btw - if radio is a concern for you (as it was with my wife), i can say that my radio reception went up with x693. I'm picking up stations like 93.5, 103.5 with no static whereas with stock i'd always get static. It's pretty incredible. Needless to say, I've been nagged free for a week! The biggest complaint from my wife with my old alpine was that radio receiption was horrible. I was shocked to see it improve by this much with the x693.

 

I sell both the Kenmore and the Eclipse. Both are solid unit but I prefer the Eclipse (which dos red illumination as well). It has a solid warranty at 3 years and free replacement in the first year if stolen. Purolator is driving around town right now with my CD7200ii on board.....grrrr. The Eclipse line has always been a stellar performer for me for the last 14 years I have carried the line. While they had some dogs over the years the current line has proven to be just fine for pretty much everyone except those that need to go past what the cd player can offer or for applications past what the cd player was designed to do. I think you would be quite happy with the Eclipse or the Kenwood.

 

Kenmore makes decks?!

I've always been fond of the Alpine and Eclipse, but I'm eyeing up some of the Kenwood Excelons now

 

Haha! Nice. I'm not from the GTA area. Closer to KW. I'll likely hit up Natural Sound in Kitchener for the deck but thanks for the info and the recommendation! The x693 is what I'm looking at right now. I don't need the BT for the car. It's my toy so I don't care about answering the phone for 3 - 4000 kms per summer.

Thanks for the responses and the help guys. I honestly didn't know Kenwood had stepped it up. I was very close to going Eclipse but at $279 which is what Natural is offering the x693 for, I can't say no.

 

Ben Lee at Natural Sound is a nice guy to deal with. He laid down a solid quote for a build for me a few weeks ago and even called me on the weekend to tell me that the Focal K2Ps I had been eyeing up had dropped another $200. I know he's just trying to make a sale, but I appreciated the enthusiasm

 

To me there is a short list of SQ decks worth considering and they are as follows:
Clarion DRZ9255
pioneer 880prs (or 800)
clarion DXZ785USB
eclipse CD7200ii

The top 3 because they have complex xovers for going active (independant phase\TA\level) and also because they have GEQ or PEQ for left and right seperate.

The eclipse has everything but the independant EQ per side I beleive but I might be wrong.

 

I wouldn,t overlook this pioneer deck burr brown da,s and some excellent options dual 16 band eq.s time alignment check out the web-page for details could be my next deck



http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/In-Dash/CD-Players/Premier/DEH-P800PRS

 

What double-din deck would you guys suggest?

My requirements are pretty much the same as the OP.
I don't want GPS, just DVD.

And where did Eclipse and Clarion come from?
Admittedly, I've lived in a cave for all of my past life car-audio-wise.
But I thought the only good quality brands were kenwood, pioneer, infinity and alpine.

Eclipse and Clarion have some clout too now?
So yea, what suggestions do you guys have for double-din decks?
My budgets also about the same. 500ish.

 

the clarion drz9255, does not belong on the last list, its a category unto itself, do the research on it and its close to untouchable

 

kenwood has always put out a great product when it comes to head unit and if its a price point you are looking for they can accomidate to your needs