I think in the 80's and 90's Alpine's reputation was boosted by pop culture also...

That being said, I have never owned any other headunit other than a sony for a very short period of time and they have always been rock solid.

 

Alpine was really good in the 80's and 90's. I think what made them so popular is that porsche came with them. Blaupunk also was popular because they came in mercedes.

 

Alpine is hardly the worst, or even bad. Their amplifiers, head units, and sound processors are still good. Subwoofers ok, and improving recently a lot (new Type-S, Type-R, and R-thins).

Only the speakers seem to be entry level to average.

 

wow not too much interested in the thread huh....guess it's been beaten to death.

 

#1 sony, #2 pyle, #3 hifonics and precision power, #4 Alpine and kenwood, #5 Kicker, #6 phoenix gold, rockford fosgate. Basically any company that moved from usa or japan to china or korea.

 

I agree with Sony, their Mobile ES equipment was awesome. Throw MTX up there. Rockford Fosgate, MB Quart, Phoenix Gold and Precision Power have all fallen quite a bit. These were some of the brands I used to lust over in the magazines back in the early and mid 90's.

Kicker has changed for the worst in my eyes. They still make quality products for what they are intended for (SPL). They get loud and put out good power, but the day of the Resolution series components and the original round solobarics are long gone there.

 

I'm happy with who ever will support their products

 

I think Alpine is still very good, I think when it comes to head units, processors, addons (tv tuners, sat navs) etc etc there near the top of there game, I'm not a huge fan of there amps/subs/speakers, not that i think there bad i just dont think there upto the level of say Mosconi/DLS/Sinfoni. so in that department i think they need to step up there game

 

Also Orion,Autotek and Lanzar.

 

Yep so far I completely agree with the others on the consensus here.

I personally think that Alpine should step up their game in the head unit department and really distance themselves over the rest as far as features, usability, and most of SOUND QUALITY! I think if they focused on this, it would bring their rep up that extra step they need.

Would love to see:
• Better Bluetooth
• Better Integration with smartphones (not just Iphones)
• 4V pre-amp outs on 3 sets of RCAs for all units not 2V and only 1 set of RCA's
• Improved FM reception
• MP3/Digital compression enhancement software built in
• More user friendly interface with fast, no delay times between functions/pressing buttons. No lag time (meaning better processor/cpu)
• Hi stereo separation (75db or higher would be nice)
• Full digital EQ section or available DSP optional plug in or EQ/processor with clipping meters

 

Yeah it was a lambo, not sure where i got porsche from.

 

Alpine used to be my go to brand for single dins, but it is a far cry from that now. Pioneer and Kenwood's single dins just don't seem up to par unless you are talking about the 80PRS.

Over the past year the only head unit brand I have seen come up in quality is Sony, since they dropped Xplod it has been a whole different ballgame.

Double dins - Almost every brand is about the same level once you get over $500 imo.

 

Hell, I'll take a gamble and say damn near all of them except Pioneer! :laugh:

Seriously though, Pioneer is just about one of the only companies that never really topped all others, but hasn't fallen from grace either. Never really seen a bad product from them when used appropriately, especially their speakers which are mostly designed to run of HU power. They actually create neat tiers for people wanting inexpensive & simple upgrades from stock without use of an amp.

Other than that, even Pyramid & Legacy had better days in the late 80's to early 90's.


Infinity has taken a big back seat from it's heydays while JBL has taken front stage (can't say too much bad about JBL).


Poor Lanzar..... They may still have some decent upper tiers, but everything else I wouldn't touch unlike long ago.

Orion, not sure what the heck is going on with them... they might as well disappear off the map. The last set of XTR amps they came out with seemed nice, but didn't seem to take off like I thought they would. Bad marketing I suppose???

Kicker? Well, unless you want super huge boxes tuned to boom, they've lost their ways compared to the days of the original round Solobarics.

Cadence, when they first started off in the early 90's they seemed promising. I recently sold one of their original amps that rivaled the Punch 45 on ebay. I've had it since it first came out and never had one single problem with it! The guy is still trying to sell it. They kept up quite a bit for some time, but dropped the ball. Their amps still seem useful within reason, but they need to scrap the lower lines along with some of their drivers, then drop some of their prices as the brand was intended to compete with others as a better bargain.

