68 AlPinE
CDA-137EBT
SinGlE-Din CD RECEiVER
AUDITION
REVIEWER: MARTY PRICE
PROVinG GOOD HEAD
UniTS AREn’T AlWAYS
BEHEMOTHS.
How do you define the term
‘best’? Some state that the best
decks are those that have the
most functionality – which is fantastic if you’re
Warren Buffet and money’s no object. Another
consideration is that not everyone requires extravagant functionality. Similar to when you’re
scanning old photos to your computer you
don’t need it to be a Silicon Graphics machine.
No; there’s actually an entire market out there
that doesn’t require a head unit capable of
doing everything including teleporting through
time. These are people who just want to listen
to music and take the occasional phone call
and because Alpine is one company with its
ear to the ground listening to what customers
want it offers head units that do just this, the
latest of which is the impressive CDA-137EBT.
ToP of THe ClAss
So far as range goes the CDA-137EBT is
nowhere near the top of course, for this title
is reserved for the gargantuan double-DIN
navigation-equipped head units. That said
though; it is Alpine’s top single-DIN receiver
and with good reason because saying this is
‘just’ a CD player is like saying Airbus A380 is
‘just’ a plane. The devil lives in the details
and when you start having a closer look at
what technology is incorporated into this deck
you’ll start seeing why it’s receiving the rave
reviews it is.
Let’s begin with the central functionality
that is the disc mechanism, something we
sometimes just skim over but, thankfully,
Alpine hasn’t. Alpine has completely
redesigned the entire metallic mechanism and
rigid damper suspension system meaning that
not only is skipping now something assigned
to dark history, it also boasts superior reading
accuracy as it combats the minute (and
sometimes not so) vibrations experienced
when you’re driving. It’ll play all standard disc
formats such as CD, CD-R and CD-RW and,
for additional digital input, there’s a USB plug
protruding from the rear which can connect
to all manner of things ranging
from iDevices through to other
smartphones and USB drives.
All as long as they’re formatted
with the standard FAT file
structure. The proprietary AiNet port remains and can be
used to control a CD shuttle,
thus proving that there are
some technologies even Alpine cannot quite
bring itself to let go of. However this port
also double as the information output when
you’re coupling this unit with an Alpine digital
sound processor.
With the flick of three switches on the
bottom of the deck from ‘NORM’ to ‘EX-PRO’
it’ll now feed the audio signal to an external
processor via this port. The last of the digital
interfaces is the Bluetooth and because it’s
the most advanced Bluetooth Alpine has
developed we’ll deal with that all on its own
later. Now if you’re expecting to read about
the analogue inputs there are none. Yes I
looked at the deck – twice, only then deciding
to consult the manual (I am male) only to
discover this truly is a digital only deck. Last
but not least there is the radio tuner chip-set
which is similar to past offerings but with a
“...SAYinG THiS iS ‘JUST’
A CD PlAYER iS liKE
SAYinG THE AiRBUS A380
iS ‘JUST’ A PlAnE.”
70
AUDITION
slightly more powerful amplifier. In another
sign of the times there are only 12 FM and six
AM presets.
With inputs explained let’s talk about
manipulating and outputting the sound. The
CDA-137EBT is packed with high-grade audio
components starting with a 24-Bit Burr-Brown
digital to analogue convertor which is actually
a direct descendant of the stunning DAC
used in the famous Alpine F#1Status line
of super-high-end head units. This ensures
pure and accurate sound reproduction.
There is also a powerful digital sound
processing suite included and it incorporates a
60Hz/80Hz/100Hz high pass crossover for the
outputs. There’s also complete time alignment
which is switchable from metric to imperial
and ranges from 0cm through to 336.6cm for
each channel.
The equaliser can be switched between
7-band graphic and 5-band parametric and
the frequency centers are moveable at 1/3
octave points. For band one it’s 20Hz – 80Hz,
band two it’s 50Hz – 200Hz, band three
125Hz – 3.2kHz, band four 315Hz – 8kHz and
band five 800Hz – 20kHz, so you can cover
any frequency you’re having issues with.
The Q is variable and ranges from 1 to 3 and
attenuation or boost is -6dB through to +6dB.
