sawitt

I just bought an Alpine CDA-9857 to replace the Becker CDR-210 in my '97 C2 Cab. I thought, based on other threads here and the info at Crutchfield, that I could just plug the Alpine in to the existing connectors, but this isn't the case. The CDR-210 had 3 connectors and the Alpine has 1 connector that are not the same type. The 3 cables in the car aren't adapter cables, either, they sure seem to be part of the wiring harness of the car. So I guess I'll have to splice the cable that came with the Alpine into the car's wiring harness. This isn't that big a deal, other than the effort, I have the pinouts of the Becker CDR-210 and the Alpine (diagrams on the radios) so I can match them up, I just thought it would be easier.

Am I missing something here?

TheOtherEric

Nah, you're correct. I think the recent Alpine threads say the same thing. You can get an adapter harness from Crutchfield so you don't have to snip the wires off your car's harness, but it's not a huge help otherwise. I think as far as wiring for your speakers, you're on your own. I'm not sure if crutchfield has an adapter for the speaker harness.

Also- if you want to wire up a dimmer signal, tap into the light in your ash tray. Worked for me!

Analog Theory

I recently installed the same Alpine head unit (am very happy with it). Here's a link to the thread and some pics. The wiring was pretty straightforward and there really isn't an easier way...look forward to your finished pics.

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/325555-major-audio-upgrade-long-w-lots-of-pics.html

sawitt

OK, thanks for the info/advice. I got it wired in this evening, gave it a smoke test and alles ist gute. Sounds great. I need to read the manual and figure out how to use this thing.

FotoVeloce

They work pretty good. I put one in last September and I've not had any problems with it.

I will say that I'm far from totally happy with it. I wish the playlist navigation were a bit more iPodish in that if I'm in playlists I don't have to go through 2-3 buttons to get back into the playlist to search for another song in the same list. Maybe I'm missing something in my manual but that alone is really annoying to me.

The onther MAJOR issue I have with is it that I simply cannot see the display in most daylight situations. Angle of the dash and reflects too much ambient light off the face to make it impossible to read.

Sound quality is good. I've *read* that the Pioneer units are also real-time and have better decoding data from the pod, clearer signal.. not sure I buy that explaination... but they all look like dog feces..... I mean.. really just some sort of Transformers version of a head unit. The Pioneer is supposed to have the ablity to upload any background you want. I wish the Alpine would let me do that. I want it to say PORSCHE every time I turn it on... oh and those lame background animations... SHEESH. Talk about worthless.. not only are the quite lame but they make the text (when I can see it in daylight) even harder to read!

Yes, I'm a whiny little b**** but I've been living with the 9857 (and it's cheaper sister unit 9856 in the other PCar) for some time now.

All that whining aside, it utterly BLOWS away all those crappy FM transmitter interface solutions. I'm just feel that it could be better. I hope Alpine releases a refined model this year. CES is comeing up next month.. right? Or did we miss it?

centerpunch

CES was in early January.

sawitt

Well, I totally agree with you about the display. Today's the first day I've driven with it and I can't see the display at all. I'm not sure its totally Alpine's fault as some of it is where it is placed in the dash. I do like the sound. Hooked up my kid's iPod (I don't actually have an iPod yet) and it played great but I didn't get a lot of iPod navigation experience.

FotoVeloce

Yeah, I thought it had come and gone. New units hit the stores next month (usually). I've not heard of any improvements, maybe I missed it.

I agree that the angle of the dash has most to do with daylight visibility. Not sure what if anything can be done but perhaps a unit with a less polished face?

It's not perfect but it's the best I've tried so far.