TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

I'm in the process of upgrading my OE Pioneer CD HU in my xB to something that sounds much better (already upgraded the speakers), and the Alpine CDA-9884 and Eclipse CD3100 both look very interesting at their Crutchfield price points. I've no experience with either company's products, but I'm aware Alpine has a long term good rep, and I've just learned Eclipse supposedly has great sound. My number one concern is sound quality -- I don't mean loud or thumping bass or equalizer flexibility, I mean QUALITY (I want to be able to relax and enjoy it, not gradually get driven crazy by it)! And that's with onboard amps, not external amplification. My next concern is reliability, I don't want an HU that's going to give trouble after a few months or when the weather cools down (like now).

Does anybody have any experience with these units -- any opinions on the matter? Thanks in advance for any insights !

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

I hooked up an Eclipse CD3100 today and found it to be a little unfriendly to my ears in the highs, though if your goal is lots of bass, it seems to do fine ! Very engaging and exciting sound, but not what I would consider good sound. Still, I haven't listened to the Alpine yet!

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Optimized the audio settings on both the Eclipse CD3100 and the Alpine CDA-9884 today, and spent a lot of time going back and forth -- kind of a hassle since I had to keep installing and removing the chassis from the adapter frame which also kept having to be installed and removed from the vehicle ! Fortunately, I installed adapter harnesses on both, so at least wiring required little more than plugging and unplugging into the vehicle harness.

I ultimately concluded both decks have imperfect highs, though the Alpine may be a little cleaner, however, the level of sonic definition is clearly on the side of the Alpine. In comparison to both the Kenwood combo in my '90 Eclipse (KRC-335/KDC-D301) and the Alpine, the Eclipse receiver sounds veiled (same material on all three.) The Alpine and Kenwood sound relatively more lifelike. I think I like the Alpine FM tuner performance over the Eclipse as well, seemed to do a better job of pulling in stations -- though I didn't spend much time evaluating that.

So, I've no way of knowing how the Eclipse line outputs perform, but I don't recommend the final output -- the Alpine is better. I'm now considering bumping the Alpine up another level in hopes of further performance gains !

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

How about the Kenwood KDC-X792? It has 24 bit DACs for CD playback -- a tangible sonic improvement over the Alpine CDA-9884? Speaking simply, what would be an upgrade over the Alpine CDA-9884?