It's been awhile since I researched or kept up with car audio (jeez, joined the forum in '05) , I had a nice setup in my last car but there were a few issues that I'd like to take care of with a new system.
First and foremost, ipod integration. I had/have a Pioneer 4900ib and my biggest problem with it was scrolling through the ipod: 1. You had to use the up/down buttons to scroll through the contents, not the volume knob (which is very annoying)
2. Once a song/artist/album/etc.. was selected, you couldn't just back out from there and start from that point of the list, you had to start back at letter "A". IE: You pick "Sting" as the artist, now if you wanted to change to lets say "Radiohead", you'd be starting all the way at the top of the artist list again. This took forever because you had to use the buttons and not a wheel/dial (see above)
3. I couldn't use my alpine cd changer, is there anyway to use an m-bus changer (chm-s620, m-bus only.. no ai-net switch) with a new alpine HU? I currently have it installed in my honda with the factory radio via a blitzsafe adapter, and it works very well.. I rather not get rid of it.
4. I like pre-outs with a high voltage
5. Needs to have built in crossovers so I can tune the system when I install the sub/amb and eventually amp the speakers.
The 4900ib was a GREAT HU for the money, 4v pre-outs, crossovers for both speakers and subwoofer, no ipod "box" needed - just required a cable which the cheaper alpines of the time couldn't do.
Thanks in advance
EDIT - Well it seems there's really only two choices: Pioneer DEH-6000IB, or Alpine 9887. Doesn't seem like a hard decision lol.
Although the lack of support for older ipods is a bit annoying. I have a 20gb 4th gen (monochrome display) ipod that serves car duty. Apparently it won't work with either of these HU?