which brands of deck to choose from...
09-13-2004, 02:59 PM
#21
4000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 4,655
In response to the very first post, Kenwood is good, my first deck was a kenwood and I've known friends to own kenwood deck's as well with no problems [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]
Now I have an Alpine MP3 Deck tho. (Big fan of Alpine gear), upgraded simply cause i wanted a deck that would play mp3's and such.
[ September 13, 2004, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Z24 ]
Now I have an Alpine MP3 Deck tho. (Big fan of Alpine gear), upgraded simply cause i wanted a deck that would play mp3's and such.
[ September 13, 2004, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Z24 ]
09-13-2004, 03:09 PM
#22
2000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,417
I've never been a huge kenwood fan I think I would only own one, if it was really cheap or free [img]tongue.gif[/img] , I've always been Pioneer then tried Alpine and still might go back to Alpine unless I can get a good deal on an Eclipse deck, I have an uncle who's company was just bought out by fujitsu so he gets like 15-20% discounts so migt try and see what he can score for me.
09-13-2004, 03:26 PM
#23
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
No, it was me, it is me, that owns the KW HU lemon.
Yep, I'm sure it was just bum luck. As I said, the unit, when it works, works awesome. SQ is excellent. Features are aplenty.
But yep, it's a lemon. After the third time, I sent Kenwood Canada a fax (they don't give any emails on their website... typical) asking for an extended warranty, especially since I own/have owned many other KW products over the years, including five 6x9 speakers (my dog trashed one, I never even tried for warranty, just ordered a one only), a house 5.1 amp, a car amp, etc. I made a nice letter, not being crabby or choked, just asking for an extended warranty. They never replied.
Assuming Tom "finds" my HU and actually gets it to KW, if they don't replace the entire unit, then ya, my old letter, and a new one, will be faxed to them and the BBB.
Yep, I'm sure it was just bum luck. As I said, the unit, when it works, works awesome. SQ is excellent. Features are aplenty.
But yep, it's a lemon. After the third time, I sent Kenwood Canada a fax (they don't give any emails on their website... typical) asking for an extended warranty, especially since I own/have owned many other KW products over the years, including five 6x9 speakers (my dog trashed one, I never even tried for warranty, just ordered a one only), a house 5.1 amp, a car amp, etc. I made a nice letter, not being crabby or choked, just asking for an extended warranty. They never replied.
Assuming Tom "finds" my HU and actually gets it to KW, if they don't replace the entire unit, then ya, my old letter, and a new one, will be faxed to them and the BBB.
09-13-2004, 04:10 PM
#24
Originally posted by ChizzerZ24:
One things I would say quality wise he alpine was sharper in sound, my only beef the pre-outs needing the deck at +15 always to get any bass out of it. I had the Premier 740mp and I had bass settings very low and it was pretty loud. That 9835 how is it for the sub out? does the setting need to be cranked? I didn't like the idea I had it +15 and the gain on the amp had to be cranked and still needed bass boost.
Actually now that I think of it, it might have just been the amp cause it was the same way on the kenwood deck....
I am interested in this 9835 as well, I was gonna go eclipse but I'm thinking maybe 750$ is abit to rich for what I would use it for...
One things I would say quality wise he alpine was sharper in sound, my only beef the pre-outs needing the deck at +15 always to get any bass out of it. I had the Premier 740mp and I had bass settings very low and it was pretty loud. That 9835 how is it for the sub out? does the setting need to be cranked? I didn't like the idea I had it +15 and the gain on the amp had to be cranked and still needed bass boost.
Actually now that I think of it, it might have just been the amp cause it was the same way on the kenwood deck....
I am interested in this 9835 as well, I was gonna go eclipse but I'm thinking maybe 750$ is abit to rich for what I would use it for...
09-13-2004, 04:17 PM
#25
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,770
grizz sorry to see you got a bad experience with kenwood
i have sold there product for over 15 years
i would buy it over any unit out there
i have a feeling that the service depot they were sending it to were a bunch of cluster f****
the amount of units i send back for warranty are slim to none
there product is well built and stands up
i think that after 3 repairs your dealer should have gotten on the phone and requested you a new unit
thats what i do
my customers do not deserve that
and may i ask how long ago did this happen
and the person you should have contacted about your problems is raymond kong
at 905-670-7211
and usually there repair turnaround time is under 2 weeks
p.s. i sell less pioneer than kenwood and i have more pioneers go back
[ September 13, 2004, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: pinhead ]
i have sold there product for over 15 years
i would buy it over any unit out there
i have a feeling that the service depot they were sending it to were a bunch of cluster f****
the amount of units i send back for warranty are slim to none
there product is well built and stands up
i think that after 3 repairs your dealer should have gotten on the phone and requested you a new unit
thats what i do
my customers do not deserve that
and may i ask how long ago did this happen
and the person you should have contacted about your problems is raymond kong
at 905-670-7211
and usually there repair turnaround time is under 2 weeks
p.s. i sell less pioneer than kenwood and i have more pioneers go back
[ September 13, 2004, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: pinhead ]
09-13-2004, 04:55 PM
#27
That's a ****ty deal with your kenwood Grizz.
