Just Installed CDA-9857

Asmoa

Member
I just installed this new Alpine deck I got for Christmas (CDA-9857) and i have to say im not 100% happy with it. Dont get me wrong the speakers and music sound a hundred times better then the stock deck, sound quality is great but im very unhappy with the controls for the sub and the bass output.

With my old stock Kenwood deck I could adjust my sub so it was pounding pretty good (I like it loud lol) but with this deck none of the sub controls seem to work that well... the sub volume control barely effects the sub I have it on 15 I believe which is all the way to the top and it barely changes from the 0 setting. I've played around with the bass settings, freq, Q etc... I dont know to much about these but it doesnt really make a big difference with the sub... just the speakers.

The rest of the speakers sound great... So im not sure if theres another problem. I checked all the hookups and everything seems fine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 
I Assume that perhaps your pre-out voltage is lower with the alpinethan your Kenwood? The cure would be to adjust the gain on your sub amp.
 
I just installed a CDA-9856 in my car and a CDA-9852 in my friends car today. I don't have my sub in yet but with my friends it really cleaned up the sound of the whole system over hte cheap JVC that was in there. They are only 2v pre-outs but if you have any kind of decent amp the sub should still pound. You will have to check out your gain and crossover settings on your amp. My friends was way out to lunch.

Matt
 
it is obvious that if you change your headunit,you have to readjust the amp gain,frequency,to get the best signal from the two accessories(radio-amp)

maybe the kenwoods pre-outs where higher than the new alpine,instead of 2 volts,you probably had like 2.5-4.0volts...

set the headunit to 0 in the subwoofer adjustment,and then turn the gain of the amplifier to your liking,then you can adjust it with the sub power on the headunit...as soon as you get distortion,lower the gain of the amplifier by a quarter of a turn counter clock wise...it should be perfect that way...

dont forget to adjust the frequency response of the amp,wich is as important as the power adjustment to get the proper sound...

dont forget that in the alpine headunit,you have not only the power of the bass(volume of sub)but also the frequency of the bass level you need...like 80db-120db-160db...

the lower,the tighter bass,like for rock music
the higher,the deeper slower bass,like for rap or r&n music...

its also taking care about the type of sub/enclosure you run,wich will effect the type of bass/sound you get...

hope this help...(RTM)
 
Definitely can't go wrong with Alpine headunits! Alpine will give you a clear signal for your music so don't focus too much on the bass and sub settings - you will usually have to pair it with an Alpine amp (one with IA -Net) that will allow you to control the amp settings. You'll most likely control the amp settings to get your subs to make the most of them.

Not to say that you can't use any other amps, but the signal to them is the most important.
 
Alpine CDA-9856

Alpine PDX 2.150 for the fronts, deck power for the rears
Alpine SPS-171A 6.5" components

Alpine PDX 1.1000 for my sub

If you stick with a certain brand it really compliments each other. Not to say that it is the best or most practical way of doing things... my sub is going to be some off brand like AVS or Adire.

Matt
 
Fade all the way to the front and then the back. If the sub ever cuts out at all, you are using the wrong RCA's.
 
1sty said:
Fade all the way to the front and then the back. If the sub ever cuts out at all, you are using the wrong RCA's.
i was gonna say the same thing. if u adjust the sub volume on the deck and it doesnt change much, u probably have it plugged into the wrong pre-out. the newer alpine decks only have 2volt pre-out instead of 4 volt too so that might have something to do with it aswell. around 80hz is usually a good setting for the LPF on your sub. turn ur deck up to the loudest u'd ever have it and adjust the gain on ur amp accordingly
 
i have installed for about 3 years now, and i never really like alpine due to the fact that they were NOT user friendly. but i have to say this year, their decks have gotten ALOT better about that. unfortunately they dropped in the voltage output to 2 instead of around 4.5 like they used to be. i bought the 9857 too, but the full out ipod connection is what sold me really. out of 10, i'd have to give it a 7. it's a pretty good deck. i have it hooked up to an old school 5 channel alpine amp. powering my stock speakers that are just dying! hahahah! i'll soon have an excuse to buy some components soon! as for my sub...the 5ch has no RCA sub out which sucks, cause i cant control it at all from my deck. but it's all good, i just tweaked it at the amp and it sounds fine with any type of music i throw at it.
 
