Hey guys...

I need some advice from you guys here. I dont know whether to get the Nak or the Alpine. So, what do you think is better and money worthwhile?

heard the new 9887 is only $500 ?

yeah its true. but how bout the quality? is it better than the Nak?

i havnt used any of thoese decks, but unless anything has changed recently with the nak's,they dont have any tuning features like EQ or TA. but the are ment to have good raw SQ.

the alpine has more features TA, EQ. they arnt ment to be as good raw SQ, but still quite good. but this is just what i have read.

Easy decision in my eyes, Alpine all the way,

No speaker set will sound perfect, especially in a car - if you wan't good sound then tuning features are not only good, but essential.

I don't care what anyone could tell you, there is absolutely no chance in hell that the better sq of the Nakamichi (if it is in fact, better) could offset the tunability of the Alpine.

Unless you can find some form of processor that runs with the Nakamichi, I wouldn't waste my time or money,

I'll probably get flamed now for dissing Nakamichi, but I'd challenge anyone here to prove me wrong.

prove you wrong on what pete, you havent heard either unit or they way they perform hahahaha

I have a CDA-9887 and im with Muzzy on this one, great tuning features and has a 24-bit DAC so i doubt you'd notice the SQ advantages of the Nak (to any measurable effect). Considering you wont have all the other features such as TA or EQ, the Alpine seems to be the winner unless your dead-set on SQ from the Nak

Im buying a 9887 tommorrow, will post up my thoughts on the SQ on Monday..

Iv ordered a 9887 - cant wait for it to come in (hurry up alpine !)

How much is the 9887 setting you guys back?

$530 here, didnt do a lot of shopping around but seems decent seeing the RRP is $599

I picked mine up for 500 flat about a month back

Given the great 'sq' capabilities of units you've owned over the years, would it be accurate to suggest you've never used any processing, because you've never needed it? That's a rhetorical question - you and I know the answer and that's all that matters.

I haven't heard the Nakamichi, nor do I need to.

Anyone who belives that the head units 'sq' is good enough to offset the need for processing is living in a dream world - and you can quote me on that.

If you:
* Can find a speaker set that plays perfectly flat off factory passive crossovers
* Have the mathematical / physical knowledge to be able to precisely physically time align drivers
* Know of a production car with an interior that is completely void of any form of accoustics

Then different story. Do all of that for me using any headunit you like, with no processing at all. If you can make it work, I'll present you the title of 'holy audio god' and grant you special permission to leave the land of dreams, and give you $100.

what no essay?

you kids, its like going fishing on here LMAO

Gotta have a laugh every now and then, right?

Im looking at $500 flat also, but still need to negotiate.

As for the rhetorical, who cares? I just want mucho tunability from an SQ brand i can trust, I like the clinical sound of the alpine units, I've listened to the HX-D2, the 9835, 55 and the eclipse 5000/7000 and all in all its much of a muchness, there are so many variables, speakers and positioning being the most relevant, that I believe untill you have the best speakers/amps/set-up possible-for YOUR needs and wants/likes, that I challenge ANYONE to judge/notice the difference in any average competitiors car... In my view, the HU, if its a known good one, plays the smallest part...



It's all about speakers and tune.



and Tune.. tune tune tune frikken tune... there is NO substitute for a keen set of ears and the knowledge to use them.



so bring on my 9887 and my Australian AM ST title !! yeah!

Well said.

When recommending an SQ system to someone I always recommend them to put a good portion of the budget towards the head unit - but it's for tunability, not for SQ.

As you say, the average Joe really won't hear the difference in pure sound between two quality head units.

If it's between a quality head unit and a Boss, then different story

P.s. I notice you have this annoying double-space problem as well... it's driving me bloody nuts! I have to edit every post afterwards to delete the extra spaces (hence why every one of my posts has "edited by..." after it!)

Well, I too am jumping onto the 9887 bandwagon, go to get mine next Saturday

not moving into SQ are we michael?

who.....me??......hahahaha...maybe, will depend on me purchasing something else.

picking mine up tomorrow

The guy I'm buying mine off has to work tomorrow (wasn't supposed to be)

So, now that he is working I'll be getting mine tomorrow too

And....pricing up a G5

Woah! a 9887 and a G5? Sounds very SQ Michae1.. Welcome to the frustration and fun!
Still waiting for my damn 9887... Due today, any minute Im hoping.. Damn.. 3 days to set up and tune is not enough!

Muzzy- yeah double spacing sux, I gave up editing a while ago, you can post preview to save that edit tag appearing in every post.

Still waiting??

