I've had 4 Kenwood Excelon units over the years and have always been very happy with them. I notice that a lot of people on this board are loyal to Alpine for some reason. I'm looking to buy a head unit today for my 04 S and was starting to look at other ones beside Kenwood. The main thing I look for in a head unit is power and sound quality. I play nothing but cds and will be using the ipod once in a while. I'm not concerned with visuals or gadget type stuff.

The units in question are the Alpine 9857 and Kenwood Excelon x590 or x790. Is the Alpine a better buy as far as sound quality is concerned? Any input or opinions would be appreciated. Sorry if this has been beat to death.

 

when i shopping for HU, the responses were unanimous...eclipse, alpine, or pioneer. eclipse was known for SQ, pioneer for features, and alpine for a mix of both.

i went to a few stores and tried em out. most didnt have eclipse so i crossed that off my list. between alpine and pioneer, alpine seems to have done a better job of reading most burned discs (while pioneer skipped or didnt read)... so i went with alpine

my 9813 has been perfect to me so why change

 

My first system in my old Corolla had an Alpine. Then went with a Kenwood in my old Accord. 2 different Pioneers in my Prelude and back with Alpine in my S2K. I think all of them sounded good but I always preferred the look, sound and quality of the Alpine.