Keep on your dealer to fix you up with a new deck. You might get better results than dealing with kw canada alone.
Still, that kind of customer service is terrible. I've recently experienced the same kind of thing with my gas fp manufacturer, Majestic.
Gene
Keep on your dealer to fix you up with a new deck. You might get better results than dealing with kw canada alone.
Still, that kind of customer service is terrible. I've recently experienced the same kind of thing with my gas fp manufacturer, Majestic.
Gene
09-13-2004, 08:10 PM
#28
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 756
Ya, it's just been a nasty year on me... Tom is due to call me tomorrow, about where my HU is or if it's totally lost. If it's lost, I'm still thinking of switching brands. If it's found, Tom has assured me that he'll ask for a replacement unit.
Getting into high end audio from my mid level stuff has been very exasperating...
This all started about 8 months ago... I took my HU in for it's first repair, and in the glass clearance case was an Orion XTR900 amplifier... drool city, it was four years old, but still brand new, a display item, it had just been screwed into the wall for four years, not hooked up. So, I was feeling rich, and bought it.
Cool beans I thought, I'll just keep the gain turned down so I don't fry my 250rms sub with the 900rms coming out of the Orion, until I can afford a new sub.
Ya, right. Odd smells, I blamed it on my sub, and turned the gain down more. Then I downloaded a song called "Woofer Cooker"... and had to show off to a buddy, and forgetting that I had the EQ all set for old weak rock & roll, I cranked her up to 25... Whoops... [img]graemlins/jammin.gif[/img]
Well, so much smoke poured out of my sub box, and then my van, I thought the FD was gonna show up, it was awesome!!! So back to ARA I went, and ordered an Orion H2 12.2 badass sub. No more KD for me, I gotta switch to generic mac & cheese for a month or two to pay for this puppy...
It arrived the same week, and that weekend we built a box and got her running. Nice, to say the least.
THEN all the problems started with the XTR amp... remember the odd smell I thought was my old sub cooking? Nope, it was the XTR, frying a resistor inside that is "repsosible for absorbing back EMF", and over the course of four or five weeks, the techs at ARA and the Orion techs via email, nobody could figure out what was wrong. If you're curious for details of that fiasco, you can see them in this thread from last April: http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/cgi/...0;t=001200;p=1
So, after finally giving up, I returned the XTR to Tom and ordered up a 1200D. Never an amp problem since, and the 1200D has proven to be far better in every way than the XTR was.
Orion is awesome. I love their stuff now, and I love the support. Any question I have, I can email to Orion tech support and they promptly return an answer. Orion tech designed my sub box, I just built it (1 cu. ft. internal, sealed, but slot firing for cargo van cone safety, downfiring like a home theatre sub). On the other hand, Kenwood has been awful. They don't have ANY emails available for simple questions, tech support, or anything. You send them a fax as a distraught high-end audio customer (it IS a $1000 head unit, not like it's a $300 entry level one), and they give no answer. They fix something, and the only info that comes back with it three to four weeks later is "replaced laser assembly".
Tom, and everyone at ARA Auto Accessories in Calgary, has been AWESOME through all of this, both my amp problems and my HU problems. Whenever my HU is down for repair at Kenwood, he gives me a loaner, an older KDC-X717 that works fine for it's age, no MP3 and does not like scratches AT ALL, but it works fine, and it has never failed on me, which is proof right there that the 969 is a lemon, not improper install or anything like that.
I'm now at the point that I feel guilty whenever I have to talk to Tom... First for eating back that XTR and now for maybe having to eat back my missing HU... His is a "Mom & Pop" type store much like my own, and we've been trading business back & forth for thirteen years (My brother & I own an automotive shop in Calgary). He's the best supplier of automotive electronics I could ever ask for...
So, in answer to your questions... Ya, I now think that the guys at Kenwood Ontario where Tom sends it for service are a bunch of yahoos... After three repairs he did promise to get it replaced, but then (Murphy's Law) it got lost, I'm not mad at Tom for losing it, just frustrated... This is happening right now, my HU is 1 1/2 years old, has a two year factory warranty, and has been in various states of repair for a total of over three months of that year and a half. A little to late to be calling another party, I'll wait for Tom to deal with it for me, and mediate where I can.
