leamdav

I am really debating about leaving my aftermarket set up to go to a sync 3 set up. I currently have an Alpine ILX-207 with maestro module and everything that comes with that, as well as an Alpine Power Pack 445a, new Focal speakers front and rear and kicker hideaway.

I guess my question is what do I lose by going to sync 3, with everything else the same minus the 445a ( potentially replaced with a different four channel amp). I like the idea of stock with android autoAautoAover the aftermarket, really for the way it looks overall. But I could be off basis in terms of sound quality achievable.

dhmcfadin

The only thing you will lose by going to sync 3 is low level pre-outs. But, with the right harness on the sync 3 unit, you can easily achieve the same output signal.

As far as quality of the output signal, the differences are going to be negligible at best. The biggest killer to signal quality is the signal chain itself not so much the source unit. Tech in the oem units is cheap to obtain these days. It's built into the oem hardware. What gets more expensive are the components that you use to carry, process, and amplify your source signal. It's also where almost all of your signal degradation (minus signal distance which isn't an issue in a vehicle) come from. Component selection is crucial and not the place to be cheap.

shellshocked

I don't know the details of your truck but to be honest I had Alpine in my previous truck and was very happy with it. I had all of the EQ and Subwoofer controls at my fingertips in the headunit. The EQ functions in my non-sony Sync 3 unit are rudimentary and there is no separate sub control. I do have Android auto which I like and use but the newer aftermarket headunits have this now. In my humble opinion I don't think Sync 3 offers much over an after market unit other than it comes built in from the factory and has all of the integrated steering wheel controls. If you are after Android Auto then I would think it would be easier to go to a new Alpine head unit which has it.

HushCarAudio

I think you two are at the different ends of the spectrum when talking audio stuff. I've had to learn this when working with customers. One thing I will say is that if you do upgrade the head unit (HU) you might believe it sounds better due to the HU putting out better sound. This might be due to the fact that the head unit is putting out more watts to your speakers which is making them perform better. If you only care about controls on the HU and like the added benefit of the extra power then you should move forward with the swap. The nice thing is that if you ever wanted to upgrade even further you have a great starting point and the install will go much smoother since you have the aftermarket HU.

nineball

(quality) aftermarket trumps stock almost every time. depending on your truck there are lots of solutions to give aftermarket equipment the factory-installed look. i went with the maestro setup on my '13 and most people would never know it is aftermarket - the replacement bezel is perfect and i have all the stock steering wheel controls, and it sounds 10,000,000 times better