# Got a alpine 7902!



## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

I just picked up a alpine 7902 for $80.... Pretty sure it's worth more. I cannot find any info on it except that it retailed for $800 back in the 80's. 

Anyone know anything about this bad mo fo'?


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

I had several of them back then. Worked on a lot of them too. They had a problem with the eject. Just couldn't keep those things going. They also put "hash" marks on the cd's too. Don't put your good discs in it. Sony had this problem also with the CDX-R88 and the CDX-R77. It was an overall "ok" disc player back then , but nothing like the 7903/4/9 they came out with shortly afterwards. Sounds like a deal at $80 if you are a collector.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

Yeah, I got it to play with mainly and for nastalgia. Thing I'm dumbfounded on is... Doesn't have RCA outs, has 3 different plugs that look like balanced cables almost. How in the hell do I get preouts from it? I was planning on using this in my room as a cd player for my headphone amp.

I'll post up some pics later tonight.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

Yeah, I got it to play with mainly and for nastalgia. Thing I'm dumbfounded on is... Doesn't have RCA outs, has 3 different plugs that look like balanced cables almost. How in the hell do I get preouts from it? I was planning on using this in my room as a cd player for my headphone amp.

I'll post up some pics later tonight.


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

If I remember right, this one requires a "brain" for the tuner. Or maybe it was for the outputs. Been a long time since I have seen one, and can't remember. Post pics when you can. I might have one of these still packed away somewhere. If I find it, I will send you some pics... In the meantime, you can dig through some of my goodies. I have the eq's and cassette decks that went with this...
http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg278/tomtomjr/CAR AUDIO/?start=all


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

heres some pics. You nailed it! the disc will go in and out but once it goes in, it sits there for about 15 seconds then spits it back out! (Ahole didnt bother to tell me that)

it has 3 plug type things, 1 female, 1 male, and another that is cut off. the one that is cut off comes out of a small black box, one wire goes in from the HU and 2 come out (male connector and the cut off one)

i was really looking forward to making a sweet headphone setup with this thing...that idea is starting to crash.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

tomtomjr said:


> If I remember right, this one requires a "brain" for the tuner. Or maybe it was for the outputs. Been a long time since I have seen one, and can't remember. Post pics when you can. I might have one of these still packed away somewhere. If I find it, I will send you some pics... In the meantime, you can dig through some of my goodies. I have the eq's and cassette decks that went with this...
> CAR AUDIO pictures by tomtomjr - Photobucket




That is the coolest toy store ever! you have got a lot of equipment. Awesome.


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

No, the eject problem is different. It just would "eat" the disc by closing the door as you were putting it in, or the door wouldn't open at all. The problem you have is going to be an optical-pickup. Doubt you will find one anywhere, but an adjustment might work. Sometimes they get banged up while being shipped ,and knock the pickup (laser) out of alignment. You will need to find someone who knows how to do it, and they have to have an o-scope. Basically they will find a test point inside, and on the screen it will look like "diamonds". You dial it in by turning a trimmer and get the diamond images to look as sharp as possible. That is what it needs. I don't do it anymore, but there are people out there that do. You have about a 50/50 shot it is fixable since these parts are obsolete and unavailable anymore. When you find a repair person, ask them if they know how to align an optical pickup. Then ask them how they do it. If they mention anything else other than what I spoke of, they don't know how to. You have to use an O-scope, and you have to see the "diamond" shaped pattern on the screen... Hope this helps...


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

"toy store" ... Haven't had it called that before. But neat... Check with Perry Babin on the DIYAUDIO.COM forum. (different than diymobileaudio) He might do optical alignments. There are a few others on there that I know can too. Go to the car audio section to find him, or one of the other techs on there. Unsure of what someone charges to do this anymore.


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## Robb (Dec 5, 2008)

Awesome... but not as awesome as the 7909 ! I just bought a 7909 and its amazing SQ !

YouTube - Alpine 7909 cd car player

Also I have some pics of old vintage Alpine cd players here

Alpine 7909 pictures by rob89m3 - Photobucket


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

Well I would like to keepnit but I will sell it for $80 shipped if anyone wants to buy it. I really want something that works.... I'll take any trades


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## Scott Buwalda (Apr 7, 2006)

7902, if I remember correctly, had a whopping 2X oversampling. A discman from 1993 had a more advanced digital clock.

But I still love the square buttons and flat screen of the old Alpne decks. They looked so industrial, and yet classy and high-end. 

Scott


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## deodkid (Jan 1, 2009)

hi ibanzil, i got a 7902e 2 days ago and have the same issue that spits out cds. where you able to fix this and have you sort out how to make a pre-outs from the harness included?

guys, anyone familiar with this unit.. tia


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

^^^^no I never tried anything to fix it. Its just sitting in my closet. I doubt its worth it to fix it. just a good piece of old school now.


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## starboy869 (Dec 16, 2006)

$80 wow... A bet a new low end sony would be a lot better.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

^^^^^^^^^^^^lol true that....ya smartass!

I bought that thing awhile back, sucks this POS thread got revived. I saw the alpine on craigslist and couldnt find hardly any info on it and made an impulse buy. thing looks sweet though. it will look sweet sitting in my closet til it hits the trash can.


