Alpine CDE-147BT

not too shabby

It's okay. The tune it feature is more of a hassle than it's worth. If you are a novice don't even try to tune it you will do more harm than good. Bluetooth works well. It sounds good and it's very tunable. I put mine in my demo truck. 2001 f150 supercrew. Focal 165v30's audiopipe amps.

very nice sound

This unit has all the features a person could want, with sound that is like adding all new speakers to the car. The Bluetooth is very user friendly and all the controls are easy to access. I give it a 9.9.

alpine deck

This unit has 4v preamp outputs the sound is great for the price l have it in a toy hauler with six kicker and outside alpine speakers 1500 watt amp and 8" sub .

Wish I wouldn't have bought it

I purchased this unit hoping to make a few improvements to my sound over the factory head unit. I had been running a RF t400-4 amp to JBL components and a RF Punch 12 through a line out converter and Cadence equalizer.
The Alpine unit did 2 things I like. It eliminated the very minor, but noticeable between songs hiss. Also, the time alignment feature helped the front stage by centering the vocals.

Those are the only 2 improvements. Everything else was a downgrade from the factory stereo, and I didn't even have a "premium" factory system. The treble from the Alpine is WAY too much. The bass is no better than the factory unit. The clarity is about the same.

The 9 band parametric EQ is a huge disappointment. It allows you to adjust both the frequency and the width along with the level of each band. However, the Q (width) adjustment only goes from 5 to 3. 3 is not very wide at all, meaning you are only adjusting a very narrow segment of frequencies with each band, making each band less effective. I have less control over the sound with the Alpine 9 band parametric than I had with my 7 band graphic eq. Adjusting the eq takes a lot of buttons being pressed. Also, with the weak control over the sound, having 6 user presets doesn't help much.

Overall, I wouldn't buy it again. If you have an old car or a terrible factory head unit, it might be ok, though I'm sure there are WAY better options out there. If your factory head unit sounds pretty good and you are on the fence thinking this unit will be a huge improvement, don't kid yourself. Save your cash and your time.

Great deck

This deck surpassed my expectations, great sound control, adjustable in every way imaginable, along with great bluetooth functionality. The controls were somehow easy to figure out, which is surprising with all fo the functionality it has. Combine that with 6 preamp outs, and any audiophile would be excited to have this deck.

Great product

I really like this radio, especially its Bluetooth function.

With all the music podcasts I download, I listen mostly to these via the Blue tooth via my cell phone. Every time I get back in the car it resumes right back where it left off when I got out. Really great!
As a result of the bluetooth connection between the car and cell phone, in addition it is awesome to have the hands free calling functionality now, on a 26 year old car!
I did connect a 32 GB memory stick to the player and that way I have another world of music available.
Due to the Bluetooth and the memory stick/USB I don't use the CD function at all.
I did purchase this unit also because of the option to change the color of the radio lighting to match the car's dashboard. Great!

Alpine's perfect

This product is perfect ! Easy to learn how it work and the sound coming out of that strereo is the best I've heard so far.

Alpine Rocks

I bought this head unit from Sonic Electronix and was a great deal. The unit works well with my iPod, iPhone, and with Bluetooth to an Android Galaxy SIII phone. The only thing I don't like is you can't have the display show the song title and time, you have to scroll to see one or the other. I realize this is a minute detail, but when you're always running from one appointment to the next it becomes important.

The unit has a rear-only USB cable which makes the dash less cluttered. The 9 band parametric EQ is fantastic and the easy to adjust sub level make those tacky sub woofer controllers obsolete. Sound quality is of course excellent, as you would expect from Alpine.

My only other complaint is that occasionally I will push a wrong button and the unit will go into "App mode" where the iPod controls the next song and not the head unit. The owners manual mentions nothing about this mode or how to escape it. After messing with every single button in random sequence, I finally got it back to Head Unit mode.

I do, however, recommend this unit.

Awesome headunit with plenty of settings and features.

I installed this unit in my '02 F-250 (crew cab) with Alpine SPS-610C and SPS-517 speakers.
Overall I am impressed with the features and many settings available on this headunit. I primary use the Tuner and CD player with an occasional use of bluetooth with an iPhone or other BT mp3 player. I bought this unit mainly for the bluetooth and USB functions along with the 4v preamp output connections for future use with an amp and sub. I am impressed with the volume this unit provides to the Alpine speakers that I connected to it and don't need a separate amp for my mids and highs.
The EQ took a little time to get set as did maneuvering through the various menus/settings. After getting everything set, the basic menus are fairly simple.
Paired with the Alpine SPS-610C and SPS-517 speakers, I don't get as much low end as I expected. Maybe the highs are just that dominant? Whatever the case, I definitely hear the need to add a sub to cover the lower frequencies.

This thing is awesome

Can someone explain to me why I've never used an Alpine HU before? I am extremely impressed with this unit, (only a few days of ownership so far). The sound is fantastic right out of the box, running though Alpine MRP-F300 4x50w and MRP-M500 amps, Cerwin Vega comp set in front and MTX coaxials for rear, JL12W0 in trunk. Those speakers are by no means high end, but this little system sounds great (in a 2002 Maxima). The range of adjustment for $180 HU is astonishing - that is a LOT of technology for the price. The preouts are strong at 4v, the sound is good, the number of canned eqs is good, and the tweakability is basically unlimited - adjustments for x-overs, 9-band parametric eq, time correction media expansion, etc, etc. More than I know how to use. I like the look too, and the buttons have a pretty good feel. Blutooth seems to work well too. HD Radio? Don't need it. This is so much better than the $140 JVC I previously had - no comparison. Nice job Alpine!