Heck, did I leave any other company out that hasn't already been mentioned? Oops.... Autotek! WTF?! Reduced to rubble! Used to be some of the baddest amps on the market with the Mean Machines... Very sad!

Alphasonik & US Acoustic...... After the split, the former got lost while the latter did well then fizzled out some years back. Very overlooked amps.. the USA, USX, & USB series that would still be of use in today's market. If only they didn't stray from that board's design with their very last offerings


Kenwood.... hmmmm hit & miss over the years. Amps & headunits, yes. Speakers & subs....... you can keep them!

 

Soundstream

 

I'm a bit young for it, but Blaupunkt apparently were pretty big in the 60s and 70s. They're still around as far as I know, but they're flea market level.

 

Blaupunkt was still going strong up into the compact disc era (2000's) and had some great head units. It wasn't until a few years back that they stopped putting out innovative products and lost the forefront here in America. Not sure what they're doing over in Germany. They was one of the few companies that actually had T/S parameters for the individual drivers in their comp sets which lent a view into what worked well in door speakers. They also was one of the first to come out with class T amps in car audio which never seemed to take off, not sure why though. Now tripath amps are heavily popular on the home/computer audio circuit. Go figure.....

 

I've had good luck with Alpine stuff. It's definitely not super high end, but id say its on the higher end of the consumer grade (not audiophile) stuff...

 

One brand not too many was too familiar with until after they pulled the plug (at least from car audio) is Audax. The French products were quite unique and were not far behind from other European audio products. Some even became standard in certain vehicles, but they started disappearing from the market well over a decade ago. That was a true loss as they had some very nice drivers even though they crossed the streams of car/home diy audio.


There's so many brands that come to mind when you think of what was available before down to fizzled out or just completely turned to poop. Current boutique brands offer some seemingly amazing gear, but touch nothing on what was offered before in raw driver form likes Polydax, Audax, Cabasse, Dynaudio, etc.... Those days are gone and may never return which leaves very little options for the DIY'er which was actually founded in using drivers not necessarily made for car audio.

Now it seems like some of these companies slap the "car audio" label on good drivers just to be able to drive prices up. When you go back and read the thread NPdang started about 8 ohm drivers vs 4 ohms, you start to realize you can use just about anything you want. This has been nothing new for years! It's just that the products available that could outperform the "labeled" stuff has slowly disappeared.

 

well I'll add this since I now am looking for a good head unit for my daily driver.
I went head to head with Pioneer, Kenwood and Alpine as those were and still are my top choices. I would of gone with Eclipse but we all know they are out of the game now.

So here are my findings:

ALPINE: features seem pretty on par with pioneer except for some trivial deal breakers that really shouldn't of been overlooked by Alpine.
1.) USB port on the front of the head unit. One word: UGLY!
2.) Can't change the color of the buttons anymore. You get blue..that's it! What are we back in 1980 once again? Hellllllllllooooooooooo
3.) Only 1 set of RCA outputs and they are only 2V? Really? wow

PIONEER: seem to match the alpine as far a quality and features go but Pioneer also has the USB in the back of the head unit and has 210,000 different color combinations along with 3 line LED/LCD display. Thumbs up.
Pioneer also comes with a remote control too.
Ok only drawback I can see is the Pioneers Signal to Noise Ratio on the CD section is a little weak when compared to Alpine. 91 vs 105. Not a deal breaker though. Probably can't even hear the difference.

So all in all. I dunno...leaning toward Pioneer right now for features, display, and extras. I still have to review Kenwoods. We'll see.

Anyways...back to the original post.

 

any brand bought out by DEI and or Maxxsonics in the late 90s, early 2000s

 

Does anyone else remember when pyle was good? I remember being in awe when the original pyle pro drivers came out. I had 2 8's and was amazed by them.

 

Does anyone else remember when pyle was good? I remember being in awe when the original pyle drivers came out. I had 2 8's and was amazed by them.

Pyle Driver & Profile were good quality brands back in the days. Profile seemed like flea market amps, but Crutchfield sure sold a lot of them and they did perform! It wasn't that long ago their website was still operational and some of the older amps could still be bought. Then again, nobody wanted dinosaur amps anymore, but a person on a budget could have had some reliable & fairly clean amps within reason of system design.

