New Alpine INA-W910 and Hertz Hi Energy Speakers

[bushman66]

Just picked up my 2012 Coupe / Sport pkg / 6MT from Jon Kowanetz at Handcrafted Car Audio. He did an awesome job installing a Alpine W910BT and Hertz Hi Energy speakers. Wired in an Axxess SWC, Backup camera, and hardwired my Valentine One. The system sounds AMAZING, even without an amp or subwoofer (future mods).

Jon was a pleasure to deal with. The job was precisely scheduled, and completed right on time. I'll definitely be using him when I add the amp and sub. Very professional, spotless shop. He even took note of my presets in my stock radio and had them input into the Alpine when I picked the car up. I highly recommend anyone looking for a top notch installer in the PHX area, give Jon a call. (He beat Crutchfield's pricing by the way...)

The Alpine is lightning fast, booting up in ~7 seconds. The Metra Axxess SWC works as well as the factory controls, ZERO lag. Some people say the Alpine display is simplistic but that's a benefit IMHO. I wanted a simple, easy to use while driving interface. I was able to figure out 97% of the controls in only a few minutes. Only had to break out the manual to figure out a couple of things like detailed audio settings or a couple of the phone settings.

Bluetooth works amazingly well...people say they can't tell the difference between the BT and speaking on the handset.

The navigation is the weak link in the Alpine. Its certainly usable, but nowhere near as elegant as the Garmin. A small trade off for the responsiveness of the Alpine vs the Kenwoods I played with at another audio shop.

[BigNate]

glad you had a great experience

[bigaudiofanat]

Love that head unit, can not wait to get it in my Altima!!!

[bushman66]

Originally Posted by bigaudiofanat

Love that head unit, can not wait to get it in my Altima!!!

You are going to love it. EXACTLY what a head unit should be for a car, unless you are really into a Disneyland Electric parade light show...in which case you'll be disappointed. I do wish that Alpine had the same partnership with Garmin that Kenwood does though...

[bushman66]

Originally Posted by BigNate

glad you had a great experience

Thanks again for the recommendation, BigNate

[bigaudiofanat]

Originally Posted by bushman66

You are going to love it. EXACTLY what a head unit should be for a car, unless you are really into a Disneyland Electric parade light show...in which case you'll be disappointed. I do wish that Alpine had the same partnership with Garmin that Kenwood does though...

Oh no, I know exactly what it gives me as I install them and many other units. GPS is a side thing which I will use if I need it, otherwise I use my phone.

[Pat C.]

Bushmann, I agree with this take about the Alpine unit versus some of the lower priced "light-show" renditions of head units. However, what does a person like me who's not wanting to spend 1 grand on the head unit alone do? Have just ordered up a nice set of Polk MMs(tweeter and crossover rendition) and am really "dragging" my feet about choosing another head unit for my 'base 370.' Not interested in Nav and if I had my choice, i'd like to have Bluetooth, but could certainly live without it. Also, have been looking in Crutchfield, along with Amazon (feel pretty confident that I can do the install, even with running new wire) but don't see any "medium" priced alternatives to the Clarion or Kenwood's with the 'silly' light show effect..... As always, comments and suggestions would appreciated.
Pat

[bushman66]

Sorry, I am not an audio expert by any means. I just researched the nav/dvd double DIN units I was interested in.