Great Sounding Solid CD Player/Receiver for your Car: Alpine
Written: Jul 10 '01 (Updated Jul 10 '01)
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Pros: Great sound, superior CD player, reasonable price
Cons: Some buttons have too many functions, hard to read face in sunlight
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a full featured, moderately priced single CD Player/Receiver with great sound, I would recommend that you give the Alpine CDE-7865 a look and a listen.
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| netKat's Full Review: Alpine CDE-7858 Car CD Player |
I love my car, but when I bought it, I wasn't about to pay the dealer an extra $600 for a CD player. I always figured I'd just change the included Radio/Cassette to a Receiver/CD player on my own. Well, here I am, four years later, and I've finally done it. After some investigation, I went with the Alpine CDE-7858 FM/AM CD Receiver, and here's why.
- What I was Looking For -
I'm not an audio fanatic, my needs are simple. I already have upgraded speakers in my car, so I wasn't interested in changing them. I wanted a good Receiver/CD player that had digital station seeking capabilities, preset stations, a single CD player, a removable face, and cost about $200. I wanted a unit that would be easy to use, good looking, and sound great in my car. I chose the Alpine.
- The CD Player -
I'm very happy with the quality of this player. I have a mile long dirt road driveway, and the player has only skipped once in several months of use. It has never skipped under any other circumstances. My car is a 4-Runner with the big tires, so it's not the smoothest ride in town. I'm very impressed with the way this unit can hold its own on bumpy terrain.
The insertion of the disk requires only placing the CD in the slot and voila, the Alpine sucks it right in. Ejection is equally simple and requires just the push of a button. If the CD is not removed within several seconds, it gets sucked back in again in order to protect the disc. I've never had any trouble with discs getting stuck in any phase of use of this unit.
The CD player has all the features I want in a car CD player:
• Random play
• Repeat play
• Scanning tracks (the first 10 seconds of each track)
• Ability to skip tracks
• Fast forward and backward
• Pause
• Mute
What the Player will Not Do:
• This player will not play MP3s or rewriteable CD's, however, I have not had any trouble playing CDs that I've burned myself.
• The player displays the track number; however, it does not display titles.
• This unit is made to play one disc at a time. There is no changer and there is no remote contol.
- The Sound -
Fantastic! I was so impressed, that I sat in my car in the audio store parking lot listening for a while. I had prewarned them that I was very, very picky, so they looked mighty nervous when they saw me making my way back into the store, but I just had to thank them!
You can adjust various aspects of the sound output including, bass, treble, subwoofer (on or off), balance, and fade.
This model has a Barcus Berry Electronics processor (BBE) which, according to the manufacturer "corrects the phase distortion inherent in most loudspeaker designs". This also can be toggled on and off.
A very cool feature is the Mute button. I really wasn't impressed with this idea prior to getting this unit, but now that I have it, I really like it. One touch of a button and the volume plummets down to almost nothing. Another click of the button and it's right back where you started. It's a very convenient feature to have.
- The Radio -
The radio can accommodate a total of 24 preset stations on 4 different bands. You can choose all these stations yourself, or use the option of allowing the automatic memory function to choose them for you based on signal strength from strongest to weakest.
The seek function works very well. You can scan based on strong signals only, all signals, or preset stations. Of course, you can also just manually tune in stations as well.
I don't notice a marked difference between the tuning ability of this unit over the original factory installed radio. It does have a lot more tuning options and preset station capability though.
- Other Features -
This is a nice looking unit. There are no dials, rather everything works with buttons. The station and CD track up/down buttons are large and stationed at the left side of the unit for ease of use while driving. The Alpine is nicely lit and clearly visible while night driving. The color is a nice blueish green pastel hue.
The removeable face is very easy to use and comes with its own sturdy case.
- Installation -
Although I did not install this unit myself, the instruction book contains well illustrated, easy to follow installation instructions. The unit is a standard size that will fit in most vehicles as a replacement for the standard, factory installed, radio.
- Specs -
The Alpine CDE-7858 is rated at 45 watts. The FM tuning range is 87.7 to 107.9 MHz. The size of the casing is 7" x 2" x 6 1/8".
The Alpine comes with a 1 year limited warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship. The warranty is not transferable from the original purchaser. Alpine has an easy to remember consumer help line number: 800-ALPINE-1.
- Drawbacks of this Unit -
• The display is hard to read in bright daylight. This could be just because of the position of the deck and the environment of my car (moonroof and untinted front windows). I get a lot of reflection off the front black panel of the Alpine that makes the display virtually impossible to read while involved with driving the car in bright daylight.
• The "mode" button must be held down for several seconds in order to turn off the unit. I'd rather just hit a button once and be done with it. On top of that, the mode button also controls other functions, which can lead to some confusion.
• Speaking of modes, a lot of the mode finagling really needs to be done while NOT operating the vehicle. It's just too much eyes off the rode time. Maybe I need to get more used to it more, but it seems like each button has so many diverse functions that I'll never learn what to press, for how long, and in what sequence, without looking.
- The differences between the CDE-7856, CDE-7858, and CDE-7859 -
The less expensive (by about $20) 7856 gives 5 watts less power and does not have the subwoofer. The more expensive 7859 (by about $20) has more Vegas style face (lights lights lights) and has the capability of displaying scrolling text.
- In Conclusion -
If you're looking for a full featured, moderately priced single CD Player/Receiver with great sound, I would recommend that you give the Alpine CDE-7865 a look and a listen.
I have only one remaining question about my Alpine car audio experience... why didn't I do this sooner? :)
You may be interested in these somewhat related reviews:
• Samsung SCH-3500: This cell phone is a MUST HAVE!
http://creditexpert.epinions.com/elec-review-4FE1-D520BE5-39287F15-prod5
• God, I love my 4Runner!
http://creditexpert.epinions.com/auto-review-4488-488C944-385AE53A-prod2
• Winter Pre-Driving Experience
http://creditexpert.epinions.com/auto-review-B85-3A498A-388DBD07-bd3
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 209
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Epinions.com ID:
netKat
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Member: Kat
Location: Maryland
Reviews written: 166
Trusted by: 885 members
About Me:
Analytically inclined mom, bank officer, freelance writer, and internet addict.
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