Hey Joe...I've had alot of High end head units in the past -
3 - 7909
2 - sony U8000
1 - Sony 910
1 - Sony xes P-1
1 - Alpine AiNet W/outboard digital converter/proc.
I know the reputation of the 7909, but here's the hard facts(I'll probably get crucified for the truth):
Technology has passed it by. I used a 7909 for years thinking it was the end all be all. One day, I decided to A/B test it to a bunch of other headunits (high end and mid line) just to verify what I "knew". EVERY OTHER HEAD UNIT sounded just as good or BETTER.
I was very surprised...Not only did I participate in the A/B comparison myself, but I had 9 other people participate to keep it honest. Some people were in the industry, others were just regular people who could care less about car audio. I ended up picking a Nakmichi CD1. Possibly one of the most unreliable head unit I've ever owned (so was the 7909) but, man did it sound good when it worked.
The 7909 was a GREAT head unit in it's day...basically untouchable, but time has passed it by.
Personally, I think it's splitting hairs once you get to the upper end head units. What features are you looking for? I've got a really nice Alpine headunit (7945 I think) that I'll soon be replacing if you're interested (it's the last of the performance oriented headunits Alpine made...all performance few bells and whistles) I've also got a set of the USD A700 waveguide lens with veritas compression drivers I might let go of.
