Kenwood head units
03-27-2007, 08:43 PM
#1
4000 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 4,655
Kenwood head units
Alright so as the season approaches I'm looking into upgrading my head unit. Now I'm VERY partial to Alpine, so to branch out from it is a huge step for me 
Today I went into my favorite shop to set up an appointment to fix my hood popper for my alarm, and decided to ask about their decks. They only carry Kenwood, Kicker, and JL as far as car audio goes.
I picked up a flyer and checked out some on display, unfortunately they don't have the 2 I'm looking at in the shop yet to play around with. But my question to you guys/gals, is who here has a Kenwood deck? Or had one in the past, what're your opinions on Kenwood decks??
The models I'm looking at ... KDC-X991 and KDC-X891. Unfortunately since they're so new I can't find much info on them other than what Kenwood's site has already given me which is basically the brochure I took home lol
The X991 is $679 +tax and the X891 is $439 +tax.
Discuss ...
- Ter.
Today I went into my favorite shop to set up an appointment to fix my hood popper for my alarm, and decided to ask about their decks. They only carry Kenwood, Kicker, and JL as far as car audio goes.I picked up a flyer and checked out some on display, unfortunately they don't have the 2 I'm looking at in the shop yet to play around with. But my question to you guys/gals, is who here has a Kenwood deck? Or had one in the past, what're your opinions on Kenwood decks??
The models I'm looking at ... KDC-X991 and KDC-X891. Unfortunately since they're so new I can't find much info on them other than what Kenwood's site has already given me which is basically the brochure I took home lol
The X991 is $679 +tax and the X891 is $439 +tax.
Discuss ...
- Ter.
03-28-2007, 12:07 AM
#3
0 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 5
I've got a Kenwood MPsomethingorother. It's not that old. The sound is okay. It's nowhere near as loud as my old Alpine was, but that's probably attributable to the Alpine having 5V preouts. Clarity wise, it's about on par. But my Alpine was at least 10 years old when I pulled it.
Problems I have with the deck:
If the faceplate gets too cold (like if I leave it in the car overnight in the winter), the LEDs or whatever makes up the the display don't fire correctly. The text is still readable, but the rest of the graphics are all garbled.
It can only read ID3 v1 tags from MP3 files. So half the time, it reads "Track 25" rather than the title/artist, which just happens to be there in ID3 v2 format. JVC decks default to the filename if the ID3 tag isn't there, which seems to be a much better approach.
Why can I change the colour of the buttons, but not the colour of the damn ring around the volume ****?
The source button is on the right hand side of the deck. So if I want to switch from radio to CD, or turn it off completely, I've got to reach to the other side of the deck, which seems kinda counter intuitive. I kinda like having everything on the left hand side. Also, the place where a power button usually is is occupied by the 'attenuation' button. To be honest, I should be holding that down for 2 seconds to turn off the deck, not the source button.
The stupid control rocker thing. It's not that bad once you get used to it, but when I first got the deck in the car, I would always hit it at a slight angle, so I'd switch folders instead of switching songs. It wouldn't be quite so bad if it was clicky, but you can't feel the switches actuate.
Preset buttons. If I'm listening to the radio, and I want to switch to another preset, I've got to hit the button twice. Once to bring up the menu. And another time to actually go to the preset. And if the last menu I was in wasn't the list of presets, I've got to go back to the presets and THEN select the station. Not a particualrily good thing to be doing if you're hurtleing across the countryside at 100+km/h.
Standby mode. I'm not sure what this is for. If I wanted to stop the music, I'd hit the pause button, or turn the deck off.
Too many menus. There's the menu that's displayed when you hit the preset/display buttons, the one associated with the volume ****, one that's only accessible when it's in standby mode (is THIS what it's for??), one that's only accessible when it's playing something. Is it really necessary for them to be all over the place like that?
So yeah, mostly fiddly little things. Hopefully most of these issues have been addressed with the new models.
Things I like:
Tilty faceplate. Since the deck sits low in my car It's nice to have the thing angled towards my face.
No CD slot in the faceplate. More room for pretty graphics + buttons etc.
Internal amp can be disabled. Apparently allows more power to be routed to the preamp. Nice.
It's pretty. But then again, my old Alpine was a beasty looking thing compared to this.
My conclusion? If you can live with the little things, it's a fairly solid deck. I'll admit, it's a LOT of little things, but I can deal with it. And since you're looking at the Excelon line, those are probably even better.
Problems I have with the deck:
If the faceplate gets too cold (like if I leave it in the car overnight in the winter), the LEDs or whatever makes up the the display don't fire correctly. The text is still readable, but the rest of the graphics are all garbled.
It can only read ID3 v1 tags from MP3 files. So half the time, it reads "Track 25" rather than the title/artist, which just happens to be there in ID3 v2 format. JVC decks default to the filename if the ID3 tag isn't there, which seems to be a much better approach.
