Product Review - Alpine CDA-9820XM
By: Paul Sonoda
MSRP
350 USD
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, satellite radio is the hottest thing to radio since FM. In the past getting satellite radio meant installing an additional box or even adding a secondary controller to your source unit. Well those days are over. The Alpine CDA-9820XM the world’s first integrated XM Radio/CD Tuner.
First Look
The Alpine CDA-9820XM is a single ISO-DIN chassis removable face place head unit. The display consists of a black face with green illuminated buttons reminiscent of the “Alpine Touch”. The CDA-9820XM uses a regulated 1-Bit DAC to play CD, CD-R and CD-RWs that contain standard CD format. Its speaker outputs are rated to deliver a CEA-2006 standard of 18 watts per channel with a maximum claimed power of 50 watts x 4. There CDA-9820XM has two pairs of RCA outputs. The first RCA deliver low-level signal from the front speakers. Depending on settings, the second set of RCA outputs can be used as rear outputs or subwoofer outputs. All RCA outputs are rated to deliver 2 Volts.
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topA Closer Look
The Alpine CDA-9820XM has a lot of additional features that make this unit special. When configured as subwoofer outputs, the rear RCAs offer subwoofer level control and phase control. Via the AI-NET connector, the Alpine CDA-9820XM is also capable of connecting to a CD changer, equalizer or TV/video input. Alpine even offers an MP3 changer and MM Driver to connect a hard disc drive (from Alpine). For you iPod™ users, the CDA-9820XM allows you to connect your hand held device to the head unit letting the CDA-9820XM control it and pass the output through your stereo system. Of course what really makes the cool is the little connector on the back of the unit. That’s right XM Satellite radio. Simply plug in a proper XM Radio antenna (not included) and over 100 channels of commercial free radio is just a subscription away.
Ease of use
The Alpine CDA-9820XM is quite easy to use. Without much effort, I was able to access and use most of the controls. A slight read of the owner’s manual is all that is needed to access all the functions. All the buttons are located on an easy-to-read face. The Disc Title Memory allows you to assign 8 letters to 24 CDs so that you know what is playing. There are 12 FM and 6 AM presets that can also be names for you to locate your favorite radio station by name. You can also store 18 XM satellite radio stations and search for content via the rotary knob. The CDA-9820XM display can be set-up to text scroll your favorite XM station. To directly access a specific channel, the optional remote (RUE-4190) is required. Finally, since all different sources, will, sound different, the CDA-9820XM has separate bass and treble settings for radio, XM and CD.
Installation
The installation of the Alpine CDA-9820XM went smoothly. In fact, it is what makes this head unit so appealing. With the integrated XM radio decoder, the only thing needed to do is to install a XM capable satellite antenna. The CDA-9820XM is capable of standard ISO-DIN mounting as well as mounting using many of the Japanese vehicle mounting brackets. While the actual mounting of the CDA-9820XM is straightforward, the XM antenna is difficult enough to warrant having your local Authorized Alpine Dealer perform the installation.
Manuals/Web Support
The website http:/www.alpine-usa.com, was easy to navigate and quite informative. I was able to easily find and access all the basic information on the CDA-9820XM. Jumping over to the support side of the website, the manual for the CDA-9820XM was available for download in PDF format. The manual is well written and understandable with sections on using the different features of the CDA-9820XM.
Sound Q & Performance
The Alpine CDA-9820XM performed well. With all the controls set flat, the CDA-9820XM produced slightly over 18 watts x 4 into four ohms with less than 1% THD + Noise (Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise). One the RCA outputs, I was able to easily exceed the rated power with 2.392 Vrms for each output. Using a CD with 1 kHz recorded at all bits high (read maximum signal) the RCAs were unclipped at 30 to 31 on the CDA-9820XM. However, the speaker level output clipped much lower at 20-21 on the volume control. I found this a bit confusing but was able to set the fader towards the front to 8 and then both the RCA and rear speaker level outputs reached maximum power at the same time. This worked well when I set the rear RCA to function as the subwoofer RCA outputs.
Summary
If you are thinking about satellite radio, the Alpine CDA-9820XM is the perfect choice. With over 18 watts per channel and nearly 2.4 Vrms of clean unclipped power, the CDA-9820XM is a head unit that offers satellite radio at very good performance at a great price.
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