I bought my Alpine CDE 9881 from a pawn shop for 50 bucks back when I had my old car and I recently got a nissan maxima. One thing I rly hate, this headunit has no aux in front or USB and most important, it doesnt work with a steering wheel adaptor. I have had a few people offer me $65 for it (is that a decent price?) and I think I might sell it and get something a little better.

I know crutchfield is usually over priced but their headunits seems fairly priced, especially since they give you all the install stuff and save me around 30 bucks.

I'm not going to do much with this headunit, just listen to music on my ipod. Idk how to tune, etc. I'm also running a passive setup. Both of these have pandora capability which I like.

From these two headunits, which do you think if the better choice. Or do you suggest something else? My MAX budget is $130.

(ps, I need something relatively easy to use since my dad also drives the car occasionally, its technically his)

Here they are:

JVC:

JVC Arsenal KD-AHD65 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

Kenwood:

Kenwood Excelon KDC-X396 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com

If you are in an area that has hd brodcasts I would go with the JVC.

I am, which seems rly nice. I was leaning towards the Kenwood since I hear they are pretty good unit.

I was told though, that the alpine will have superior sound quality by far. For a passive setup, will I really be able to notice?

When you say passive set up you mean just powering the speakers off of the head unit and no amp right?

As far as the price if you paid $50 and you have used it and then you can get $65 then yes good price. I don't know what the market says you should get-- that is always just smoke, A dude wants to give you more than you paid that is a great price.

Yes I have had lots of Alpine they are quality. For your system I don't think you could go wrong with either one, running off of the deck you wont notice much difference in sound quality. I have had a Kenwood deck they like to emphasize the mid bass more than Alpine. So did the Panasonic I had. I guess I am saying everyone goes away from a flat tune but Alpine so you will notice that I bet. If I had HD stations I would get that one for sure I have thought about adding an hd unit several times but we only have one station that I might be able to pickup. If you don't get the HD you will always be wishing you did!

sorry, I should have stated I am running an amp to my components. I have an alpine two channel powering components. The issue with this headunit is that it seems I can't use my steering wheel controls since an adaptor wont work. I'd really hate to lose them since I use them so much.

I was told though that the alpine will sound WAY better than the other two HU's. I just dont understand how.

I mean passive as in not an active setup.

i love my JVC headunit.... id go with the JVC

Thats the one im leaning towards now. I'd like to keep the alpine but it blows that I will lose steering wheel control function.

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/categories/head-units.html

So thats another vote for JVC?

I used to work at a shop where i repaired car stereo equipment. I can tell you the JVC cd mech is terrible and they haven't improved over the years. If you don't plan on using CDs then that won't be an issue. The integrated amp isn't that great either but sounds like you will be using an amp anyway.

You can get an adapter to use your iPod for the alpine and you can also get a line of sight repeater setup to use for your steering wheel controls so long as it has a remote.

Good to know! Thanks man!

can you explain the "line of sight repeater setup" a little more?

Basically it is a box that wires to your factory steering controls. Then that connects to a small infrared sensor. You program the box with the headunit remote much like a tv programmable remote. Then you mount the sensor pointed towards the head unit. It is very small, about the size of an LED. Typically you can drill a small hole in the dome light lens and mount it in there. You can also mount it under the lip of the console lid but often if you have a drink sitting there it can block it.

I can't remember the brand but our local shop sells the whole setup for around $60. You could probably find it online for cheaper.

I'll find the name if you are interested.

Basically it is a box that wires to your factory steering controls. Then that connects to a small infrared sensor. You program the box with the headunit remote much like a tv programmable remote. Then you mount the sensor pointed towards the head unit. It is very small, about the size of an LED. Typically you can drill a small hole in the dome light lens and mount it in there. You can also mount it under the lip of the console lid but often if you have a drink sitting there it can block it.

I can't remember the brand but our local shop sells the whole setup for around $60. You could probably find it online for cheaper.

I'll find the name if you are interested.

The name would be great if you could find it. The typical steering wheel adaptors dont work on this unit since there is no jack on the back of the HU apparently.