Alpine Brings XM-Satellite Radio to Existing Car Stereos

TORRANCE, Calif., Jan. 8 -- Alpine Electronics of America, Inc., the industry-leading manufacturer of high performance mobile electronics, today unveiled its new CRA-1667RF, an Ai-NET controller/RF modulator that provides an affordable upgrade path for adding XM Satellite Radio and/or MP3 playback capabilities to most existing OEM or aftermarket head units. The CRA-1667RF is also the industry's first XM-Ready FM modulator that allows consumers to run the audio from auxiliary sources, such as video game systems, DVD players or portable MP3 devices, through their in-car sound system.

Alpine's new CRA-1667RF Ai-NET controller/RF modulator features a dedicated Ai-NET input for connecting Alpine's popular TUA-T020XM XM Satellite Radio receiver, and an Alpine CD/MP3 or DVD/CD changer. The CRA-1667RF's high performance FM modulator includes 12-station modulator selection allowing users to find the best performance in their own area, and selectable treble pre-emphasis, that delivers better sound by matching to typical receiver design specifications. The CRA-1667RF comes complete with a wireless remote control and also features an auxiliary in for running sound from a video game system, MP3 portable device or portable DVD player through the head unit. The display can also show CD text and MP3 ID3 tag information.

The CRA-1776RF can also be used to hook-up Alpine's XM Radio tuner module to older Alpine head units that have Alpine's Versatile Link(TM) compatibility. This allows thousands of Alpine customers to upgrade their existing systems with XM Radio's digital sound and 100 channels of entertainment choices through high-quality pre-amp signal connections.

``Many people today are happy with their existing in-car sound system, but find their head unit doesn't provide them with access to some of the hottest new audio technologies, such as MP3 playback and XM Satellite Radio,'' said Stephen Witt, Alpine's vice president of Brand Marketing. ``The CRA-1667RF provides tremendous value to this consumer by allowing them to take advantage of these compelling in-car audio entertainment formats without having to re-invest in an entirely new sound system.''

``Alpine's introduction of an FM modulated XM solution is a significant product for the XM Satellite Radio market development,'' said Dan Murphy, XM's vice president of Retail Marketing and Distribution. ``Enthusiasts can now upgrade OEM and existing aftermarket systems with the high performance sound that Alpine is known for.''

The CRA-1667RF will be available in February, with a Suggested Retail Index of $80.