Hey guys, my '03 Bose unit crapped out on me for the second time. Looking to switch to aftermarket now, nothing crazy but don't feel like putting in another stock Bose that'll just fail on me in 2 years again!

Been looking at the Alpine DA-X100. The new ipod player that includes album art...its a single din. I read things about the double-din kit all over the place, but what about a single din kit for this unit?

What are my options? don't want to spend a fortune but don't want a piece of crap either....

thanks!

 

many times for single din you just put in a pocket below your single. single dins are very nice and can have great quality as well, i had one in my last car. the only reason i wouldnt do single din in my g is because i feel like a single din is a bit tacky in a car like this

 

Get a D3 they are pretty cheap. Just save for the DD you wont regret it

 

thanks guys, DD it is then!

 

Well that didnt take much convincing at all.

I dont know about you but i personal like your first idea better of getting the Alpine DA-X100. I researched this head unit for quite some time before i settled on a Kenwood KDC-X792. I did this for the USB connector for thumb drives and also because of the decent 4 volt pre outs. So far the unit has proved to be a great piece in terms of sound quality for my mids and highs through an MTX 4 channel and we will see where it goes with a sub amp and some low end installed very soon.

The Alpine is similar in features to the Kenwood and thats why i was leaning that way as well. If your on a budget and are sound quality minded then a single din will work great. The entry level double dins find themselves with not much expansion and weak output (yes im speaking from experience). I mean who ever heard of spending $500 on a double din head unit that has only 1 pre-out? that was surprising for me to even see that in a few units. Sure if you have the money laying around to drop close to $1000 on a JDM finish piece and quality double din head unit then have fun, it will be as they say you get what you pay for with NAV, DVD, etc...but again its all in $$$.

I would like to think me personally makes a decent living and can buy a few toys here and there but with the economy the way it is right now its so hard to drop that kind of cash just to replace the tunes in your car when i did a single din setup for $290 total deck and finish piece. So to answer your initial question of how was the DA-x100, its a great head unit that i have installed in 3 different cars and the owners love them mainly because of the thumb drive option. Leaving CD's behind is beautiful in my mind and theirs as well. Because its a single din you will be forced to use a Metra kit unless you plan to buy a JDM one and fab your own plate to block off the bottom like another installer on this site did once. People will grip all day long about how ugly the buttons on the Metra kit are, and i wont lie they arent OEM thats for sure but they function and arent that bad or an eye sore for the cost saving involved. Plenty of people use the Metra kit and find it a median alternative to the JDM piece especially when going single din.

I guess im just not one to follow the herd and do as all the others do.

 

hey thanks for the great response. since then i've been to best buy and the installer sort of sold me on the pioneer version-no cover art but not a huge deal. looks much sleeker and said sound quality was better. the also now looking at the DD version that pioneer is selling for only a few bucks more...