Even though it may or may not be the best?

When I turned 16 and got my Mustang I of course had to upgrade the stereo. The old cassette adapter plugged into the Sony Discman skipped like crazy.
I ended up going with an Alpine Receiver and it served me well in that car and served me well for a few years and then the mp3 became quite popular and one could have way more files on a single disk. I bought a new receiver but went with a Kenwood as it was on clearance.
It was good but not quite as clear as the Alpine.
Hearing the difference between the two I have gravitated to Alpine ever since when doing car audio.

Well, the old Tundra has the JBL system and it leaves a bit to be desired. Not horrible but room for improvement. At low levels it is quite clear but it gets muddy fast as the volume increases.
I have a set of Alpine Type R composite speakers that have been sitting on the shelf since I sold the van and those will go in the rear doors.
Just ordered an 8” Type S sub to swap out the paper sub.
That should do me well for a little while as I save up for the rest. Then I’ll add 6.5” Type R composite speakers in the front doors.
Add a simple Alpine head unit with Car Play and FLAC capability then a 5 channel amp to add a little more juice to clean up the speakers a little more.
For the dash corners and center speakers I will have to go with JL though as Alpine does not make any in the proper size for those locations and I am not really wanting to hack up the dash.

Sorry for the rambling just a bit of Alpine nostalgia taking me back to a time in life that was much more care free and currently getting in the Tundra and cranking some music is a nice break from the daily grind.

Sometimes to my detriment, yes. Timberland aren't what they once were, neither are Justin. Sometimes Samsung is awesome, sometimes they suck.

I've had good luck with Ford; knock on wood as others have not.

I am brand loyal, either because I am happy, or because I am lazy. I'm not sure which is winning.

I've been out of the audio game for so long, my loyalties are probably no longer in business!

Alpine is still great car audio in my opinion. I have the JBL in my new TRD Pro and I'm not too impressed to say the least. The 21 Tundra has a fair bit of connectivity going through the HU that I'll suffer with the stock at least for a while. I'll probably look into a speaker upgrade when winter's over and maybe the small Alpine amp with the speaker level inputs.

Smith and Wesson. My first handgun, and I bought a lot of them even though they went through some quality issues in the mid 90's. I stuck with them. I have some other brands, but I have more Smith than anything else by a long shot. Love the MP 2.0, but other brands are likely better.

Pioneer Home Stereo. Not the best, but good enough for me. I had the full set, including the home speakers.

Chevrolet. I finally dumped them on my last vehicle purchase. Had the 80's paint issues which pissed me off.

Sears: I had everything sears. The furniture, the clothing, many of the shoes. Not the best, but got the job done.

Mr. Coffee. I'm on my 3rd one.

McDonald's. You know....

I was initially a Pioneer guy when first getting into car audio in the late 1970's. Then, I purchased my first Alpine head unit in the very early 80's. I was blown away by the upgrade. I used Alpine for a few cars through the 80's & 90's, then got away from car audio for awhile (well, six kids from 1989 to 2001 will do that). As the youngest were growing up in the early 2000's, I started changing out a couple car stereos again. Ten or eleven years ago I decided to change out the factory head unit of my 2005 Dodge Ram p/u (which I drove today, with just 69K miles on it-- always nice to have a back-up 4X4, especially during an ice storm!).
I emailed Crutchfield (whom I've dealt with back to the 80's) with my choices of a certain Alpine model, & a Kenwood model. The rep pushed all the advantages of the Kenwood, so I bought that. I've hated it just about since day one.
I'll never buy a Kenwood again. I'm definitely back to Alpine. And, if I remember correctly, Alpine speakers weren't bad, either.

I'm still wearing Lugz shoes because I loved the ones I bought 10 years ago. The current version of the same model won't last 3 months before the soles come off, but I'm still wearing them after various fixes have been employed.

flashguy

Pentax cameras.

