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Alpine ILX-W650

Discussion in 'Audio & Video' started by fordguy1470, Jun 29, 2019.

  1. Jun 29, 2019 at 10:52 PM
    #1
    fordguy1470

    fordguy1470 [OP] Member-ish

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    Anyone out there have any experience with this HU? Since the entunte unit won’t play nice with the Xr, I definitely want to upgrade to something with car play. I’m on the fence between this and the Pioneer MVH-1400NEX... Opinions on both would be appreciated!
     
  2. Jun 29, 2019 at 11:15 PM
    #2
    Pudge

    Pudge Super Secret Elite Member #7

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    I hear good things. The price is right and the add on power packs are intriguing
     
  3. Jun 30, 2019 at 10:27 PM
    #3
    weadjust

    weadjust New Member

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    I added an Alpine power pack to an older single din Alpine head unit. It made a big difference in sound and all i had to do was plug it in between the Alpine head unit and wiring harness. Well worth the $100.
     
    Pudge[QUOTED] likes this.
  4. Jul 1, 2019 at 8:19 AM
    #4
    801Tundra

    801Tundra New Member

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    Both units are very comparable. It's a close race, but having installed both I would go with the Alpine. Mainly because of the capacitive touch screen, and the ability to add the power pack down the road.
     
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  5. Jul 1, 2019 at 11:49 AM
    #5
    fordguy1470

    fordguy1470 [OP] Member-ish

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    That’s what I was thinking. Do the Alpine. Head unit first, then down the road do the power pack, speakers and under seat sub(s).
     
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  6. Jul 1, 2019 at 12:21 PM
    #6
    Toyotoholic

    Toyotoholic -4Life-

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    Everything you hear ultimately depends on how good the source unit is... Like the other have said ^^^^ Go with Alpine.
     
  7. Jul 4, 2019 at 5:49 AM
    #7
    rawn027

    rawn027 New Member

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    I have been doing quite a bit of research on this myself. There are a few key items to look for when shopping for headunit. First, do you want wireless carplay? If so you have two options: Kenwood DMX-906S or Alpine ILX-107. That said, I don't recommend wireless CarPlay as it is compressed audio. Defeats the purpose.

    I will be writing up my build thread, but I have narrowed my HU choice down to a few options:

    - Kenwood DMX906S - $650 (+$250 for Wiring Harness / Maestro for SWC) - https://www.kenwood.com/usa/car/excelon/dmx906s/
    - Alpine ILX-W650 - $300 (+$250 for Wiring Harness / Maestro for SWC) - https://www.alpine-usa.com/product/apple-carplay-android-auto-ilx-w650
    - Alpine ILX-F309-TND - $1500 (Includes all wiring + maestro for SWC) - https://www.alpine-usa.com/product/alpine-halo9-toyota-tundra-ilx-f309tnd

    Kenwood has a dynamic range of 89 dB and SnR of 98.5 dB
    Alpine has a superior dynamic range of 95 dB and Superior SnR of 100 dB

    Kenwood has a 3x 5V pre-outs, Alpine has 3x 4V pre-outs (on same level).
    Kenwood uses Bluetooth 5.0, Alpine uses Bluetooth 3.0 on F309, 4.2 on W650 (Kenwood Wins).

    The Alpine is touted as best SQ of all HU, and they have a pretty good parametric EQ in the HU. You can add a processor after the fact.

    Don't waste your time with the power pack, its marketing BS IMHO.

    Other nice upgrade you can do to the Alpine is the KAC-001 External Accessory Control Module, controls lights etc, pretty slick.
     
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  8. Jul 4, 2019 at 1:20 PM
    #8
    fordguy1470

    fordguy1470 [OP] Member-ish

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    Alright bro, you’re speaking gibberish to me here. I can rebuild your engine and understand under hood and mechanical aspects, the fancy stereo stuff is completely foreign to me.
     
  9. Jul 4, 2019 at 1:28 PM
    #9
    rawn027

    rawn027 New Member

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    Sorry...

    Dynamic range of human ears (soft to loud range) is 140 dB. The closer to that number the better.

    Signal to noise ratio is the level of the signal (meaningful information/music) to background noise (useless information). The bigger the number the better.

    Ron
     
  10. Jul 4, 2019 at 1:31 PM
    #10
    fordguy1470

    fordguy1470 [OP] Member-ish

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    Alright, cool. Thanks. I read your post and was like whaaaa? Now I’m picking up what you’re putting down. :thumbsup:
     
  11. Jul 4, 2019 at 1:32 PM
    #11
    rawn027

    rawn027 New Member

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    iDatalink Maestro will retain all your steering wheel controls as well as support your secondary display. Use their website to verify compatibility.

    I’m leaning towards the ILX-F309-TND because it is literally unplug and plug in. There is no thinking to it.

    Ron
     
  12. Jul 4, 2019 at 7:22 PM
    #12
    Tracy Perry

    Tracy Perry New Member

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    Actually there is at least another one. The Pioneer AVIC-8500NEX supports wireless carplay.
     
  13. Jul 4, 2019 at 7:59 PM
    #13
    Rubberdown

    Rubberdown Spilling my guts here.

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    I hadn’t heard any positive reviews of wireless CarPlay. Even OE is still using a wired connection as far as I know.
     
  14. Jul 4, 2019 at 8:29 PM
    #14
    fordguy1470

    fordguy1470 [OP] Member-ish

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    I think wireless CarPlay is out of my budget at the moment, and if it doesn’t work well, I may not even consider it. Really all I want is the ability to integrate a navigation app and a hands free texting app into my driving experience regardless of what source my HU is on. Scout GPS is terrible. My entune doesn’t do text notifications, or give me the option to reply with my current phone/iOS version (iPhone Xr/IOS 12.3.1) despite multiple attempts to make them integrate, and google maps/waze doesn’t interrupt with prompts unless I’m streaming off my phone. These are all things CarPlay does, regardless of whether its a wired or wireless connection. I don’t need wireless CarPlay, since my phone is normally plugged in while I’m driving anyway. A wired CarPlay connection doesn’t bother me one bit.
     
  15. Jul 4, 2019 at 9:11 PM
    #15
    weadjust

    weadjust New Member

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    How did you come up with this opinion?

    I added an Alpine power pack to my existing Alpine head unit an there was a very noticeable improvement.
     
  16. Jul 5, 2019 at 2:02 AM
    #16
    rawn027

    rawn027 New Member

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    I suppose I wasn't fair to the power pack, it was just my opinion.
    I personally think its a waste of 170 bucks.

    The specs are not great, 0.03% THD, 82 dB SnR. It is just a big compromise in my opinion.
    You could get a kick ass 4 channel ARC Audio amp for example, for $419 list.

    You could even get an AudioControl D-4.800 for 699 (which includes a signal processor).

    That being said, you cant beat the simplicity of install on the powerpack.

    Ron
     
  17. Jul 5, 2019 at 2:03 AM
    #17
    rawn027

    rawn027 New Member

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    Yeah, this was my short list. I have been ignoring Pioneer because I had a bad experience in the past.
     

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