Which head unit?

I haven't bought a head unit in over 10 years and my last was a Sony MDX series. I am not going with Sony this time and have narrowed it down between Alpine and Kenwood.  Here are the models I am looking at. Alpine CDA-9886, Alpine CDA-9887, Kenwood Excelon KDC-X994, Kenwood KDC-BT945U. The price is within $60 of each other so that isn't a big dal. Just need some advice since I am behind the times on head units.

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of those kenwoods, I'd go with x994 because it has 4v preamps...critical if you want to hook up a multichannel and/or mono amp for a sub. Having a headunit with at least 4v preamps makes a cleaner sound and you don't have to crank up the gains on your amps so much

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So excluding the models which is a better unit Kenwood or Alpine?

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Sorry that sounds wrong. What I ment was regardless of the model which is a better unit Kenwood or Alpine.

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I would go for the kenwoods because their design has changed a lot during the years. Alpines seem to look and operate the same for the last 20 years.

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 Kenwood

I just replaced my Alpine CDA 9884 with the new Kenwood Excelon KDC-X794 and the difference in sound quality  isn't even close.  I really like the new design of the new Kenwood decks.  Much better remote.  The 794 has some nice features-DSP,Time alignment and it really makes this deck a winner especially at $220

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I wouldn't change my CDA9897 for anything.  People put way too much importance on higher voltage preouts...really the only thing higher voltage preouts give you is a lower noise floor.  True you don't have to turn up the gains as much which will help the system with lesser chances of inducing engine noise...but if you install your system properly and use quality gear, you really shouldn't have engine noise anyway.

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