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## starboy869 (Dec 16, 2006)

Don't worry we all make those impulse buys.


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## TREETOP (Feb 11, 2009)

I had a 7901 until recently, it looked a lot like yours:









The round plugs are just front and rear DIN outputs, there were Alpine DIN-RCA cables available for many years (I believe the early Orion and PPI DIN cables had the same L+/L-/R+/R- pin configuration).
The DIN outputs were for the Alpine amps of that same era, since they were preamp only head units Alpine offered small 2 and 4-channel amps:


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## deodkid (Jan 1, 2009)

ibanzil said:


> ^^^^no I never tried anything to fix it. Its just sitting in my closet. I doubt its worth it to fix it. just a good piece of old school now.


alright.. tried to sort out why the cd is being spit out and found out there is a shorted transistor and one of the flex cable burnt but the lens is still working.. the eject mechanism is amazing, gears were built to last and have these infrared that lits and directs the cd to to do its thing. quite weird and unusual.. need to replace the transistor first and sort out the pre outs later..

btw, i got mine for $25. 

@treetop; thanks for the info.. your 7901 looks identical as the 7902..


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## mctwist (Jul 18, 2009)

Hi Guys. 
Just wanted to add some info.

I'm new here but have been in the industry since the early 80's

The 7902 is possibly the single most important CD tuner in mobile history.

It was the first successful model to integrate the tuner section and cd player/transport into one chassis. No hideaway tuners under the seat, with connector cables, etc - install one unit in the dash and go.

And unlike many of the mobile players of the time (ie YAMAHA), it didn't need a separate jewel case to load the disc into first. (Yes, most brands in 1985/6/7 wouldn't allow the disc to be inserted "naked". What a pain).

It had the best shock damping system of anything out there at the time (silicone dampers) - WORLDS better than anything else available. It wouldnt skip like the others.

Alpine saw the drawbacks of everybody elses first CD deck designs - then built something that was as close to perfect as could be. 

The backlit "chicklet buttons" are to die for.....classy piece lit up at night.

The connectors the OP mentioned as "balanced line" are DIN outputs - Kenwood/Alpine standard for the time.

DIN/RCA adapters were used. If you werent using Alpine amps or processors there was no need for DIN connections.

Output voltage was what was considered "normal" back then (low).....high voltage preouts hadn't happened yet. They however did offer a 7902 preamp, I still have one. Its just a tiny "in/out" box that steps it up to a 2+ volts.

Contrary to what has been posted, the ejection door "scratching the CD" is mostly myth. I owned many 7902's and still have 2 (one new unused). None of my 7902's ever damaged the CD's.

When the 7903 came out, it did away with the mechanized flip up door, in favor of cheaper, simpler slot loading.....it now had the soft felt "wallet" that swallowed the disc. 

Shrewd salespeople at the time would point out this feature and say "it was better now, no more ruined discs like the old 7902". That simply wasnt true.

I remember being irked by salespeople at Tweeter etc at the time trash talking the old 7902 in respect to the loading system, and clearly the guy had never even owned one. The 7902 was pure Japanese over-engineering. Great deck.

Original retail (I have a receipt for one here from 1986) was $800-1,000.00

The sharks in NYC who advertize in the backs of audio magazines had them for $700.00

I paid $800.00 for my first 7902 at Nantucket Sound in New England.

Of the two 7902's that I have here, one plays fine (the new one) and the other is for parts - it will try and initialize then spit the CD out.

The Laser is junk.

This will be the case for almost all old school CD decks prior to 1990. Run away from DENON, their lasers didnt last more than a year when they were new. (Old school DENONS off of eBay NEVER work.)

Anyway.

Cheers to anybody who saw the beauty in an old 7902 and thought it was worth buying - you have a good eye.

Hands down my favorite old school CD deck ever made.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

^^^^^awesome! thanks for all that awesome info...makes me wanna keep it even more.


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## deodkid (Jan 1, 2009)

very nice info mctwist...


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## mctwist (Jul 18, 2009)

Anytime guys.
I like this forum and was lurking for a while. Decided to join.

Ive known Anthony and Secondskin products for as long as they have been around.

I will post scans of decks and randowm car audio images as soon as the forum allows me. Newbs arent allowed to post that sort of stuff at first.

I was once part of Richard Clarks Autosound forum for years until it sort of went tits up.


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## ibanzil (Jun 29, 2008)

^^^^good deal. great to have some knowledge around here.


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## VP Electricity (Apr 11, 2009)

mctwist said:


> The 7902 is possibly the single most important CD tuner in mobile history.


You missed the most important point. 

The Gen One CD HUs used an analog low-pass filter - usually a steep Chebyshcev alignment - on the output of the DAC to filter out DAC noise. This noise was assocated with the 44.1K rate of decoding. 

*The 7902 was the first double-oversampling CD player for a car.* DAC operated at 88.2K. Harmonics dropped by half. LP filter could be much gentler and had less effect on treble (fewer phase problems). 

7901 was single-oversampling. So was 7900/5900/etc.


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## dsmithhsdtech (Jul 16, 2010)

Does the input for the Alpine 7902 for the am/fm. CD plays fine but no sound out of the am/fm.


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