I was still a PFC in the Army when I bought my first Pentax SLR and although I owned a different brand for a short time in Vietnam it used the same screw mount lenses. The number of bodies and lenses proliferated greatly after an R&R trip to Hong Kong, and from then to this day I’ve continued to buy Pentax photo gear. I still own and regularly use screw mount lenses from the late 1960s with the latest DSLR I purchased a couple of years ago. Most of the close up photos I’ve posted here were taken with a screw mount f/4 50mm macro lens capable of 1:1 full frame images. I have bayonet mount 90mm (Vivitar) and 200mm macro lenses capable of 1:1 images as well.

I often wondered over the years if I’d have been happier had I started with Canon or Nikon, but their cost, especially Nikon’s, was a major hindrance in the early days. I don’t do the amount of photography today I once did, but whenever I pull out one of those old lenses it takes me back.

For a very long time the only handguns I ever purchased were Smith and Wesson. Then I discovered SIGs, and ….

Yep, my passion was with the Kenwood Exelon line of decks and Infinity speakers. I recently replaced the mid-level OEM stereo in my 2014 Tundra with a KW deck, KW 5 channel amp and Infinity component speakers in the doors. Put a slim line 10 inch sub under the back seat. Sounds awesome, especially considering what it replaced. I thought the stock system sounded ok, but I was wrong...

Glock for striker fired / polymer

don't really know if they are 'the best' anymore ... but its what we're invested in chest deep

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Had an Alpine tape deck in my old crappy 72 Skylark. The tape deck was worth more than the car. Literally.

The Jeep I just bought has the upgraded Alpine 600 watt stereo. It is quite awesome to listen to.

If my 25 year old Marantz home theater receiver ever breaks I will replace it with another one. Still wearing 25 year old Danner boots, the best money I ever spent on anything. I have bought 2 other styles, and will buy more. One thing that was first was Sears Die Hard batteries, but they are too hard to find these days and I have probably bought my last one. Sealy Posturepedic mattress every 10 years. Shimano bike parts, and fishing reels. Sig handguns just work for me. First car was Mom's hand me down Oldsmobile, I won't be getting another one of those. LOL.

I believe I'm that way with Speer Hot-core bullets. I know others are probably better, but there's something comforting and nostalgic about seeing a box of them on the reloading bench.

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
Alpine is still great car audio in my opinion. I have the JBL in my new TRD Pro and I'm not too impressed to say the least. The 21 Tundra has a fair bit of connectivity going through the HU that I'll suffer with the stock at least for a while. I'll probably look into a speaker upgrade when winter's over and maybe the small Alpine amp with the speaker level inputs.

If I had the new Toyota HU I’d just use an Audio Control LC2i Pro to feed an amp for the door speakers and sub. I am going to use some sound deadening materials and do the back wall and the doors for now. Supposed to help quite substantially with the sound. When I do the amp and I’ll I’ll pull the whole interior and do the cab probably.

Mine is the older unit so I’d like more phone control from the dash screen.

The Alpine unit I want is currently only $270 but of course still need another $200 in install parts to integrate everything.

I have a LaRue Ultimate Upper builders kit that will hopefully ship soon which means I’ll finally get charged here soon so have to keep those funds open.
Plus it is balls cold so it will likely be spring before I would actually feel like doing the install.

Stanley tools...

My Dad swore by them...

Craftsman for screwdrivers, wrenches and ratchets/sockets. Even though I know the quality isn't what it once was I still find them better than most for being readily available and not detrimental to the wallet.

I've been with USAA for car insurance since I got my license in 1986. I suppose I could see if there are cheaper rates out there, but at this point it's hard to overcome the inertia.

I have always been a fan of Panasonic, TV's, car stereo's, razors and various electronics

Klein Tools.
Was gifted a second had pair of lineman's pliers back in the mid-80s that I still use. Pretty much anything I have gotten from Klein since then has been of excellent quality even up to the present day.

Nope - I'm as loyal to a company as they are to me.

Want loyalty - - buy a dog.