I have the CDA-9857 also and I don't really like it. Have had it for about 6 months and lately my sub has been cutting of or not hitting as hard as I know it should. If I either shut the head unit off or pop the face then turn it back on the sub starts working right again. There is not specific thing that makes this happen and it's really pissing me off. I'm thinking about getting a new head unit and it won't be a freaking Alpine!!!
 
2Xsess,
It might be the wiring to the amplifier. Make sure the amp stays on with the RCAs disconnected from it.
If really sounds like an RCA's connection or solder is loose, i would try another set. Did they tugged on to hard during the installation of the new headunit?

other then that, if you bought from an authorized dealer then just get it serviced. There is a 1 year warrenty.
 
02kllrb said:
i have installed for about 3 years now, and i never really like alpine due to the fact that they were NOT user friendly. but i have to say this year, their decks have gotten ALOT better about that. unfortunately they dropped in the voltage output to 2 instead of around 4.5 like they used to be. i bought the 9857 too, but the full out ipod connection is what sold me really. out of 10, i'd have to give it a 7. it's a pretty good deck. i have it hooked up to an old school 5 channel alpine amp. powering my stock speakers that are just dying! hahahah! i'll soon have an excuse to buy some components soon! as for my sub...the 5ch has no RCA sub out which sucks, cause i cant control it at all from my deck. but it's all good, i just tweaked it at the amp and it sounds fine with any type of music i throw at it.

Odd I always though they were the easiest decks to use.
 
1sty said:
2Xsess,
It might be the wiring to the amplifier. Make sure the amp stays on with the RCAs disconnected from it.
If really sounds like an RCA's connection or solder is loose, i would try another set. Did they tugged on to hard during the installation of the new headunit?

other then that, if you bought from an authorized dealer then just get it serviced. There is a 1 year warrenty.

I'll try that. I haven't really had time to dig into it but it is definetly on my weekend to do list. I know the wiring to the amp is done right since I just bought this amp a couple of months ago. Another rather annoying thing is that I apparently threw out a perfectly good amp that was a couple of years old since I assumed it couldn't be the head unit since it was brand new. I didn't really tug on the RCA cables during install. My friend that used to do custom installs said that the connection of the RCAs in the headunit aren't that strong and maybe mine are loose. I'm going to go back to Circuit City and see if I can get a new headunit and see if that fixes it. If not then I'll get some new RCA cables. Hopefully that will be the end of my troubles.

Edit: Found part of my problem, the connector on the remote wire at the amp wasn't making a good connection so it was causing the amp to phase on and off. Now it seems that I still need new Monster cable RCA's because if I wiggle my current ones a little the sub fades.

Sorry for the thread jack..I'm done.
 
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there is an option for different subwoofer systems. 1 and 2. 1 adjusts the sub volume with the radio volume, 2 lets you adjust it independently of the radio volume, that the setting you want, that what i have mine set on
 
2xsess said:
I'll try that. I haven't really had time to dig into it but it is definetly on my weekend to do list. I know the wiring to the amp is done right since I just bought this amp a couple of months ago. Another rather annoying thing is that I apparently threw out a perfectly good amp that was a couple of years old since I assumed it couldn't be the head unit since it was brand new. I didn't really tug on the RCA cables during install. My friend that used to do custom installs said that the connection of the RCAs in the headunit aren't that strong and maybe mine are loose. I'm going to go back to Circuit City and see if I can get a new headunit and see if that fixes it. If not then I'll get some new RCA cables. Hopefully that will be the end of my troubles.

Edit: Found part of my problem, the connector on the remote wire at the amp wasn't making a good connection so it was causing the amp to phase on and off. Now it seems that I still need new Monster cable RCA's because if I wiggle my current ones a little the sub fades.

Sorry for the thread jack..I'm done.

Moster cables have a lifetime warrenty so if they are damaged internally, just swap them out where you got them
 
1sty said:
Moster cables have a lifetime warrenty so if they are damaged internally, just swap them out where you got them

I don't have monster cables in there yet, I got some standard type RCAs and now if I wiggle the plugs at the amp my sub will come back to life so I'm thinking that the cheap RCA cables aren't making good contact. So that maybe part of your problem also Asmoa..
 
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1sty said:
Is the amp actualy powering off or just not producing sound?

I have a Kenwood Amp (can't remember model #) but when I jiggled the remote wire the power light on the amp would dim and the sub would cut out. I fixed that and installed some monster cable RCAs today. All I can say is DAMN what a difference. I had to turn the sub level on my headunit down to 3 out of 15!! Well worth the $40 for the cables.
 

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