done! i love it.. i installed the alpine cda-7894 head unit yesterday and wow.. it sounds so much better its ridiculous!

pics...





now all i need are new speakers... recommendations??

 

looks great... I'm wanting to switch my Kenwood stuff out to Alpine sometime soon.

 

As far as speakers, I would recommend Infinity Kappas. Great stuff!

-- Andrey

 

Lookin Good! Alpine Rocks!
(not trying to hijack)
Has anyone heard anything about their 2004 line? I think that they come with all sorts of crazy options

 

Yea, their 2004 line is supposed to be amazing. i mean, my unit is 60 watts x4, and has this neat thing (dont know how to use it yet) where you can target which speaker you want to have either more or less bass. its awesome. also it plays a cd of mp3s.

took another pic...

 

also, i got the most ridiculously great deal on my hu. this thing retailed for around 399.99, i got the floor model for 165.00.. only had to do without the remote, which i dont need anyhow.

man, i love this.

 

I have the 7813 and I love it too. You have more bells and whistles but it is still the same. I have a hard time getting out of the driver's seat when I am plugged into my tunes. I hate to tell you this BUT .... you do need that remote. The remote makes adjusting your set so-o-o-o much easier, trust me.

 

Lee,
Diamond Audio!!! Their components are amazing!! I've got an Eclipse titanium sub and Diamond components in the front and Diamond coaxs in the rear doors. Sounds amazing.

Matt

 

Hey Lee, you're in Boston! I'm on the Vineyard

If you have never owned a high end head unit before, like me, you are in for a real trip as your learning curve goes up. Now I see what all of the audiophiles rave about with the mega watt systems they put together. Have you gone to the i-Personalize site? Have you dialed in features like the time correction, crossover settings, and set up varying equalizer curves. I am telling you, I had to practically go back to school to learn about this and how each feature inter relates. I spend hours and hours adjusting and reajusting. Heck, I am still tweaking my settings. I knew nothng before I started into this but I love my stereo. BTW, you really should get a SUB like the Infinity BASSLINK.

 

im pondering the sub, but it just cant fit into my budget yet. i want to get front and rear speakers first, but my question is... do i need an amp? if so, ill get that before the sub as well.

what is the i-Personalize site?

also, you will laugh when you hear this: ...i also have no manual! it came sort of as-is and was too good to pass up. i mean $235 off? who can say no to that?? my favorite thing so far (this is lame!) is the angle adjustment feature.. so cool. anyway, im gonna order a manual and sit in my truck and just LEARN ove the course of the next few days.

if you can let me know what that i-personalize thing is, thatd be great. im jealous that you get to be on the vineyard all year round.. so beautiful.

 

Go to http://www.alpine-usa.com and look under support on the left for i-personalize. I hate to tell you but I think you could have bought that unit new and complete for about $250- $275 now. I think it is discontinued. Anyway, you can download the manual <G> and the remote might cost you $35 - $50 but I am not sure. You have a Mosfet 60w x 4 amp so you do not need an external amp ... unless you are going to run low efficiency speakers like Kappa's (great speakers) or a sub that is not self-powered. I have high efficiency Reference Series speakers, and the BassLink X has an internal 200W amp. Yow are thinking correctly to say you want to upgrade your speakers before you think about a SUB. I did the speakers first ... the sound improved, then I did the SUB and it sounded disjointed, and then I did the head unit and that blew it through the roof ... AFTER I got it all dialed in. Now I would love to install a second BassLink SUB and some of those Q-Form kick panel enclosures with two more 5.25's and two more tweeters.

Go to:
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...=0&cc=01&avf=N

However, then I would have to use an external amp and that does not thrill me right now. Besides, then I would convert everything over and use a speaker with increased frequency response, etc. like the Kappa's. I still think another BassLink would be cool.

Isn't this fun? <VBG>

 

That looks real good and looks a very nice clean install. How long did it take them?

 

The install is pretty easy as far as the speaker connections to the head units. It is just cut-and-splice using the harness connectors that Crutchfield and Alpine supply, but the one thing that complicates it and differs from other head unit installs is that you have to run a heavy gauge 8 awg power lead directly to the battery with a in-line 15 amp fuse holder close to (-13") the battery.

 

Sounds like you are going all out....and if you are, I would suggest maybe upgrading to a single 10 or 12 in a sealed enclosure (easier to move). Heck, why not go for 2 12s! When you upgrade all of the highs and mids...it will be just like when you stick a sub in with the stock audio system with no upgrades. The fact of the matter is...to make it sound great, you need all of your components on equal footing.

Now the reason I say this is because I had a Basslink and it couldn't be beat for the portability/bang for the buck (got it off ebay). Yet, when I started upgrading all of my components the sub got left behind. I am not one to thump-a-dump-dump, but man....a bigger sub and amp can make a world of difference! I ended up with a sealed enclosure Jl-audio 12w7. I just pop it right out of the back when I need to. Granted it weighs a lot...it isn't awkward due to the size of the enclosure. So maybe look into some subs that don't need a large enclosure and get one...I promise that it will make your system sound much better. I am not a huge audiophile myself, but I could tell a big difference!

 

Strider,
I was considering all of that but it is not worth the money to me right now ... I have other priorities. So, I think that the best bang, or bump, for the buck would be to attach another BassLink and tune my system as a 3-way instead of a 2-way system. I agree with everything you said and thank you. Again, if I stay with the Reference Series speakers I have now, the CDA-9813 head unit, no external amp and the BassLink I already have, adding another 10" BassLink makes the most $$$ sense to me. I am not looking for more BOOM, just more definition.

 

I understand seeing as how you already have one basslink. I did notice tighter bass with my JL sub, YET there is a huge difference in cost. I agree with you completely.

Oh, and I must mention that I love the way the Alpines match the factory display.. It really helps seeing pictures of them in a runner...9813 is my pick when I get the money. (unless I like the new ones coming out) I also like the 7897 (with the hugh faceplace), but I don't like the thought of leaving it in the car due to the fact that a thief will realize that the "phantom face" is still in the car.

 

Strider,
I too liked the 7897 but decided against it for the same reasons as you. I understand that the '04 line will not be out until the end of March and they may do away with the internal 60x4 amp. Alpine and other mfg's are also going to have to confirm through standardized testing the output ratings. I cannot say that there is anything else in their line right now that I prefer to the 9813 ... in a 4Runner. I do think the illumination is too bright at night so I black out the screen a lot. Of course, as soon as you touch the controls it lights right up again. I have my Valentine remote display in the filler pocket beneath the head unit, but if I didn't want to keep it there I would want to install a little Uniden CB set in that space. I used to have the V1 remote on the steering column cover but it blocked the ECT on light.

 

I have another question. If I do install another BassLink 200 watt unit, do I have to run an additional 8 awg power wire all the way up to the battery or can I use a distribution block in the cabin to join the power wires?

 

Hey Lee!

Check this out ...
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-NRpkqQI...p?i=500RUE4187

You can download the manual and buy the remote for $20.00.

I was wrong when I said it would cost you between $30 and $50 for the remote. Buy it.

 

I am driving myself nuts trying to figure this out ...
If I get a second BassLink and want to setup my system as 3-way, how do I plug the second SUB into the Alpine CDA-9813 head unit. I cannot find a picture of the rear panel to see if it has enough inputs for a second sub. The setup I have now has RCA jacks pluged into the +/- rear SUB inputs and then out to the head unit. I Just do not understand how it works and the Alpine manual does not make it any clearer. Does anyone perhaps have a picture of the rear panel of the head unit?