So I have been searching for a few days now and have got my choices down to alpine and kenwood. I am looking at the higher end single din units i.e. kenwood excelon kdc-x998 and the alpine cde-hd148bt or the 149bt. Not quite sure which to pick so I am curious to hear what ya'lls opinions are. Also any opinions on alpines "tune-it" app are welcome.

BTW it must have: sirius xm compatability, hands free bluetooth calling and audio, hd hadio built in, .https://dodgeforum.com/forum/images/.../icon_woot.gif

 

I use Pioneer. The sound quality is incomparable. Just my opinion.

 

Like tires and paint color, everyone will have their opinion. IMO, Alpine and Pioneer are pretty much equal mid-range quality head units. I remember back in the day when they were both like the top of the line and having an Alpine actually meant something. I would go on Crutchfield and read reviews from people who actually bought the ones you are looking at.

 

Both are good brands, I have kenwoods in all my rides. I look for ease of use. Many dont have station pre sets in the right place or easy to work while driving. The last kenwood i bought was next to the top of the line. The top of the line one didn't have buttons for the pre sets. Really don't know what the designers where thinking!

 

I've got a Panasonic CD single din, circa 2005. Still rocks with the remainder of the system I put in. I'm going to incorporate a double din though.

Curious...about radio presets that you brought up. Do the radios now keep memory when you disconnect the battery? lol Annoying.

 

I just got the double din Kenwood DPX791BH for my car, I like that it has big preset buttons and easy to use. Used a lot of Kenwoods over the years and agree that losing the preset buttons was very annoying, I eventually got used to pressing the preset list button but it is a hassle. If you want preset buttons go for the KDC-X799, still does everything you're looking for but has the presets. However If you don't need the preset buttons the KDC-X998 would be the my choice.
I looked at the Pioneer and Alpine but Kenwood has better styling.
I plan on doing the double din mod in the truck too this summer. Making the bezel look good after cutting and filling will be a good trick.

The presets and settings in my 2012 Kenwood does not erase when battery disconnected.