kfb@houxb.UUCP (K.BRAND) (04/18/84)
I'm in the process of shopping around for a car stereo for
my Honda Civic CRX.
Since every store sells different brands and salespeople all
lie anyway, I'm looking for people with first hand experience about
the reliability of the different brands.
I'm not that concerned about sound, since us non-audiophiles probably
can'
can't hear a significant difference in a relatively noisy car anyway.
However, radio reception is an issue.
I am considering units in the 200 to 250 range from Kenwood, Alpine,
and Sony.
All have digital readout and Auto reverse (UGH! - what a dumb feature
that's bound to break sooner or later).
Two stores really liked the Sony and expressed apprehension about the
Alpine since its a new model.
In the 150 range, I am considering a Pioneer.
Based on the Pioneer home deck I once owned, reliability is a
real concern.
Thanks for your opinions.
OK I admit I own Bose 901s
Kevin Brand
houxb!kfbkormeluk@tops32.DEC (04/20/84)
Last year I bought a Alpine 7136 along with a Proton 222 external amp. The system has Kenwood 4" cones in front(driven from the 7136) plus Alpine 5 1/4" in back(driven from the pre-amp out of 7136 to Proton). I don't remember the model numbers for the speakers but they were reasonably priced (under $175 for all 4 speakers). The Proton 222 (22 watts/channel) was a little over $100. I like the system...it was reasonably priced (with tax a little over $600.) and I liked the clean appearance of the Alpine (not to many little buttons that can't be used with gloves on, etc).It does have auto-reverse but I haven't had any problems with it or the transport(rock solid over potholes) . I was considering a Kenwood at the same time (they have the same tape transport or at least the "cassette glide" is the same) but decided on the Alpine because it looked "cleaner". The Alpine's built-in amp only puts out 2.2 watts/channel so a 3-4" speaker set in front is all that it can drive unless you amplify it. My car (a '83 626) has 5 1/4" cutouts on the rear deck so that't why I have them in the back. There are cheaper systems and more expensive ones but I am comfortable with this system and have not had any problems with it. I remain FOREVER.... /dmetro Kormeluk/ ...decvax!decwrl!rhea!tops32!kormeluk