21 replies to this topic

[~Spyne~]

ok people, considering a 9815 upgrade to my currect jvc

couple of things, i would really appreciate reviews/comments from anyone who has owned this deck, in particular i would love to hear how people compare this deck (features/user friendliness/sq/etc) to more recent alpines such as the 9833/35 and 9853/55.

* i'm pretty sure the features are the same, although is the display a little limited compared to more recent decks (no bio-lite, not as much info displayed?)
* can you change the button colours on the 9815?
* are the four large blue buttons too bright/able to be dimmed/changed colour?
* how do the dacs compare to the newer decks?
* how fast is it reading mp3 discs and is it easy to navigate folders/files?
* anything else people feel is important

all info greatly appreciated - i cant get the 9815 for about $350-$400 - whereas i can get a 9835 for about $550 and a NEW 9853r for ~$650-$700 (also a 7998r for ~$700-$750)


cheers people

adam

Edited by ~Spyne~, 29 March 2006 - 10:12 PM.

[SirNemesis]

I havent used this deck, but I have used a CDA-9813, which is very similar, and I found it to be a fantastic deck. I upgraded to a 7998R, but the 9813 felt like a much better deck to use. More solid, easier to navigate and plenty of features.

[Juls]

I think you'd be quite happy with the 9815 as long as it has Bass Engine pro.

but it really depends on how you setup your system as to how useful that will be,

As for reading disks ect, Alpines are generally very slow anyway, the motorized face takes 2 years to open and close and it takes ages to read disks and move between tracks, but this is just my opinion by comparison to my Eclipse deck which is virtually instant in all circumstances.

The Alpine is a very nice deck I'm sure you would be very happy with it,
just make sure you learn how to get the most out of Bass Engine pro, you can make a seriously crapty system into a bloody awesome one with these features.

Juls

[~Spyne~]

anyone else?

[khay0s]

~Spyne~, on Mar 29 2006, 10:13 PM, said:

anyone else?

I don't have too much to add. I have the 9835 and couldn't be happier. There is a general belief that it doesn't load mp3s as quickly as other decks (ie. Pioneer) but I haven't found it too annoying. Not to mention that if its being used for SQ then it should primarily use CDs, not mp3. For the price, I'd grab the 9835 out of that list. I've seen the Pioneer 8650 for $500 recently. If mp3 is really important, might wanna compare the two, although I'd still favour the 9835.

Leigh

[MADTRAV]

We've had great success with all the top of the range alpine units over the years, the 7894rb, the 9815, the 9835 and the 9855. Pretty much all the same units with mdified cosmetics. As for glide touch its a getting used to thing, i love it yet many are unsure on it...... Technology people embrace it then we can move in to more advanced human to electronic interfacing!

[shiny_car]

what colour buttons do you want? the 9815 has blue buttons, not changable. very nice HU otherwise.

9835 is schmick, with BioLite and also colour-change buttons: Multicolour Illumination = 512 colour choices!

7998: can't complain. bigger face/display is a boon. lots of info at once, and i kinda miss that. preamp-only, so cannot run speakers off this deck. digital output on 7998R. PhantomFace is another great features i liked, not having to cart the detachable face around all the time.

my personal order of pick:
1. 7998 (amber/green)
2. 9835 (512 colours)
3. 9833 (512 colours)
4. 9815 (blue)
5. 9813 (green)

not a fan of glidetouch although never given it a real go.

display/buttons are not excessively bright. all have 'dimmer' function for night time when you turn the parkers/headlights on. BioLite did seem superior for bright daytime viewing.

[Ic3man]

I've installed 9835 and 9815 and 9813 and 9833.
I've played with 7998 and have 2nd hand knowledge about the 9855. with the ipod glide touch.

Either way if it glides and anything like ipods its due to break. Also if you have fat fingers its gonna be more difficult and presets are gonna be a pain in the butt butt.

I have a 9835.. and it has tilt as does the 9815..
Personally i find the 9835 classier and better in general as you have alot more customization with it. With equaliser etc much easier to setup.

The only problem is NO alpine HU has proper RANDOM you will find that eventually it will play the same songs in the same order twice.. kinda craps me but thats why i don't use scroll.

MADTRAV how many 9855 have you had to return cos the glide touch is broken.. cos i know for a fact that a mate has gone through 2 repairs of the thing since he got it last year.

[Nav2k]

i used to own a 9835 which i just sold recently, I found the eq feature to be very easy to use with my front splits only install (focals...with a focally harsh tweeter flush mounted high up as theres no space near the mid bass driver..yuck). even after turning it down -3db on the crossovers it was easy to get it nice using the headunits eq.
i never got to use the rest of the stuff realy as i didnt end up installing my system. the colours were good hehe , the backgrounds etc. r good for the first 2 min then u get sick of them, although ive only tried glidetouch on the newer units through other peoples cars, searching huge cds for mp3s was ANNOYING as it took forever compard to glidetouch.

both the 9815 and 35 tilt, the 9835 looks better than the 15 IMO, it doesnt stand out with all the fancy colours lighting up ur car at night time which was good.

[golf_bht]

if you are a fan of real SQ 7998R is the go. it sound much cleaner than anything in the 98XX series. 7998R also has optic out for linking with H701 digitally.

I used to have 9815 for almost 6 months. this is one great deck but for a very serious SQ competition you will need something better. 9815 has all the ferture you need for active 2 ways + sub. all the later deck have better look but fundamentally work the same. the later deck does sound better but sill got the same functionallity. Still 7998 does sound the best amoungs all the HU you mention.

[kov00]

Hi I have had both the 9815, 9835, and IVA310E now in series and when my car was stolen with the 9815 in it I was really pissed, as I couldnt buy it anymore and I liked that head unit the best. Easy to use the screen even tho limited by what units can display now was great and easy to read, customisation was tops and the i personalise function easy to use. I have realised the newer the decks, the more tricky and harder to get customise they become. Some will argue this is a function of the decks having more adjustability but It really depends to what limit you are taking your stereo

Happy hunting

[vtviper]

I got my 9835 several months ago and Im extremely happy with it. Very easy to read, and true it does take some time to read an mp3 cd, it only needs to do that once per cd, so even if I get back into the car a week later it'll start playing immediantely.
I recently connected an IPOD to the 9835 via the alpine module, and its very good too but its not too fast at browsing. A bit annoying, especially when even with playlists you still have around 200 songs to browse through it can take awhile. Ive heard that the 9855 has much better IPOD connectivity (doesnt need an exterior module either), and is very fast browsing. I recently tried an 9855 and I couldnt get the hang of the glidetouch, it either didnt want to work or worked too quickly causing me to skip the desired setting. Also seems alot cheaper and less solid. So much in fact that even though I like using my Ipod, I would still pick the 9835 over it anyday.

[~Spyne~]

well i never intend on buying an iPod, let alone using one on my car stereo, so i am sold on trying to get either a 9835, or 7998r (mmm, bio-lite)
9835's are proving hard to find - one member, Ecak had one for sale only week or two ago, but isnt replying to pm's.
anyone else know of one being sold?