Cheap eBay Heads

[THRobinson 10+ year member]

Seems here in Canada at least, every site I've gone to so far lists the Kenwood BT518HD and the JVC 340BTS as 'no longer available'.... older models I guess.
@Jeffdachef... what makes the two I listed 'cheap' outta curiosity? When I compare the JVC KD-X255BT with the JVC KD-X350BTS, the only differences I see in the side-by-side

.....................................................KD-X255BT.........KD-X350BTS
Preamp Outputs.............................4-channel...........6-channel
Sub Preamp Outputs......................No......................Yes
Switchable Rear Preamp Outputs....Yes.....................No
Preamp Voltage.............................2.5 volts..............4 volts

Didn't really see much else different apart from warranty... which for the extra year is worth the extra $10CAD in price.

Just curious... the Dodge has that Infinity Amp everything plugs into, so not sure if that affects the preamp voltage? other stuff I don't know if I need? If both are the same KD-X series and only $10 different, I'm just wondering why one is crap and the other isn't...?

Kenwood does look good though... had a Kenwood years back and was a good deck... being a Sony Fanboy I switched to what I have now, which has lasted me over a decade. Sigh, and of course, Amazon.ca for the same deck is about $150CAD. Sadly, in Canada, in addition to the $0.25 to the dollar difference, everything seems to be another 25% more.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='THRobinson']Seems here in Canada at least, every site I've gone to so far lists the Kenwood BT518HD and the JVC 340BTS as 'no longer available'.... older models I guess.
@Jeffdachef... what makes the two I listed 'cheap' outta curiosity? When I compare the JVC KD-X255BT with the JVC KD-X350BTS, the only differences I see in the side-by-side

.....................................................KD-X255BT.........KD-X350BTS
Preamp Outputs.............................4-channel...........6-channel
Sub Preamp Outputs......................No......................Yes
Switchable Rear Preamp Outputs....Yes.....................No
Preamp Voltage.............................2.5 volts..............4 volts

Didn't really see much else different apart from warranty... which for the extra year is worth the extra $10CAD in price.

Just curious... the Dodge has that Infinity Amp everything plugs into, so not sure if that affects the preamp voltage? other stuff I don't know if I need? If both are the same KD-X series and only $10 different, I'm just wondering why one is crap and the other isn't...?

Kenwood does look good though... had a Kenwood years back and was a good deck... being a Sony Fanboy I switched to what I have now, which has lasted me over a decade. Sigh, and of course, Amazon.ca for the same deck is about $150CAD. Sadly, in Canada, in addition to the $0.25 to the dollar difference, everything seems to be another 25% more. [/QUOTE]

2 sets of rca pre-outs that are only 2.5 volts vs 3 sets of rca pre-outs that are 4 volts..... Thats a complete and utter no brainer man. 3 pairs of 4 volt or higher RCA outputs is a bare minimum. The KD-X255BT does not meet this requirement at all.

 

[THRobinson 10+ year member]

Well... it's a no brainer to someone who knows stereos but to an average-joe like me... I have no idea what difference that would make when using an adapter plug to go from the deck to the existing harness/amp in the car.

If I'm plugging this directly into the stereo... does it matter how many pre-outs there are? and since goes to the infinity amp, does the voltage matter?

https://www.crutchfield.ca/p_120706502/Metra-70-6502-Receiver-Wiring-Harness.html

I'm not arguing with what you said... but, just saying it's a no brainer with 0 details as to why, doesn't explain it very well... if I were running an amp and doing all the wiring and such I'm sure that stuff makes a big difference, but if using a plug'n'play adapter.... do those specs make a difference?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

it does when you ever want to upgrade anything else in the system later or sell the head unit. the 350bts can get you a very ridiculous audiophile experience if you utilize the 3 way network mode properly but thats in the future. Definitely future proof yourself just in case.

 

[THRobinson 10+ year member]

Car has 7 speakers, I don't know if I can afford to upgrade it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

But... as much as I like future proofing... if I plan to just keep the speakers as-is, then otherwise the two decks are basically the same correct?

I'll probably get the KD-X350BTS though either way, simply because it's $10 more and shows 2yr warranty, the other is listed as a 1yr... worth the extra $10 right there... I was just curious if it would sound better than the other on my otherwise stock setup, which I guess it'll sound the same.

Same price range... would there be any sound difference between Kenwood/JVC/Pioneer? or for the under $150CAD price range, basically comes down to future-proofing features like outputs?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Car has 7 speakers, I don't know if I can afford to upgrade it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
But... as much as I like future proofing... if I plan to just keep the speakers as-is, then otherwise the two decks are basically the same correct?

I'll probably get the KD-X350BTS though either way, simply because it's $10 more and shows 2yr warranty, the other is listed as a 1yr... worth the extra $10 right there... I was just curious if it would sound better than the other on my otherwise stock setup, which I guess it'll sound the same.

Same price range... would there be any sound difference between Kenwood/JVC/Pioneer? or for the under $150CAD price range, basically comes down to future-proofing features like outputs?

usually when the head unit has 3 sets of 4 volt pre-out RCAs, the sound internals are better.

 

[THRobinson 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info... likely will grab that KD-X350BTS. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[THRobinson 10+ year member]

Hey... just an update...

JVC KD-X350BTS is now installed... looks good sounds good. Having a few minor issues with setup though, like getting the time to display and remain displayed. Seems to switch itself back for some reason. But otherwise seems pretty good.

Android remote app though is kinda junk... some of the stuff like changing the colours, doesn't work. One of those deals where they need to higher a proper designer to make the GUI a bit more intuitive as well.

Otherwise, seems pretty good so far.

Only non-working part now is the Axxcess steering wheel control adapter. I soldered both the ground for the adapter and the JVC wiring harness, to the ground on the Metra wiring harness. Made sense to me, but Axxcess tech support says it's probably not working because of that and to ground to the metal chassis of the truck instead. Weird... figured the factory wiring harness ground woulda been just fine.

 

[MattinMO]

I bought a cheap eBay single din Bluetooth head unit to put in a car I was selling and it was $14 shipped and pretty terrible the fm receiver barley picked up any stations and the Bluetooth worked when it wanted to.