These are the abilities that are built into the
TECH SPECS
Alpine
CDA-137EBT
Type: Single-DIN CD Receiver
Power Handling: 4 x 21 watts
continuous, 4 x 50 watts maximum
Features: CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3,
AAC, MP3 and WMA ready, USB (including
iDevice) input. Steering wheel control input
and IR remote included. Front, rear and
subwoofer 4-volt pre-outs
Cost: $599
Contact: Alpine Electronics Australia on
1300 765 760
Web: www.alpine.com.au
• Excellent sound quality
• Exemplary build standards
• Very well featured
• We’ve come up trumps
head unit as standard. However if you plumb
in either a PXA-H800 or PXA-H100 processor
then you’re able to access a whole plethora of
additional options, controlling them directly via
the head unit.
This interfacing ability is excellent however
it also brings to the fore the one gripe I have
with the marketing. See, all throughout the
CDA-137EBT manual, it explains all this
wonderful functionality, however because
the processors are sold separately there are
little asterisks all over the place letting you
know a sizable chunk of the functionality
isn’t ‘actually’
available unless
you have the
aforesaid
processor. But
once you have
your sound
processed you
can output
it either via three 4-volt pre-outs or to the
powerful 4-channel MOSFET amplifier which
can output 50 watts maximum or around 21
watts continuous – all with quite acceptable
performance specifications too.
Blue for you
Expanding the Bluetooth; it’s a new advanced
version which Alpine calls BT-Plus. Besides
allowing the CDA-137EBT to function as a
full hands free phone kit, this new chipset also
affords you a plethora of other functionality
such as adjustable volume control, multiple
echo cancellation and noise reduction capabilities, something that is extremely handy when
there are feedback issues. It also allows you
to hold and switch incoming calls, and search
your phonebook with ease (not a word usually
associated with phonebooks). It offers SMS
text alert with icon display, battery and mobile
reception level indicators and last but not
least it can stream via the most advanced
streaming ability offered to date, also displaying song, artist and tag information. The system is also fully updateable for compatibility
with future phones.
Now despite the fact I just cannot get into
the colour blue, even I’ll admit that Alpine has
not made an ugly deck in years; and while
it does shift the button shapes and layout
around with each generation the overall
theme remains the same. This is because
Alpine adheres to high standards regarding its
physical designs with ‘professional’ being the
watch word, not ‘bling’. Therefore the decks
are finished with a neat blend of gloss black
and gunmetal grey plastic with silver (not
chrome) highlights. To the right of the face is a
large BioLite display and while the technology
itself hasn’t changed from previous years, it
still remains one of the brightest and clearest
displays on the market today. This eradicates
one of my pet peeves; many head units
today feature fancy displays that are almost
unreadable in bright sunlight even with
the dimmer switched off. To the left of the
screen is the large rotary commander and
next to it are all the main control buttons.
The preset buttons are lined along the bottom
of the deck.
Opening the deck up will again pay
testament to why we all enjoy cracking open
Alpine products. Love it or hate it, one cannot
argue that Alpine are the absolute masters
of beautiful technical design. The circuit
board, chipsets and component layout are
architectural and electronic porn; not only
looking the part, but also comprising of top
grade components from capacitors through to
the solder. It’s all audiophile quality equipment
actually designed for sound, and not just using
off the shelf items that can be found in your
family toaster.
Setting the unit up is a breeze and even
without an external processor you’ll do
well to take some time to utilise the decks
built-in tuning functionality. Because despite
being simple when compared to an external
processor; it’s still head and shoulders above
many other decks on the market. Alpine
includes plenty of hardware to assist your
installation and labels the loom clearly. The
instructions are also hardcopy paper which
makes a pleasant change because while I do
care about trees, I’m just not a fan of reading
through manuals on the laptop. Also in the
box are an IR remote control and an external
microphone for the Bluetooth.
With the unit in and running I got stuck
into setting the gains after which began the
auditioning process. One thing I do love about
Alpine decks is their ease of use. It only takes
literally a few minutes to get the hang of the
menu system and within no time you can
be switching things around like a pro. The
sound is typical Alpine and the fact I can say
just that and have people know what I mean
is testimony to Alpine as a deck designer.
However for those of you who are new to
this game; this means the sound is extremely
clean with little noise, hiss or artifacts to
detract from the music. Indeed there’s only
the slightest hiss even when the volume hits
34 or 35 (which is maximum). The deck plays
music with unrivalled clarity and is very fast
to react to instruction too. Many decks these
days sound fabulous however some are very
slow to operate.
Conclusion
The short of it is; the CDA-137EBT is yet
another Alpine masterpiece. However, to
flippantly offer such a thin commentary
doesn’t do it justice. There’s been a heap of
development injected into this head unit and
despite it retaining some technology from the
past, there is also plenty of new technology
installed which makes the overall package one
very attractive one for its $599 price tag. Once
again Alpine shines through…