Time to get rid of the stock clarion BS HU.
Browsed crutchfield and compared few decks.

Alpine: overpriced and won't give me the options i want. (the only thing i like buttons on the driver's side.)

Pioneer: not the best design same thing with options.

I chose kenwood Kenwood KDC-MP7028
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-CnQ0gJX...00&I=113MP7028
but i din't see that anyone talking a lot about kenwood HU's here on the org.
I need your opinion on this one. How reliable are they? would it give me a good quality sound.(I prefer trance and rock)

Thanks.

 

the only thing i can say is find the HU somewhere local to you nd actually look/play with it. I thought hard about 1 of the newer pioneer until i saw it in a store and that thing was fugly.

but kenwoods are suppose to be decent HU's

 

Just so you know, everyone here is going to recommend Eclipse, and with good reason. If that does not quite fit your tastes, I suggest you go back and look at the Pioneer Premier decks...that is (only) if you are indeed looking for an SQ-oriented deck. There is alot of extra useless bells-and-whistles in the Kenwood deck, such as :

Gimme a break. All of this extranneous crap only drives up the price. The deck you are looking at looks like a decent entry-level deck for the uninformed. I would shop around a bit more...you can do much better for $300.

 

i've personally used kenwoods for a lonnnng time now and no problems with them at all. just try to stay away from eye candy stuff...and you'll save a few bucks.

 

I continuously have to send them out for repair.

 

kenwoods?

dunno about the newer models. my HU is about 2 years old.

 

Yup, Only company that I know that is So proud of their defect they opened up the "Kenwood Factory Outlet". Which is a chain of stores that sells ALL refurbed products, and they do have Alot.

 

haha damn, that i didn't know.

i'm happy with my HU for now, and prolly use it til i have an itching for a new HU or got some money to kill.

 

Some of them worked well, but ALot of them had defects in one way or another. Another note about them is that if it breaks once, get rid of it as it will be in for regular repair. Sent a few of them back 3+ times before their owners gave up.

On a good note for them...Their repair service is pretty quick, the reason my rep said was due to the fact that they see the same problems Every Single day and theyre used to it...

 

any particular models that get sent back often?

 

studman sent his Kenwood back 2wice. It is fixed now but he joined the darkside and bought an Eclipse. No trouobles since. I haven't even considered them after talking with Don.

 

Yeaa ive sent my Kenwood KDC-X859 unit off too repairs about 4 times, and its going again once i get my new HU... And this was a fairly expensive kenwood unit new, just over 500 i think it was... and none of my problems with it have been related too the phantom face.... So i wouldnt reccomend Kenwood to anyone. but yea as Metal said go too some shops..its your best bet... isnt the eclipse 5435, around 300 bucks? id own an eclipse myself, but an alpine 9835 came up for 200 bucks...couldnt pass on it.

 

All of them randomly. None in particular to be exact.

 

jeez...i didn't realize kenwood had this many issues. i guess their build quality went to sh*t over the recent years.

 

Since about the mid 90s. Typically if they last through the first 6-10 months, youll be ok

 

yeah, hopefully my HU will last me a little longer

btw Don...maybe you can chime in on this thread:
http://www.caraudio.com/vb/showthread.php?t=109401

 

Old news Gordon, and theyve been In my car for a few weeks now....

 

i know

i figured someone would give them first hand experience with them

 

eh, I post on CAF every once in awhile. Im always busy with some friggin Maxima forum...

 

ah, keeping those maxima owners in check eh?

 

Yea I try..

 

BTW you should call me tomorrow to remind me to check on your amp

 

i'll shoot you a PM...or give you a call after i get out class

 

OK guys i no longer interested in buying kenwood. Tell me which deck should i go with with my $300?
alright i'd probably go with this one http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...etailComponent

since alpine overpriced and i couldn't find eclipse in this price range.

 

waht do you guys think about JVC? i am thinking about picking this deck up, because it almost does it all

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?model...thId=52&page=2

 

Nomad - I think you would be happy with your purchase.

 

Nomad, go to a store and look at that first. Thats the exact HU i was talkng about it. It is pretty bulky! make sure that you like its features ande verything before you buy it. and you can get an eclipse cd5425 for $199 and cd5435 for $299 and both of them will blow that pioneer out of the water. i have the cd5425 and would never think twice about it.

day shot:


night shot:

 

I'd probably go with poneer it seems to have more feuters that eclipse unlees I can find someone who can get me eclipse for decent price ($199).
BTW I heard from you guys that someone sells eclipse here on the .ORG can u guys point me to that member?
P.S Don't really like pioneer's blueish screen would swap it over red or green

 

Don (Pearl96Max)

 

I must say I was OWNED a few years ago by their factory outlet in North Plainfield they used to have on Rt.22. I bought their top of the line Exelon deadhead and it barely lasted a peep over the 6month warranty they offered. They tried to charge me close to 50% of the value of the HU to get me into another refurb...WTF
I later returned a year or so later for another **** plunge and bought powered sub for the HT and before warranty ran out the plate amp bite the dust and I returned to the store to find out it was closed down-out of business. And this was an actual 'new' item, as they claimed all speakers sold out of there were new, non-refurb equipment. A buddy from
high school that worked there actually told me that they as a company open these 'Factory Outlets' on limited basis and shut down and move and open the store in another area.

And Don, you know what happened to my Kenwood HT receiver a few months ago- blown sub output

I'm sorry , gave up on them....

There's actually alot of talk about the quality of the 25th Anniversary Excelon line- supposedly nice stuff, I'll personally never know...

NOMAD....whatever you do, try to get into a HU that has 24bit DAC's...Crutchfield has quite a few in your budget.

 

i think...my next hu...will NOT be kenwood...

 

Hey man if it works for you, great. Like I said, there are many reputable people on some forums claiming the 25th ann stuff is pretty good- but only time will tell. On paper you'd be hard pressed to not go with one over say any price comparable Alpine. Honestly their ergos got a lil better, some 24bit burr brown, high voltage models. Not quite familar with the extent/flexibility of their xover/eq tho...

Its been a few years since I've had a Kenwood in my car (x911 RIP) Just reminiscing and sharing when Don brought up the 'outlets'. Hit home...

 

yeah, no probs so far in the 3 kenwood decks i've owned. like i said earlier, i'll keep on using my current one til it craps out on me, or i have an itching to get a new hu

 

Don (Pearl96Max) check your PM