Alpine CDA-9855 Versus Kenwood Excelon KD

alpine.   the only reason not to might be the 5 volt preouts on the kenwood.   its not so much signal clarity, but rather the ability to turn the gain up higher on your amps before distortion kicks in. also, I'm just ticked at alpine for dropping its 4volt preouts on all except their highest end few units... their typeR components look like they took a downward spiral as well... best buy is the devil. kev

Although the kenwood says it has 5V preouts, what they consider 5V might not be true 5V. With Alpine you know the decks are actually putting out 4V. I agreewith gladbach tough, it sucks that alpine decided to go with 2V on all but the 9855, however I have heard that their 2V decks sound really good for having a low preout voltage.

I just installed the Alpine CDA-9855 with the ipod adapter. This headunit is awsome! The ipod interface is also verywell done. The crossover on the HU is very nice and you have the ability to use a 2 or 3way speaker setup via a switch on the bottom of the unit. The anly complaint I have is the ipersonalize feature does not seem to be working, however Alpine just added this HU to the ipersonalize site just a week ago.  Go with the Alpine.James S.

Yeah, without uncertainty I am going to go with the Alpine 9855. The ipod interface is the major selling point. Kjatct does the control strip make going through songs, and play lists faster than last years models that used ipod interface?Chris

Mazda3

I tried the 9835 with the Ipod adapter & was bitterly disappointed with the results, specifically the lack of ability to search for something without running over a kid in the street.  I just switched to the 9855, these are some thoughts I posted to another site that may help you decide.

The display has improved over the 9835, makes searching easier. Still won't display Artist/Song combo - what's up with that? Doesn't gray-out 2 of 3 songs in search list anymore, thank the Lord.

Searching is NOTICABLY faster now. It now will jump thru tracks very fast - up to 60 at a time - but there's a trade-off. Using the Glidestrip speeds things up, but you lose some precision when trying to lock onto a certain folder. This may improve as I get more accustomed to using this Glidestrip thingy, as I'm pretty clumsy with it so far.

As for usability, I could still run over a kid looking for something if I'm not careful - it sucks my attention that way. Just not nearly as bad as last year's model. Had they allowed for fast searching with the Glidestrip & also precise searching with the volume/rotary knob we'd be golden. Next year?

Scrolling thru 20GB of music on the iPod & locating a particular album probably takes twice as long compared to just using the iPod. Again, I expect this to improve. Even if it didn't, the ability to skip tracks thru my steering wheel controls makes up for it, IMO. Also not having to hit "play" on the iPod everytime I get back in the car is a bonus.This Glidestrip is awkward so far, but getting better. Not as mindless as a laptop's integrated mouse touchpad, but it may just take some getting used to. Jury's out.Sound quality from the iPod is as good as it gets. Alpine's come a long way in this respect, I'd put them just behind Eclipse & Nakamichi in sound quality. That's pretty good.Conclusions - it still ain't the cat's meow, but much better than last year. I'm going to keep the KCA-420i for now over using the AUX-IN, I think it's useful enough to overcome any shortfalls. The headunit also has a port in the back to plug in a 3.5mm headphone jack to accept steering wheel controls - a godsend.I may post an update after I'm more fluid with it all.

One thing I've noticed that no one has mentioned ( I sell both ), The Kenwood when playing CDs SOUNDS BETTER. The 24 bit Burr Brown DAC is far superior to Alpines 1 bit in house DAC. I've done the AB comparisons on my display board with the same amps and speakers. Notice what kind of DAC is on the Alpine F #1 status deck? That's right, 24 bit Burr Brown. Check the sound out for your selves.

I have had this experience with both the CDA 9855 and the CDA 9853 - It mayhave issues when installed with a Terk XM hookup. The issues I have seen with these is that the Glide Touch Bar will appear to be locked down, like it is constantly being pressed in, making the head unit all but unusable. I love Alpine's but there are issues with the 9855 and 9853's.

Well, my customer with the 9855 did return infact with problems.  The salesguy told me that no other shops in the area had these problems- according to Alpine!  So I'm sure these problematic decks are everywhere.My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

I suppose I will wait and compare the Alpine units to the Pioneer units (but the Pioneers are SOOOOO ugly). The IPOD interface is the #1 requirement for me right now. I also agree that Alpine took a dive this time around. I really wish eclipse would do an IPOD interface. I always had Eclipse units before my current Alpine. The IPOD is the only reason I changed. Can't say that I am completely thrilled with Alpine. The Ipersonalize is very hard to work with because you cannot listen as you adjust. Adjusting EQ/Xover in the car is just a pain in the a**. I am definitely looking for something way simpler next time around.