I am looking at purchasing an Alpine unit for my small 1992 Toyota Celica convertible. I am replacing the Toyota double din factory unit and may leave in the current speakers. I don't think I will be buying any external amps or subwoofers at the moment, but am open to suggestions. I probably won't be installing it myself and have an upper limit of $500.00 right now.
Any suggestions for a unit that will play mp3's and sound fine without external amps or subwoofers ?
I am a definite newbie, but do remember Alpine as a good brand from many years ago.
Alpine CDA-9833 or 9835. use wiring harness adapters and a mounting kit, and it should fit nicely into the factory location. Those two head units use Alpine's "V-drive" internal amplifier that offers 60w x 4 max, or 27wRMS x 4 RMS. Very clean, pretty loud, active cooling.. great units. I use the prior year's model of the 9833 in my Jeep.
your next step should be to consider replacing the factory speakers.. fronts first with a good set of separates. that'll improve teh sound stage tremendously. after that you can think about adding a sub to fill in the missing low end. maybe an Infinity Basslink X or similar solution that offers the box, sub, and amp all in one. cheaper and easier than going with a custom setup.. takes less room, too.
BTW I was cleaning out some things today and found a pair of 5 1/4 JBL GT521 speakers and a pair of 6x9 Blaupunkt speakers (those still in the box). Would they be of any use here or should I just start anew.
Thanks again..oh by the way, please pardon my ignorance in all of this this, but by a set of separates do you mean a regular pair of speakers and a seperate set of tweeters ?
Thanks again for your help and suggestions. I really do appreciate it.