Which Alarm should i get?

The aftermarket alarm system on my car now is from '96 and is very old and starting to malfuntion... besides the technology is old.

TIME TO UPGRADE!

my dilemma:  the alarm i have now is one of those ridiculous siren ones (you know, with the constant-changing pattern that everyone has memorized the wails and patterns of....  Obviously security is a huge priority here, but the sound of the siren is a concern to me as well.  My local car audio shops each carry only one brand of car alarm (albeit two or three models of said brand), and they charge insane prices for crazy features like auto start, etc....  but they all have that stupid siren!  i want out of this siren....

I have tried searching this site (and the internet) for a site that is a comprehensive buyers' guide to car alarms, complete with different brands (not just all one brand), different descriptions, maybe sound clips of the alarms, SOMEthing....  i cannot find anything.  If anyone here could point me towards a site that talks about the different alarms and pros/cons of them.  something like CNET does for computers.  Or maybe you guys could just recommend one for me.

What i want:

1) small, aesthetically pleasing remotes

2) obvious lock/unlock function

3) hood/trunk switch (as well as all doors switch)

4) glass break & motion

5) immobilizer/ignition disable/code hopping/other security features

6) unique/upscale arm/disarm beep and siren

a remote start would be nice but not required.  a key thing for me is the siren, AND the beep and beep beep for arming and disarming sound.  I had a lexus several years ago that had a nice-sounding factory alarm, and my BMW i had before that also had an elegant sounding alarm.  i had a car in the mid '90's that had an old Alpine alarm system on it (the old small-grey remotes), and it had an elegant chirp to it.  Does alpine still make alarms?  are they still nice?  From all the research i've done, it seems DEI has taken over every dang alarm company, and spread their parts across all lines....  :(

Anyone know of an alarm that sounds remotely similar to these upscale cars?  something that is classy, not full of features like a color LCD remote (why would i need that?)   Stuff like valet mode and silent mode (switchable from the remote) are a MUST.

please help!

Many Thanks!!

i want to add that first and foremost an effective security system is desired... the alarm sound is just the icing for me.  Surely there must be a good car alarm out there without that same siren though, right?

and of course something better than the "beep"/"beep beep" for arm/disarm

oonikfraleyoo wrote:

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What does the sound matter? Regardless almost every (quality) car alarm on the market is made or marketed by DEI. I have a Clarion UNGO SR5000 (RS, pager the works) I love it. It is made by DEI and has the same old siren though. You could get another siren or get the voice module I guess. "Viper Armed"

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to me the sound matters because i don't my audi sounding like my old civic.  The 6-tone sirens are just obnoxious.... not that i expect a lot of false positives, but it does go off sometimes.  The 6-tone is just flat-out annoying.  I park my car on the street, so it does go off sometimes.  I just want a siren that sounds more upscale.  Pretty much any alarm that has a soft-chirp for arm/disarm and a non-6-tone siren will work for me.  But every alarm i find doesn't seem to have those features that my old alpine had.  at this point getting  a used alpine on ebay looks like the best option.  does anyone know of a manufacturer who makes soft chirp and a non-6-tone siren on a GOOD alarm?

Thanks for taking the time!

[QUOTE=specialauto]How about the Audiovox Perstige? APS996... [/QUOTE

thanks for the suggestion.  i checked everywhere and it didn't say anything about the siren.... is it adjustable?  or just not the 6-tone?

and everyone else - thanks for the Clifford G-5 suggestion!  that looks like a top-notch alarm, although a little pricey.  Does anyone know if the other lesser (cheaper) cliffords have the same feature? 

also i did a search on here and found people talking about possibly buying the toyota or lexus factory alarm (someone said it was a piezo horn?) and hooking that up to their aftermarket alarm instead of the 6-tone siren.  will this work?  can i just get a piezo siren from toyota or lexus and hook it up to whatever car alarm i get for the desired result?

if not i'll just run with the G-5!

thanks to everyone for taking the time!

Everywhere i do a search for online is for a UK site.... has it not been released over here or is it a UK-spec alarm system?  everyone seems to recommend it for my needs yet i can't find it anywhere.

all your help is appreciated!

go on ebay and get a different siren. They have tons of them. I bought a 1 tone siren that is super loud. I mounted it inside under the dash.

Oh yea I think specialauto meant a Prestige 996a. Thats what I have and I love it, but yes it comes with the basic 6 tone siren.

mr-allenp wrote:

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Hey I just checked the Autopage 855LCD and from the features it says it has a 1 tone 120dB siren. Maybe it's just the one you are looking for. I am also looking to get that one for myself. But after reading the Clifford 5 and things it offers, I have been holding my decision. Eventually I will make a decision. But just like you i can't find a good place to check out that Clifford 5 system. I have asked someone here who claims to use one but would not tell me where got it. He would just talk about how good the alarm is.  I guess even in PM's they observe the rule here of not posting links to other sites selling goods. I am not particularly sure about how the rule works but it seems to be like that.

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yeah man, i wish someone would at least PM me where to get one.  i mean i'm not asking for anything illegal, just a link of a place that actually SELLS them!  :)

yeah i was looking for the clifford 5....

We sell the Autopage units at my store.  If you are near Columbus Ohio, give SouthSide Audio a call.  We usually sell RS-855LCD only with install though.  $425 installed.

Might be able to sell one for about $250 though from an authorized dealer.

i ended up getting a code alarm 3100....  the OEM siren on it isn't 6 tone, and it has a nice looking factory-OEM look remote.

I also ordered a variety of sirens from the onlyremotes website... i'll try a whole bunch of them until i find one i like, then sell off the rest. 

I was bidding on an alpine system on ebay, but someone outbid me.  and i can't find the clifford G5 anywhere, so i went to local alarm shops around town and found an alarm that was decent.... then came home and bought it off ebay.