Possibly OT: head units?

In another thread I'd made an aside about being tempted to buy a new Kenwood head unit for the Heep. Right now I've got a JVC Arsenal KD-AHD39 in there that I originally bought a couple years ago for my pickup truck, but I pulled it to sell. When I got the Heep it had a cheap Sony unit with front USB, but I pulled it because a) it did not have HD radio (which actually I like, even though it is not widely used by others than NPR geeks) b) it wasn't "satellite ready" (although that was a complete bust, I tried hooking up my old XM tuner, didn't pull a signal just like it wouldn't in my pickup truck, bought a new antenna, still won't pull a signal, I'm cancelling my service, another tuner is too expensive for me) and c) the USB connection was not useful to me because when I hooked it up to my Android phone (HTC Evo 4G) I apparently have more files/folders on it than it can read, and the tracks/albums are seemingly randomly organized (by date of file maybe?) so I found myself using aux in and a patch cord and controlling my music through the phone's interface anyway.

This is the head unit I was considering buying - it looks good on paper and seems to address all the issues that I had with the Sony, is satellite ready if I ever decide to go down that road again (but probably not) and includes built in HD Radio and Bluetooth (which would be nice, I hate using a headset.)

http://outlet.crutchfield.com/p_113KDCX896/Kenwood-Excelon-KDC-X896.html?cc=07


Kenwood Excelon KDC-X896; seems to be the same as the more expensive 996 but has front jacks for aux in and USB instead of rear which I think I would prefer.

Another poster responded that he had not had good luck with a Kenwood unit and went Pioneer instead. Any opinions or clarifications greatly appreciated, and a recommend for a good solid head unit would be as well. I've not really looked seriously at a newer Arsenal unit as they didn't have all the features that I wanted, although it looks like the KD-AHD75BT might fit the bill, seems to have been introduced since the last time I looked. (and I'm shocked at how these new HU's with all these features don't cost that much more than I paid for my KD-AHD39... time marches on I guess.)

If the person that replied to the other thread is reading this, is this the unit to which you refer?

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130P9400BH/Pioneer-DEH-P9400BH.html

and are there any things that you don't like about it of which I should be aware?

Anyway, opinions gratefully appreciated.

thanks!

The 9400 is one that I would suggest. If you go 100 dollars more and get the 80prs you get an awesome auto tuning proccessor that tunes the car and time aligns everything for you. I have both and they are both great sounding decks but the 80prs has bur browns DACs and more equalization. It just is a great sounding deck. Pioneer is now using parrot in there decks now instead of there propitiatory Bluetooth of the past. It works and sound quite good. I know there are two USB inputs on both and you can bluetooth music from your phone on both easily. Pioneer has been making there decks mp3 player compatable for a long time and have a great reputation. I have friends that work in a high end car audio shop that just about slapped the kenwood and and alpine reps when they visited their shop. Their products are just not stacking up to pioneer or anything else on the market this year. As I also found out.

Pioneer/Premier is my top choice for current decks.
I'm still rocking my Alpine 78xx series as it has mp3 cd playback, aux input and 27rms per channel. I'll upgrade when this breaks.

i hate my pioneer premier with a passion, the interface is the worst. the past 2 pioneers ive had developed issues with the volume control. i am on the verge of ripping it out of my car for a cheaper Sony unit. the audio quality from the built in amp is good, that's about the only good thing i can say about it.
i've also had poor luck with kenwood decks, the quality has seemed to be sub par and they break easily. the sound quality was also poor, but i would expect better if you go with the excelon.
I like the Sony decks, i have one in the heep and i have one in my van. both replaced broken Kenwood units. With Sony, you seem to get more for your money in the features department, and the interface is easy to use. The sound quality is decent, especially for a $120 deck. They are certainly not audiophile quality, but if your jeep is anything like mine, you're not going to be able to hear much of a difference between a $120 deck and a $300 over the road noise and typical jeep noises. I usually just aim for the one that doesnt clip or distort when i crank one of my favorite songs

Kenwood excelon here... Older model of what you linked, kdc x something. It was the middle of the three when I bought it 2 years ago.. Sat and he radio ready, ipod control, great screen, didn't have bluetooth or color changing like the top one did but didn't need that for the extra 100. I would def buy it again, it's the best deck I've had... I've had sonys from 55 to 200 bucks, pioneers, alpine. This one is the best. I wanted loud and quality without wiring an amp xovers, and spending stupid money, and I'm more than happy with 4 Polk 6.5s and a 10" sub+ amp to round it out.

I'm a fan of Pioneer/Premier as well

love me some alpine, as Johnniewalker said I'm still rocking an old CDA9815. it's been in 5 different vehicles now and is still working great for me.

GrimmJeeper said:

love me some alpine, as Johnniewalker said I'm still rocking an old CDA9815. it's been in 5 different vehicles now and is still working great for me.

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Alpine CDA9815 is in my Jeep Comanche, love it. Find another deck with 60wattsx4 and has a 24dB/octave crossover with eq and BBE. As for the people who use their ipods and usb drives it is not the best choice. But for pure sound quality and power nothing tops it.

