Alpine CDE-9873 - Radio / CD / MP3 player - Full-DIN - in-dash - 45 Watts x 4

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

I can't believe how good this stereo is!

I've been looking for a good car stereo for a while now. I have a lot of superb older equipment (a/d/s/, Nakamichi, Precision Power, Denon, Concord), but none of them can play mp3s. I want a good in-dash that can play my mp3s. My mp3s are recorded at high bit rates (192 vbr to 320 b/s).

It's hard to find a good stereo these days. I have tried:

Panasonic: Sounded great; worked pretty well. Broke after two years, and the new models have a "drop down" faceplate, with no accessible cd slot.

Pioneer: Awful, wretched, confusing, unusable "user interface". Many features, I think. Best Buy's return service is awesome.

Sony: Great display. Factory CDs sound OK. Many errors; beeps a lot. Cannot play mp3s recorded at more than 128 mb/s. 192 vbr mp3s glitch, go silent, and crash in a wave of digital distortion. Unlistenable. Best Buy's return service is still awesome!

I lucked into the Alpine CDE-9873 about this point. They were cheap and worked well, so I put them in all my cars. 3 months later, I'm not just happy, I'm in awe. The more I use this CD player, the more I realize how remarkable it is.

The Alpine CDE-9873 is an excellent CD player. It plays all kinds of mp3s and AAC music files perfectly, with no glitches. It's easy to use, with simple, intuitive controls. It controls an iPod directly. It has a built-in crossover, letting you configure a basic audiophile stereo without buying a crossover and multi-channel amplifier. The built-in amp is usable, with a flexible crossover integrated. For audiophile sound quality at reasonable levels, all you need is a mono sub amp, like the inexpensive Alpine mrp-m450, and a sub.

I've had some very expensive stereos, but this current one, which cost less than $1000, most of it speakers, is my best sounding car stereo ever. Kudos to Alpine and their wonderful CDE-9873 and MRP-m450.