Alpine IVAW505

The IVAW505 multi media headunit is the replacement for the IVAw205. They have offerred up a larger screen compared to the previous unit. The boot time....or intializing time on start up is under 10 seconds. Faster than the previous unit......blazing fast compared to the Kenwood and Pioneer units. The unit boasts a camera input, 1 aux input, 1 aux output, AI net, usb, full speed ipod, in dash navigation slot and external navigation port, front rear and sub preouts @2v, cd/dvd player indash. Of course you can add on all of the standard Alpine goodies like hd radio, sat radio, dvd changer, cd changer, and blue tooth to name a few.

The IVAW505 is easy to use and responds quickly to the touch. They have rid the unit of the pulse touch feedback system that was on the previous 2 units from this line up. The unit loads the new screens almost instantly upon touching an icon. Thats a breath of fresh air compared to some units that seem to take 3-4 seconds to load after touching an icon button. Searching for songs in the ipod menu is good....but not great. I would like to see an alphabet menu that would allow you to jump to artists or songs by choosing the alphabetic letter for that choice. It would make searching go faster and smoother. Searches through the cd and radio menus are as easy as ever. Sat radio menu allows direct tunning......which you can directly type in the station you want and go to it.

The back of the unit is where I am a little dissappointed. They have rid themselves of the plug that was on the previous unit that housed the reverse input and remote eyes controls. This makes it difficult to remove the unit with out cutting connections. They have multiple antenna inputs to allow for nav traffic integration for an onboard navigation system. There is a wired remote input for a steering wheel interface......also a mic input for blue tooth. I would have liked to see these labeled......but its a small inconvience.

Sound quality is what I would expect from your typical Alpine unit. This unit does not disappoint........everything has a clear and concise sound. The output is relatively flat and undistorted. My unit clipped on the amplifer outputs @2.27 volts. That was volume increment 33 out of 35. Not bad at all.....about the same as last year. You can boost your output through the RCA's by adding a suplemental processor if need be.

In all the unit has a sticker of $1099.99. If your using this as a plain headunit.....thats alot of dough. If your using this as it was designed for....a platform designed for an expansive system with controls suited for that....then its a bargain.