My New Alpine HU!

[chode19]

Alpine 9857 HU

First off, thanks to all the people on this forum. I read a lot of posts about different hu's, and after a lot of thought I decided to get the Alpine 9857 over any double din because none of them had everything I wanted and if I'm gonna spend $2k on a headunit it better do more than I want. I ordered it from Crutchfield on Tues and installed it last night and couldn't be happier. It looks great, the iPod control is AMAZING, and the steering wheel controls work perfectly. It took me about 2hrs and I had a little trouble with the wiring because this is my first install ever, but overall it was easy. Crutchfield is awesome by the way. Everything needed to install was included for free except for about $5 worth of splicing crimps and wire taps. Not to mention free 2-day shipping.

Here are some pics:

First off, my week-old and dirty, but beautiful SR5 4x4

I put a one of those cheap little non-slip pads in the opening so I could put my phone and things in there. Fit perfectly

iPod in glove compartment. NO drilling needed!

I went to the audio shop today to price the rest of my system, and so far I have this planned

speakers
fronts: Focal 6.5 components
rears: Focal 6.5 2-way

sub: Still trying to find somebody to make me something like a stealthbox for cheaper than a stealthbox.

amp: Does anybody know much about Audison? The shop I went to had a $750 105Wx4 Audison Lrx 4.300 floor model for $450. The guy there said it was top of the line but I don't know much about amps.

 

[Bill42]

That is a good looking install. 4Runner sure looks good in black.

 

[nh00gts]

What else above and beyond did you have to buy for the steering wheels to work and for the IPOD to plug in? I called Crutchfield last night about the same radio because I like how good it looks in your truck. The guy I spoke to said I had to buy a $30.00 Alpine IPOD cable (also read that on the Alpine site) and a $70.00 steering wheel control adapter made for Alpine's.

 

[chode19]

All I got was the radio, the PAC SWI-ALP, and the iPod cable, the same stuff the guy from Crutchfield said. They included for free the wiring harness, the dash kit, and very detailed instructions for connecting the wires and taking apart the dash. The only things I had to buy to finish the install were some wire taps, crimps, and a crimping tool.

The iPod adapter is plug and play. No programming or anything else required.

I don't know how good you are with wiring, but I am a complete novice and had very little trouble with the entire install. Make sure to use the right resistor on the steering wheel interface. It includes about 10 resistors and they all look the same. I had to redo it once I saw that they were different.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mixed4u]

I have this HU in my 4Runner. How did you connect the auto-dimming feature for the HU?

 

[nh00gts]

All I got was the radio, the PAC SWI-ALP, and the iPod cable, the same stuff the guy from Crutchfield said. They included for free the wiring harness, the dash kit, and very detailed instructions for connecting the wires and taking apart the dash. The only things I had to buy to finish the install were some wire taps, crimps, and a crimping tool.

The iPod adapter is plug and play. No programming or anything else required.

I don't know how good you are with wiring, but I am a complete novice and had very little trouble with the entire install. Make sure to use the right resistor on the steering wheel interface. It includes about 10 resistors and they all look the same. I had to redo it once I saw that they were different.

Hope this helps.

That definitely helps...Now all I have to do is convince myself to buy it and keep the 4runner and I will be all set.

 

[chode19]

I have this HU in my 4Runner. How did you connect the auto-dimming feature for the HU?

Crutchfield supplied a harness that had all the wires lined up for the factory harness, all I had to do was splice them to the matching wires on the HU. I don't know exactly which wire on the car is the illumination, but it is orange on the HU. I plugged that harness into the factory one and everything worked. Sorry I can't help more, I recommend just buying the harness from Crutchfield. It'll come with directions and I'm sure it's cheap.

 

[kujayhawk]

Chode19,
Nice install. I used to have the old Alpine 9835 HU with an Ipod and it had outstanding sound quality. I now have a Pioneer navigation system which does not sound as good and does not have as many options for tuning the sound. I have a audison amp powering Focal 165K2P in my front doors and a pair of coaxials in the the back door of my 4runner and it sounds great. The amp is made in Italy and is very reliable--I have never had a problem with it.

 

[trpnbillie11]

Looks Great!


If you get a chance can you do a picture of the entire dash? I want to see the HU in comparison with everything else, I'm thinking about that as my next mod!