Why can I change the colour of the buttons, but not the colour of the damn ring around the volume ****?
The source button is on the right hand side of the deck. So if I want to switch from radio to CD, or turn it off completely, I've got to reach to the other side of the deck, which seems kinda counter intuitive. I kinda like having everything on the left hand side. Also, the place where a power button usually is is occupied by the 'attenuation' button. To be honest, I should be holding that down for 2 seconds to turn off the deck, not the source button.
The stupid control rocker thing. It's not that bad once you get used to it, but when I first got the deck in the car, I would always hit it at a slight angle, so I'd switch folders instead of switching songs. It wouldn't be quite so bad if it was clicky, but you can't feel the switches actuate.
Preset buttons. If I'm listening to the radio, and I want to switch to another preset, I've got to hit the button twice. Once to bring up the menu. And another time to actually go to the preset. And if the last menu I was in wasn't the list of presets, I've got to go back to the presets and THEN select the station. Not a particualrily good thing to be doing if you're hurtleing across the countryside at 100+km/h.
Standby mode. I'm not sure what this is for. If I wanted to stop the music, I'd hit the pause button, or turn the deck off.
Too many menus. There's the menu that's displayed when you hit the preset/display buttons, the one associated with the volume ****, one that's only accessible when it's in standby mode (is THIS what it's for??), one that's only accessible when it's playing something. Is it really necessary for them to be all over the place like that?
So yeah, mostly fiddly little things. Hopefully most of these issues have been addressed with the new models.
Things I like:
Tilty faceplate. Since the deck sits low in my car It's nice to have the thing angled towards my face.
No CD slot in the faceplate. More room for pretty graphics + buttons etc.
Internal amp can be disabled. Apparently allows more power to be routed to the preamp. Nice.
It's pretty. But then again, my old Alpine was a beasty looking thing compared to this.
My conclusion? If you can live with the little things, it's a fairly solid deck. I'll admit, it's a LOT of little things, but I can deal with it. And since you're looking at the Excelon line, those are probably even better.
03-28-2007, 06:44 PM
#4
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 633
I've had a Kenwood for over a year, no problems to speak of... and to add to the question of the STANDBY setting, it will also cut the power to your remote wire and turn off your amp(s)... turning off the internal amp will keep the heat in your head unit to a minimum... once you figure out the somewhat complicated menus its really not all that bad... I believe all the Excelon decks run a 5 volt preout.. and they have many more features than the regular Kenwood decks... the only other deck I've ever had was a blaupunkt so as far as me comparing it to anything else, well I'd be at a loss for words... I'd say go for it, but what do I know
03-28-2007, 08:56 PM
#6
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 164
I used to have a kenwood exelon, but now that I found the eclipse 8443, I will never go back to kenwood. I thought the sound from the kenwood was pretty good though, just not as good as the eclipse deck. Talk to Rob from forbidden audio, I think he has some really good eclipse decks on clearance, unless I am mistaken. And if not, he'll still give you a smoking deal on an eclipse deck.
Last edited by Reider; 03-28-2007 at 09:01 PM.
03-28-2007, 09:09 PM
#7
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 952
Ken- would, Barbie wouldn't
I kind of agree with Reider and 4Aaron.
Having SOLD Alpine, Kenwood, and Eclipse, I would opt for Eclipse First, Alpine second.
I didn't like the Kenwood decks too much mainly because it's not the easiest head unit to operate when driving, and far too many bells and whistles, that may not end up getting used. Sound quality they are pretty good, and close rival to Alpine and Eclipse (within reason).
I don't like head units with removeable faceplates, because either they don't get removed, and get stolen with the deck, or they are removed, put in a pocket, and dropped (into a puddle), or sat on, because you forgot it was in your back pocket.
I particularly like the older Eclipse, with black faceplate, and Blue lighting, the new models look too much like a Panasonic, but much much better sounding.
Having SOLD Alpine, Kenwood, and Eclipse, I would opt for Eclipse First, Alpine second.
I didn't like the Kenwood decks too much mainly because it's not the easiest head unit to operate when driving, and far too many bells and whistles, that may not end up getting used. Sound quality they are pretty good, and close rival to Alpine and Eclipse (within reason).
I don't like head units with removeable faceplates, because either they don't get removed, and get stolen with the deck, or they are removed, put in a pocket, and dropped (into a puddle), or sat on, because you forgot it was in your back pocket.
I particularly like the older Eclipse, with black faceplate, and Blue lighting, the new models look too much like a Panasonic, but much much better sounding.
03-29-2007, 05:25 AM
#10
No internal HD, USB is new for the 07-08 models that are due in any day. There is a full Ipod interface available from Eclipse, the IPC106 that allows full control of the ipod from the cd player. It also will charge the ipod for you. It is a cool little gadget.
