I'm trying to get an HU for my 07 civic. Alpine 9886 costs around $240 in ebay. Is it a great HU in terms of sound quality? Would I be able to buy something much better from another brand at that price (like Kenwood KDC-MP735U)?

USB input is important, so whatever I get, but have a front or rear USB input availability.

There is also the Eclipse CD3200 (http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?showAll=Y&g=300&i=099CD3200&tp=5684)($280)and Clarion DXZ585USB (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-BmHr28uGdJ2/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?c=3&g=300&I=020D585USB&s=0&cc=01) ($220). So I don't know what to choose.

the Alpine is like near the top of pile of their available CD headunits, it is NOT a DVD player.

the Alpine is like near the top of pile of their available CD headunits, it is NOT a DVD player.

9887 doesn't have a usb input. It is very important for me, that's why I'm better off with 9886. I would go with the Alpine, except that I read great reviews about the Kenwood. It has many more functions than the Alpine (like the EQs), inluding a color screen, a nice display, etc. Alpine looks like from the last century. If the sound quality is almost the same, then I might as well go with kenwood because the acoustics in the car aren't good enough to discern between two very good sounding stereos. What do you think? Isn't the kenwood a better choice?

If you are just gonna use the factory speakers or maybe upgrade to coaxials, then yea .... features on a headunit are king, they are really the only important thing.

Yeah you probably could fine something cheaper, but go with the Alpine.

What about Pioneer 800BT?

I just called three different installers. All of them said that the Pioneer 8000BT is just as good as Alpine. The only thing people complain about it are the radio presets - you have to access them through the menu instead of direct buttons. Well, I don't care about that at all.

One of the dealers even said that Eclipse is better than the rest, but you can't even notice any differences in SQ unless you have a very expensive component/amp system.

Another dealer said that he likes how Clarions sound above the rest (not that it's a better SQ, but he liked how it sounded). I guess in the end, it DOESN'T MATTER! It comes down to functionality, style, and maybe cell phone support.

I read many threads where people compare sound by swapping different systems. Have you ever heard of double-blind experiments? What about the 5-second rule. Add to that personal taste, and all those opinions are pretty much useless. At this point, I'm probably going to go with the pioneer.