 

[chode19]

Looks Great!


If you get a chance can you do a picture of the entire dash? I want to see the HU in comparison with everything else, I'm thinking about that as my next mod!

thanks, the lighting sucks but here is a pic of the entire dash:

I got an audison amp and focal speakers for the front and rear and it sounds amazing. If you have an iPod I highly recommend this hu. I can get to any of over 8000 songs with ease.

 

[txtroutbum]

iPod interface

I'm looking at this HU on Crutchfield myself. I installed a double-din JVC head in my 1993 4Runner from Crutchfield, and it was great for about 10 years!

I've been told the Alpine iPod interface is the "fastest" of all the aftermarket stereos...how has it worked for you? What does the display on the HU look like when scrolling through iPod songs? Any idiosyncracies so far?

I assume you installed it originally with the factory speakers? how did it sound? I will likely install new speakers, but won't do an amp...

 

[chode19]

Re: iPod interface

I'm looking at this HU on Crutchfield myself. I installed a double-din JVC head in my 1993 4Runner from Crutchfield, and it was great for about 10 years!

I've been told the Alpine iPod interface is the "fastest" of all the aftermarket stereos...how has it worked for you? What does the display on the HU look like when scrolling through iPod songs? Any idiosyncracies so far?

I assume you installed it originally with the factory speakers? how did it sound? I will likely install new speakers, but won't do an amp...

the iPod interface works perfectly. It is as fast as the iPod itself. This link can show how it works and looks better than I can. Alpine iPod microsite. The site doesn't show it but it can show the track info on two lines if you want. I guess there are 2 things I could complain about, although I never would. First is that you have to go through the entire process every time you want to change artists/albums. There is no way to begin at the last menu used. But you can go through the entire process again with about three button clicks so I would say you were pretty unreasonably picky if this really bothered you. The other thing is that there is no "Now Playing" menu, so you have to individually skip songs to get to the one you want, but there is a quick search button that let's you quickly skip through what's currently playing, but it only goes by song #, not song name. Other than that, it is just like the iPod. Play entire artists, albums, playlists, or single songs if you want. There is no genre menu though.

As for the sound, I had it for a couple days with the factory speakers and it sounded better than the factory hu, but obviously nowhere near what it does with the aftermarket speakers.

IMO, if you're not getting nav, there isn't a better hu out there with all these capabilites. It's relatively inexpensive too.

 

[txtroutbum]

Thanks for your reply.

Does the iPod adapter have a "box" attached to it, or is it simply a cable to the HU?

Also, can you tell me a bit more about your speakers? Crutchfield doesn't have the Focals listed...in fact, they don't show ANY speakers to fit my front door (My 4Runner has the 6 speaker non-JBL configuration).

Where did you get the speakers, and how was installation?

 

[chode19]

Thanks for your reply.

Does the iPod adapter have a "box" attached to it, or is it simply a cable to the HU?

Also, can you tell me a bit more about your speakers? Crutchfield doesn't have the Focals listed...in fact, they don't show ANY speakers to fit my front door (My 4Runner has the 6 speaker non-JBL configuration).

Where did you get the speakers, and how was installation?

no problem. the adapter is just a cable and is plug and play. it couldn't be any easier.

i got focal 165KF 6.5 components in the front and focal access 6.5 2-ways in the rear. i don't think there are any online authorized focal dealers. you can get them at woofersetc.com but they won't come with the factory warranty. i got all my stuff at Tweeter because they wouldn't install pre-purchased equipment due to liability issues if something didn't work, plus i got a free 3-year warranty on everything. they are the only major store i know of that has focals. you need adapters for all the door speakers and the tweeters. i'm sure you can get them pre-made online, i don't know where though. they are probably fairly easy to make yourself if you have the tools. i was lazy and had Tweeter make all the adapters for about $120. they installed my amp and all the speakers, so i couldn't tell you about the difficulty in doing that. i installed the hu myself and it was pretty easy.

if you plan on getting focal speakers, you will probably need an amp because the 165KF require about 80 watts rms, and the alpine hu only supplies 18 watts rms. i have a 105rmsx4 amp under my front seat supplying the front speakers and the other two channels will supply my sub when i get it, and the hu is supplying the rear speakers. you won't need that much power to the rear speakers because they are mostly filler anyways.