wvuviv30

Does anyone have the Clarion DXZ745MP or Alpine CDA-9831?


Which head unit should I get?
both are equal price range...

stevrock

alpine hands down. Clarion in my mind will aways be one of the lower quality products. As far as the deck, I'd say the 9831 is a good choice, I have a 9835 and they use the same manual. Great h/u.

bamachem

LOL... Clarion = Low Quality? yeah, sure it is...

I have the 745MP and love it. I've been a fan of Clarion CD players since I got my first in 1990. I had it in my 79 Toyota PU and I only forced it to skip one time. I beat the hell outta that truck and the CD Player proved to be tough as nails as well. After that, I had one of the motorized face Clarions back in about 94 or so - first on the market. It never skipped - ever. Clarion had a brain fart after that where the designs didn't really didn't appeal to me for quite some time. I tried a bunch of other brands during that time including Sony, Pioneer, Premier, Alpine, and Eclipse. All were "OK" and all skipped at some time or another. When it was time to go back to an aftermarket headunit, this time I gave Clarion another try. I like the design of the 745MP and you can't beat the price (Ebay for like $220) considering all you get. So far I have yet to have it skip in the runner. As with ANY aftermarket headunit, you should upgrade your speakers and get at least a small amp to push them. The built-in amp is fine, but if your're spending a couple hundred for good tunes, you might as well allow the headunit perform at it's true potential.

X-AWDriver

I had a Clarion in my Eclipse from '97 and it performed great and as far as I know it's still working fine but with my Runner I got a great deal on an Alpine 9833 and it's got some nice features,can be color matched to your interior lights and is very easy to use. I have a 10" sub in the back being powered by a Bazooka EL series 250w amp and for $600 I spent on the whole thing it really enhanced the sound in the truck even with just the stock speakers.

Astralplane

Clarion and Alpine both have newer models out.
The Clarion DXZ655MP looks nice.
Also eyeing the new Kenwood KDC-X789 which has RDS, HD ready, and Advanced Codec.

LBC994runner

I was thinking about getting one of these HU's too, but I got a really good deal on a used Alpine 9811 ($135), which was good enough for me.

I still really want to try a Clarion in my truck. Maybe my next new one will have to be it.