This hobby I decided to get big into over the past couple years has been more than difficult with all these defective high-end items I've been handed. I guess someone's gotta get the bad stuff sometimes, but two things at the same time (the amp and the HU) has me wondering at times if I should give it all up and go get a Sparkomatic HU and call it quits
Getting into high end audio from my mid level stuff has been very exasperating...
This all started about 8 months ago... I took my HU in for it's first repair, and in the glass clearance case was an Orion XTR900 amplifier... drool city, it was four years old, but still brand new, a display item, it had just been screwed into the wall for four years, not hooked up. So, I was feeling rich, and bought it.
Cool beans I thought, I'll just keep the gain turned down so I don't fry my 250rms sub with the 900rms coming out of the Orion, until I can afford a new sub.
Ya, right. Odd smells, I blamed it on my sub, and turned the gain down more. Then I downloaded a song called "Woofer Cooker"... and had to show off to a buddy, and forgetting that I had the EQ all set for old weak rock & roll, I cranked her up to 25... Whoops... [img]graemlins/jammin.gif[/img]
Well, so much smoke poured out of my sub box, and then my van, I thought the FD was gonna show up, it was awesome!!! So back to ARA I went, and ordered an Orion H2 12.2 badass sub. No more KD for me, I gotta switch to generic mac & cheese for a month or two to pay for this puppy...
It arrived the same week, and that weekend we built a box and got her running. Nice, to say the least.
THEN all the problems started with the XTR amp... remember the odd smell I thought was my old sub cooking? Nope, it was the XTR, frying a resistor inside that is "repsosible for absorbing back EMF", and over the course of four or five weeks, the techs at ARA and the Orion techs via email, nobody could figure out what was wrong. If you're curious for details of that fiasco, you can see them in this thread from last April: http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/cgi/...0;t=001200;p=1
So, after finally giving up, I returned the XTR to Tom and ordered up a 1200D. Never an amp problem since, and the 1200D has proven to be far better in every way than the XTR was.
Orion is awesome. I love their stuff now, and I love the support. Any question I have, I can email to Orion tech support and they promptly return an answer. Orion tech designed my sub box, I just built it (1 cu. ft. internal, sealed, but slot firing for cargo van cone safety, downfiring like a home theatre sub). On the other hand, Kenwood has been awful. They don't have ANY emails available for simple questions, tech support, or anything. You send them a fax as a distraught high-end audio customer (it IS a $1000 head unit, not like it's a $300 entry level one), and they give no answer. They fix something, and the only info that comes back with it three to four weeks later is "replaced laser assembly".
Tom, and everyone at ARA Auto Accessories in Calgary, has been AWESOME through all of this, both my amp problems and my HU problems. Whenever my HU is down for repair at Kenwood, he gives me a loaner, an older KDC-X717 that works fine for it's age, no MP3 and does not like scratches AT ALL, but it works fine, and it has never failed on me, which is proof right there that the 969 is a lemon, not improper install or anything like that.
I'm now at the point that I feel guilty whenever I have to talk to Tom... First for eating back that XTR and now for maybe having to eat back my missing HU... His is a "Mom & Pop" type store much like my own, and we've been trading business back & forth for thirteen years (My brother & I own an automotive shop in Calgary). He's the best supplier of automotive electronics I could ever ask for...
So, in answer to your questions... Ya, I now think that the guys at Kenwood Ontario where Tom sends it for service are a bunch of yahoos... After three repairs he did promise to get it replaced, but then (Murphy's Law) it got lost, I'm not mad at Tom for losing it, just frustrated... This is happening right now, my HU is 1 1/2 years old, has a two year factory warranty, and has been in various states of repair for a total of over three months of that year and a half. A little to late to be calling another party, I'll wait for Tom to deal with it for me, and mediate where I can.
This hobby I decided to get big into over the past couple years has been more than difficult with all these defective high-end items I've been handed. I guess someone's gotta get the bad stuff sometimes, but two things at the same time (the amp and the HU) has me wondering at times if I should give it all up and go get a Sparkomatic HU and call it quits
09-13-2004, 09:04 PM
#29
2000 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,417
Actually a guy I use to work with had problems with his Kenwood the Motorized face kept screwing up and Kenwood wouldn't do a damn thing refused to do anything about it, so he went with Pioneer says he would never own another kenwood product.
09-13-2004, 09:06 PM
#30
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 431
I have also been f**ked over by Kenwood service. I loved my Excelon deck.....but when it went ****-up..... the service depot screwed me over, and by the time I got a hold of Kenwood (they are EXTREMELY hard to get a hold of. Email, fax or phone results in the runaround) my warranty was up 
So I have a screwed up Excelon deck sitting in my room collecting dust and a brand new Alpine (that I SHOULDN'T have had to BUY) running my system.
So I have a screwed up Excelon deck sitting in my room collecting dust and a brand new Alpine (that I SHOULDN'T have had to BUY) running my system.
