Other than the obvious advantage of gaining Bluetooth tech are there any other advantages or upgrades to replacing the stock unit with this head?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JENSEN-REPLA...VUIxvV&vxp=mtr

I would love to be able to just throw iPod in fairing bag and call it a day as far as that goes.

 

The HD1BT also allows for the use of the with FAR less cost and hassle than the Boom! Audio kit, and the USB port on the back of the device can be run up to the top of the inner fairing (and into a windshield bag) or extended (it only reaches to about the gas cap) with a to your saddlebags or Tour Pak so you can charge and play your iPhone/iPod.

I'll have one for sale very soon: I traded my 2011 Street Glide for a 2015 Ultra Limited, and I reinstalled the HK deck in the FLHX for trade.

 

I just installed the aquatic AV unit which allows me to charge my phone right from the head unit via USB.
I researched both units, I also heard the Jensen volume control was slow to respond thru the hand controls

 

While your still shopping. I've always considered Jensen to be just barely a step up from Craig as far as stereos are concerned. I googled Alpine as they used to make a marine grade series. Good stuff right there. If no marine grade available, they do still make water resistant covers for auto/marine usage. I used to be strictly a Pioneer brand kinda guy until one day a tech type friend told me about Alpine. He mentioned Alpines parent company "Luxman" built music studio grade equipment and knew not why they would dabble in automotive audio, and said he thought it was the best quality auto audio on the market. I've been running Alpine for the last 20+ years and every unit has lasted longer than any Pioneer I ever had. I do still consider Pioneer to be second only to Alpine, but that's my opinion, and we all know what that's worth. Lol
My $0.02



ps. Alpine or Pioneer





BOB

 

Not trying to stir the pot here, but I thought I'd share a couple points about the brands listed here. Most people don't follow technology companies and are unaware of the changes that occur in both ownership, quality or even what products they make now vs. then.

Alpine isn't owned by Luxman. It's a Japanese company owned by Alps-Electric, who at one point bought Luxman but later sold it.

"In 1984 Alpine acquired the Luxman brand of high-end home stereo equipment from Japanese Lux Corporation, and tried to merge their Alpine home hi-fi brand with the Luxman brand by co-branding the resulting products as Alpine/Luxman. Because of the differences in the way the products were built (Alpine used mainly standard stainless metals and plastics, Luxman used high end exotic metals) and product lines from both brands were branded Alpine/Luxman it created brand confusion in their markets, and nearly destroyed the credibility of the Luxman brand. The company later sold off the Luxman brand in 1994 to concentrate fully on the car audio business."

Pioneer has sold off their home audio line to Onkyo in 2014; stopped making those awesome plasma TV's that once ruled the high-end video in 2009. Now they still make car audio and computer disc drives in partnership with Sharp (who is the largest stakeholder of Pioneer Electronics) and now they also make bicycle (pedal bikes, not hawgs) electronics that read your power and efficiency while pedaling. Not quite the same company of the 90's and mid-2000's.

JENSEN is not the JENSEN from the 90's which was owned by Recoton Corp. Recoton went out of business and two companies acquired the JENSEN brand name - Audiovox who handled the regular car audio line...

...and ASA Electronics, an American electronics company in Indiana, who is a specialty vehicle applications manufacturer (RV, Marine, Commercial and Off-road/Power Sports). It's ASA Electronics that owns and makes the JENSEN Heavy Duty line of equipment, which makes the HD1BT. This has been discussed here awhile ago when the radio came out.

So don't let decades old anecdotes or fond memories of yore cloud your buying decisions today. The world keeps on changing, especially in the consumer electronics market.

 

That's cool reading.

having said that....I've heard a Jensen HD1BT and an Alpine 149 and the Alpine unit is FAR superior in every category except being waterproof --- regardless of who owns what at any given time in history.

 

I'm a long time A/V geek and have worked on or with most every brand out there over the years, so I tend to follow this type of stuff. It's interesting to see how everything changes over the years. Long time titans have fallen (Japanese TV manufacturers have been decimated over the past decade for example).

There are pros and cons to both of those radios in terms of feature sets. The main thing about the JENSEN is that it is waterproof, utilizes the OEM harness as a direct fit replacement and works with the stock handlebar controller. All of that is a significant leg up on any aftermarket car audio deck. Now, whether those features win-out over other features that the Alpine has that the JENSEN doesn't is up to the buyer. Checking out both as you mentioned is the best way to decide what's going to work for you.