CDE HD138BT seems to be the suggested replacement for the alpine... seems a possibility but $300? Worth it?

knever3 said:

Alpine CDA9815 is in my Jeep Comanche, love it. Find another deck with 60wattsx4 and has a 24dB/octave crossover with eq and BBE. As for the people who use their ipods and usb drives it is not the best choice. But for pure sound quality and power nothing tops it.

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there is an adapter wire you can get to plug into the back of the alpine's input port to connect directly to an ipod. I have 3 of them, one thatwill do the ipod, one that goes to a standard headphone jack, and one that goes to RCA inputs from when I had a ps2 in one of my previous cars. all of them are cheap on ebay

N8N_99xj said:

CDE HD138BT seems to be the suggested replacement for the alpine... seems a possibility but $300? Worth it?

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I payed $150 for mine used 2 years after it because discontinued, and i'd pay it again in a heartbeat.

OK, I need to order something this weekend... just sold my pickemup truck and as part of the deal I've agreed to throw in my old KD-AHD39 and install for an extra $50 (not really that big a deal; I can do it in a matter of minutes really.) But I need tunes in my heep. What I've got is Polk 6.5s in both the front doors and a used sound bar in the rear, and I'll probably not put a whole lot more effort into this setup. I would like enough power to make the Polks sound good, bluetooth, android music streaming would be nice, USB capability (for LARGE music collections - the Sony that was in the Heep when I bought it didn't cut it) would be nice as well, HD Radio, and possibly Sirius/XM capability although I don't think I will really use the latter.

It seems that my options are:

- JVC Arsenal KD-AHD75BT ($200) - seems to actually have the capability of having the most files/folders on USB memory stick - 20,000 files and 2,000 folders - tempted to go with this one
- Kenwood Excelon KDC-X896 ($260) only 255 folders
- Pioneer DEH-P9400BH ($230) - 15,000 files; 1,500 folders
- Pioneer DEH-80PRS ($350) - 15,000 files; 1,500 folders
- Alpine CDE HD138BT ($300) - only 255 folders

I may come back and edit this post after I've dl'd all the manuals for these units, need to compare USB mass storage capabilities of all units. Prices are all from Crutchfield which I know probably aren't the lowest I can get but I figure are valid for relative comparison.

Edit: after looking at the USB memory capabilities, am thinking that it's back to JVC, or maybe Pioneer. Unless the BT streaming actually works well and seamlessly? (I have all my music on a SD card in my phone, which I've upgraded since my original post to a Motorola Photon.)

Thoughts? thanks for opinions...

Been happy with my Dual. Cheap, and been going strong for 5 years now. The giant volume knob is nice when blasting down fire roads.

I'm happy with my alpine CDA-9887.

well, after reading all the specs, the one that on paper had all the features that I wanted and seemed to offer the best performance for the price was the JVC... just like it was 3-4 years ago when I bought my last head unit. The new one is already on order...

Sidebar question, was thinking of using one of those little USB thumb drives that are super small, like a cordless mouse transmitter, in the front panel to hold my music library. Anyone recommend one, or a similar format USB reader for a SDXC card (would actually prefer the latter; I've seen a neat one for a SDHC but not sure if it'll read SDXC or not.) Just too many choices online. Would like at least 32GB preferably 64GB so I can just have my entire music library loaded in the vehicle at all times.

Edit: I found the receipt for the old one when going through the files for my pickup truck; I paid $170 for it in 2008. I thought it was a good deal then but now it's nowhere near competitive for the features it has... :/

32gb thumb drives come up for less than 20 bucks all the time on deals.woot.com, i would prefer a unit with a rear usb input so i could put a cord on it and route it into the glove box if I were going to go that route.

GrimmJeeper said:

32gb thumb drives come up for less than 20 bucks all the time on deals.woot.com, i would prefer a unit with a rear usb input so i could put a cord on it and route it into the glove box if I were going to go that route.

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Deffinately a plus with a rear mount USB. Both the pioneers have two in the back and an aux in on the front.

Oh and as for the Bluetooth. It works flawlessly as a phone hands free and as a media player from the phone. Sound quality is great as well. I don't know if I said it in an earlier post but pioneer is using parrot hands free software instead of the own proprietary stuff from a few years ago. Parrot is one of the best and easiest out there to work with.

Well i got the JVC today and slapped it in... BT streaming works but w/ no display of info on HU. BT phone works well. Tuner better than old JVC. Won't read SD card on USB. Sounds pretty good. Not sure if one of the other choices would have been better, but it's in there.

I don't think any head unit displays info while streaming Bluetooth audio. It is only receiving two channels audio. Good luck with it man. I guess there is no real right choice unless it's right for you so enjoy it.

If anyone is following I got a thumb drive; sound is noticeably better from thumb than bt streaming from phone - same mp3 files. Not sure if prob is HU or phone (motorola photon) hands free works great. Wish it had a little more power though, with jeep noise it can be cranked to hear well. Probably time for an amp if I want more. Have not tried satellite; can't get my equip to work and will be getting new company car, changing from xm to sirius anyway.