose connection. All 4 channels just cut out, and the only thing running is the sub. This looks like a clip is probably loose somewhere back there.

John