 

There was a time that Alpine could not be touched as far as headunits go, but now??? I'd say possibly being on top for too long has caused complacency. Even though they produce a couple of separate DSP, some of it could have been scaled down a hair and included into the headunit.

For instance, the basics of the Imprint module simply could have been included in certain units for a little bit of added cost. It's capabilities aren't that good enough to really consider a separate processor. Given T/A is available on quite a few less expensive units, adding a used DQXS or even some sort of cheaper trunk mounted processor could prove to be far more substantial in flexibility. I almost bought into that at one time until researching what Imprint does & does not do. Alpine seemed to start fleecing it's fans by charging extra for separate components to make the HU more capable rather than the likes of predecessors that already included it until you reached the next level like the H701.

The formidable 9887 stood alone for some time and seems as if they dared not duplicate or produce similar models without having to add extras like Pioneer did with theirs. Bad move!

 

Young man..... and I say that because I wish I was still young, but Pyle produced good subs during the late 80's when the Punch 45 was becoming popular. I still remember a good friend of mine had two sealed 12" Pyle Drivers bridged on a 45 in a VW Rabbit 4 door. Man that produced some spl (impressive for that time). You also have to remember that back then it was actually ideal to have a box with a bit higher Qtc (close to 1.1) to match Pop music (stronger bass above 60hz).


Would they survive today? I doubt it. Music has changed, installs have changed, etc....

 

Young man..... and I say that because I wish I was still young, but Pyle produced good subs during the late 80's

Sorry, I know they were around longer and meant "up to the 90s"

It's so sad that most U.S. car audio companies were sold and outsourced overseas, if not completely shutdown.

I hope the quality aftermarket industry is sustainable now that cars have decent enough systems to satisfy a lot more of general public.

 

Wow, the list is long. Back in the day, PPI, Rockford, Hifonics, US Amps, Sony, Alpine, MB Quart, and many others all made awesome products. Unfortunately today just about all of them have sold out for extremely high profit margin over build quality. But, one of the old school companies is making a come back and producing products that actually surpass the performance of their old school stuff. Linear Power is back to doing what they do best, building a high quality product right here in the US. Thank goodness they are still around!

 

Kudos to LP!!! I'm going to have to buy me a 2250.

 

Back to the OP's Topic Question:
- Infinity
- Rockford Fosgate
- SoundStream
- Kicker
- MB Quart
- Dynamic Control
- Hifonics
- Zed Audio
- Monster Cable
- Kinetic

 

That list is part of the reasons I hold hear to my trusty old US Acoustic amps.... They may take up a little bit of room, but still are hard to beat for what I paid for them.

 

Almost every company named had their great period during the 90's/early 2000's. These companies just dont sell anymore. As we notice, most companies are leaving car audio and the ones that stay only have to produce sub par equipment. Nobody is driving the hobby to force them to better what they produce. These companies no longer care about SQ because SQ doesnt sell anymore. Look at decks for instance. 90% of clients that look at decks just want to make sure their bluetooth and Ipod still work. They could care less how many volts the output has or what the T/A and how many bands the EQ has. Hell the deck doesnt even have to sound good. And this is to the clients that have a car that allows you to still put a deck in the OEM spot.

 

This hit it right on the head. The acceptance of MP3s as the primary method of listening to your music has made true SQ obsolite. Young adults couldn't pick a good recording out of a lineup, and most actually preferr the sound of an MP3 over that of flac or "gasp" record. if all your source is on 128 MP3 then it doesn't matter if you get a good head unit or a great one.

These days the only thing driving the market is features... and not the features that provide more SQ. Your high volt pre-outs, T/A, etc. will not sell you any more units over ones with "iPod integration", "blue tooth R2DP", voice activation...etc.

 

I can only give praise to the companies that got out before smearing their name like Boston Acoustics and a few others. With so many companies using the same build houses now, it almost makes no sense to stay brand specific oriented unless you are paying uber bucks for elite gear. It has it's place, but after being in this for 20 years I just can't see it anymore. This seems especially true when knowledge in installs have advanced as well as DSP that were almost impossible to attain back then. Those are the things that make the most difference regardless what level of gear one chooses.