Disappointing sound after upgrading to Alpine H/U. Advice?

[geordiepaul]

I've always been perfectly happy with my standard head unit (the Aura one) but I've always wanted to be able to connect my iPod. At first I was gonna go with a Dension lead but I decided to change the head unit to the Alpine 9850ri so that I could have full control of me pod!

Since installing though I find the sound quality awful and no where near as good as standard. There is way to much bass and the clarity on the vocals is dreadful. I've never been disappointed after upgrading a h/u until now.

Since Alpine units get such good reviews i'm hesitant to blame it. So my first thoughts are with the speakers since i've pretty double the power through them. Anyone have any thoughts on this??

 

[D3DNA]

The problem with Alpine headunits is a matter of setting it up. You will need to play around with it, change the equliser to something other than none and if your unit has media xpander, use that and set it to 1 or 2 in the advanced menu, this will help the ipods music sound more fuller and have a bit more clarity. After that if your adventurous, try changing the crossover on the advanced menu, but you will need to do a bit of research on the frequencies that your speakers operate at.
I've found after I set mine up it sounded a hell of a lot better than the aura on standard speakers.
Hope this help

 

[geordiepaul]

It doesn't have an equalizer unfortunately. The poor sounds is through all sources and just the iPod.

 

[D3DNA]

I've just downloaded the manual, its basic to say the least. Try using the loadness setting to see if that improves it a tad, like it does on the Aura.

 

[geordiepaul]

The loudness just increases the bass which I'm trying to get rid of. The shop I bought it from have given me the option to return in but I would rather try and resolve the problem as I can't believe the unit is that bad!

 

[matt_s]

Ask the shop to test it in their demo setup and compare it to another unit. It might be a faulty unit rather than a duff design.

 

[skidder]

Ask the shop to test it in their demo setup and compare it to another unit. It might be a faulty unit rather than a duff design.[/QUOTE


I agree sounds like the unit might be a bit duff. i upgraded the standard unit to a 9853R and the sound was superb through the standard speakers. The manual that came with mine was as big as war peace and i still aint figured out all the settings yet after months of having it. Alpine is good kit and you shouldn't be dissapointed. Take it backand get it checked out or see if the shop will have a go at setting it up in your motor.

 

[richybigman]

Make sure your ipod equalizer is turned off and not on a preset such as rock.