MattSlay

Breakaway944 - here’s a new unit released by Sony in Dec 2019 that has a built-in amp and generate 45 W RMS per channel.

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item...-DSX-GS80.html

Has Bluetooth, USB, phone support, but no CD players. Seems to have really good reviews so far.

Breakaway944

I have seen a couple of these "high power" head units around. The world of car audio is the most confusing part of a car. In no other area do manufactures try to deceive, and outright lie to consumers. Unless you are a car audio freak it is hard to keep up with which brands are good and which ones are crap. I am not a car audio freak, I just try to be an informed consumer.. To get this sort of power out of a small package means Sony is using a class D amp. Class D amps are normally used for bass (woofers) because they do not do a good job amplifying mids and highs. Most full range (and all high end) amps use Class AB amps. Where Sony is deceiving customers is with the 45 w RMS claim. Assuming Sony is not lying, the HU puts out 45 w rms. What Sony is not saying is at what ohms it puts out 45 w. Since they do not mention it you can assume it is at 2ohms. Most speakers, including yours, are at 4 ohms. Sony does not say, but at 4 ohms it probably puts out 30ish W RMS. Technology of class D amps must have improved for some manufactures to start using it for full range speakers, how much I do not know. If you are not changing speakers this HU will probably be a good match for your Alpine speakers (35w RMS).
When you put a system together you want to match the components to each other. I am in the middle of putting my "budget" system together. Alpine type R 6.5 comps up front, Pioneer 6x9 in rear and an amp at around 450w RMS at 4ohms. I experimented a lot on my e36 with different sized speakers/subs and I settled on this combo. Good speakers up front (I wished I would have taken the speakers out of my e36 when I sold it, they were fantastic, but they were also $700!) and 6x9 in the rear for filler and bass. I just put the Alpines and HU in. I hooked the Alpines (110 W RMS/each) to the head unit and turned it up. It sounded horrible. I used to have the speakers in a different car with a 440W amp. Turning up the sound with an amp is like getting a calf massage. With the HU amp I do not even notice the speaker. Since I run an aftermarket amp I do not have to worry about a crappy amp in the HU putting out a lot of noise, so I use a cheap HU.
I have a cabriolet so my choices are dictated by the space available to me (as are everyone's!) and they are also dictated by how nice I want the system to sound. You can never get bass out of a 5.25 speaker, you need to go bigger (at least I need to). I am not looking for a high end system, just something that will blow away pretty much any factory system.
Bottom line, to have a good sounding system takes a lot of research. Match your speakers power requirement with the amp output. Even though my alpines are bigger and cost more then yours, yours will sound better driven off a HU because mine require sooo much more power. Match your components!

MattSlay

Breakaway944 - Thanks for this informative reply. I know nothing about this stuff, and I'm just looking for a reasonable improvement over my current older Alpine CDA 9833 which I think has 14 W RMA. My budget is really low too ($400 max), not because I can't afford it, but just because I can'y justify it. I have other things on the car that I want to address, that are more important to me. I may just spend $200 on this, and get it from Best Buy, where I can get a no-hassle 30-day return, and worst is I wast a few hours of my time working on it and then revert back to old HU.