I am an Alpine buff. I just took over the install bay at a car audio shop and I have Alpine in every single car I own. I have alpine across the windshield of my Tahoe and Astro. Unfortunately the shop I work for does not sell Alpine... not that they really dont like it, just that other shops had it and they want to be different. I have refused to change head units and I guess it gives me and the bossman some reasons to argue. I am going to say this from the heart.... go to a local... go to a local... once more just in case you didnt catch it.. go to a local car stereo shop and deal with them. These big box national chain stores are really making things harder on the small guy. Cheaper isnt always better! You may pay a little more, but I guarantee you that the small shop cares more about you than the guy behind the mask at the other place. As far as whether or not to stay with Alpine, that is all you. You will find a ton of people that will tell you that you should change brands, and a ton that will tell you to stay. Just be sure to check the deck out that you want and ask alot of questions.... heck that is what the salesman is paid to do. Hope I helped some.
Derl
You should check out the new Zapco deck
And Eclipse will have a deck capable of a 4-way active x-over
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I say go to the alpine website- (https://www.alpine-usa.com )and check out their new decks. They have one that interfaces with your ipod and lets you control it through the deck. Theoretically, it's really cool, but i've never heard anything about it from anyone...
Plus it's one of the coolest websites i've seen, as far as their demo vehicles section (if you can find it- they just changed the format and now it's kinda tough if you don't know where to look).
Personally, that's what sold me on alpine. That's gonna be the brand i use in my new car once i get the chance to start upgrading from the bose system. But i'm just wierd like that.
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1995 Maxima
-n8