Big name, big price...Is it worth it?
Written: Aug 24 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Typical features, excellent durability
Cons: There are cheaper decks that are just as good
|
|
|
| basilisk4's Full Review: Alpine CDM-7834 Car CD Player |
Let me start off by saying that I'm not entirely pleased with my Alpine CDM-7834. Now, this has nothing to do with the actual quality of the product, which certainly appears to be excellent. In fact, I've had this CD player for over a year now, starting out in one car and then moved to another earlier this year, and I have yet to have a single problem with it. As a result, I have to give this product a good rating.
Power is certainly not an issue with the CDM-7834. With a maximum 35W RMS to all four channels, this will do a reasonable job of driving just about any set of four speakers. The pre-out also makes it simple to hook up an amplifier later on, if you so desire. Just like pretty much any other head unit, it has variable controls for bass, treble, fade (front to back), balance (left to right), and volume. There's also the typical "loud" feature, which really adds depth to your sound quality.
The 3-band tuner (FM1, FM2, and AM) really only has two bands, of course, but it's set up so that you can have 12 FM presets (instead of just 6, since there are only 6 preset buttons) and 6 AM presets. The green, back-lit display of this unit looks great at night, but is decent at best during the day -- it can be somewhat difficult to see when it's bright outside.
As should be the same for any properly installed car CD player, it's almost impossible to make the CDM-7834 skip. Going over a large speed bump at 50 MPH might do it, but I'm not sure. You can go ahead and try it out and let me know the results.
Now, the one problem I have with this CD player is this:
The list price for the CDM-7834 is approaching $300, although one can find it in most good electronics stores for about $200-220. I actually purchased mine for $169, which is an excellent deal for an Alpine product, but only marginal for any number of other CD head units with similar features. I had a Pioneer CD player in my car for at least 2 1/2 years, and I loved it. It had great features, produced great sound, was extremely durable, and only cost me about $140. That CD player was comparable to or better than my CDM-7834 in every way.
In fact, the only reason I replaced my Pioneer CD player was because someone broke into my car and destroyed it trying to steal it. The reason I decided to replace it with an Alpine is a long and largely unimportant story, but in a way I'm kind of disappointed that I did. I've always heard people talk about Alpine the way they talk about Cerwin Vega or Harmon Kardon -- it seems that Alpine is supposed to be among the best in car stereo equipment. I guess that for such an over-hyped brand, I expected a little more, which isn't particularly their fault.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that you shouldn't purchase Alpine products. The CDM-7834 is not terribly expensive, and it's an excellent CD deck...If you're willing to pay a little bit more just for the Alpine name, this is a great choice.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
basilisk4
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 233
Trusted by: 214 members
About Me:
Soon-to-be married 26-year-old lawyer who likes electronics, computers, and cars.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.