I got mine for $450 and took it home that day

Yeah, G5, still not 100% on woofer yet, will see what happens with funds as I plan to buy a new car to put it all into.

Already have the 9887, a C4a, M1a and a set of DDW6.5s coming end of week.

I think stock of 9887s is a little low

mine was going to take 2 more weeks but they managed to find one at another store

I believe you are wrong as far as the average Joe not hearing a difference from one HU to another. I would think that a person changing a HU in his car for another hu would hear the difference right away not unless he was partially deaf.

The Naks have a much better sq then Alpine. I am currently using a Nak MB100 and I also have a Alpine 9835(awsome HU) as an mp3 player run in through it digital input into the Nak.

I am glad that I purchased the 9835 as it by far better then any other units produced by Alpine since then. I purchased my girfriend the replacement for the 9835 2 generations later and was quite disappointed in how many features they dropped, the 9835 is just a supperior HU and I believe it will be the HU that all other Alpine HU will have to compare to.

But there is no comparison from Nak to Alpine as far as SQ goes, Nak all the way.

I personally feel most people wouldn't hear it.

Based on an identical system with all else the same (amps, settings, etc) and switching purely the source, I don't think many people would notice it at all. I'm not saying no one would notice it, but the average joe (meanign someone with limited experience) wouldn't pic the difference IMO.

Tunability can, however, make or break a system. That's something that will defiantely make a difference.

this thread is a bit old isn't it?

I have a Nak CD500 here that I used for a few months before making the switch to the Nak CD700 (I have the Nak MB100 aswell). I bought the CD500 brand new and although it looks a bit plain it does have quite good SQ - not as good as the MB100 or CD700 but pretty good... It skipped a bit more than the CD700 though. Can't comment on the Alpine - never owned any of them

Maybe a guy or gal that only wants the highest volume possible may not hear a difference but someone building for SQ should hear a difference when changing HU's in his system. It may also depend on if they are changing units with in the same manufacturer (they may not hear much) or if they are going to a new manufacturer (they should hear more) or going from a 600 dollar HU to a 1500 dollar HU. There are actually lots of variables.

The jump from my Alpine to my Nak was increadible, its like the music came alive, sounds started coming from every where and sounds I never heard before appeared. In my home system when I went from Nak to Krell, more money of course but hugh difference in SQ.

That is one advantage of Nak HU's they do not need all the fancy tuning features they just sound good.

John

Each to his own, but I disagree.

All head unit's need fancy tuning features not necesarilly to offset for flaws in the head unit itself, but to offset for flaws in the speakers.

A system can only sound as good as it's weakest link. Even with a head unit that produces a threoretically 'perfect' sound signal, you will still be held back by the limitations of you speakers.

It's for these drivers, that the fancy tuning features are needed the most.

I got rid of my old 7998, and put in a nice new 9861 - even though I use digital output, the new deck is better SQ.

I'd fallen into that old 'all reasonable quality audio electronics should sound similar nowadays' trap again until a couple of years back when we started doing some detailed listening tests again. Same filtered power supply, speaker system, known uncompressed CD software and a quality line-level and speaker switcher.

Trust me, you CAN hear differences... in fact we were often surprised as it isn't always the high-end '24-bit' head units that sound more detailed/accurate either (including CD and MB Nakamichis for you fans of that tired old range). No more names, but I'd suggest taking your favourite CD to a couple of demo-rooms and really listening (sorry ours is no longer).

BTW, on the subject of comparative tuning capabilities, Muzzy66 is absoluely correct. The chances of you actually discerning the relative difrerences between electronics in a car are pretty slim, but the environment itself is a massive acoustical challenge. Go for the tuning!!

Kind regards,

Muzzy66,

i couldn’t help but notice that your strong feelings on the Nakamichi, and as you said each to there own so in the spirit of things let me retort.

"fancy tuning features" - how very educated of you, your right each to their own there is no debating that parametric EQ's can compensate for deficiency’s in amplifiers & speakers, and yes they are great things (not just your preset ROCK, POP and JAZZ EQ which I’m sure your familiar with) but to pass judgment on something that you have never seen or further more even heard , not in your own words DONT NEED TO indicates to me quite strongly that you have no idea what your talking about either that or you are some form of visionary mathematical genius that should be working for some one designing head units.



I welcome your EDUCATED CRITISM, its all good to talk the talk, but it would seem to me that you have taken a few phrases that you have heard thrown around the place and strung them together into what you feel is a convincing argument.



Please have a listen to a Nakamichi system and then I would be more the willing to take on any criticism that you may have, at that time.



Yours Sincerely



J.P.

Nakamichi Distributor AUS / NZ