Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X693

[Shouse94 10+ year member]

I just got one from Crutchfield. Open box. I installed it, everything worked fine for a couple days and than "POP! HISS!", done. Noise from then on. Swapped out h/u's to make sure 100% it was the problem.

It was a clean install but I did not ground the chasis or anything, just used the stock harness. Not sure if that's a bad thing for this headunit. I talked to Kenwood support and they said it wasn't a big deal and haven't heard of this problem yet. It's in the shop now, so we'll see what the outcome is.

 

[PerformanceAuto 10+ year member]

Kenwood tends to have the highest audio output quality around, in its class. They are good units and if you have any problems it is normally due to installation or wiring issues.

 

[Shouse94 10+ year member]

Coming from a Kenwood dealer, I'm not convinced.

 

[PerformanceAuto 10+ year member]

Coming from a Kenwood dealer, I'm not convinced.

LOL agreed, but I do sell over 25 other brands besides Kenwood.

I chose to go direct with Kenwood and represent Kenwood the most for the exact reason of quality of product. I have had next to no issues with customers' satisfaction with their Kenwood purchases from me. Too many other issues with other brands, DOA or needing warranty work within the first year.

Bottom line, happy to help with tech support or sales of any product in which I can!

 

[Shouse94 10+ year member]

Appreciate it. I talked to Kenwood tech. They had never heard of this problem happening before. They did take care of me though. Hooked me up with a local repair shop that will do the work under warranty. He ALSO had not heard of these problems happening to Kenwoods. They also BOTH said it didn't matter if I used the existing wiring harness.

AS everyone has said, Kenwood has the "highest audio output quality around" and the stock wiring harness should not make or break the installation. Even still, despite the advice, I'm considering ripping apart the dash to run my own ground.

 

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

Kenwood has the best CD SnR typically, but of the headunits that give us problems, Kenwoods top the list. Especially the non-Excelon units. The 342U like to clip, even at low volumes, and we've had quite a few issues with the displays going out.

 

[SomeGuyDude 10+ year member]

Just so you know, $165 shipped from OnlineCarStereo. http://onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=21642

EDIT: Also, I'm not sure if it's better, but this is the one I'm getting. http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=18795

 

[callmeryang 10+ year member]

can we get more reviews please ?

someone take a vid possibly of the HU and functions..etc.

im probly gonna get this HU but i wanna know bad thigns about it too

 

[Chad T 10+ year member]

I got a 693 to replace my old Kenwood Excelon KDC-PS907 (it died for a second time....had it repaired once, but not gonna do it again).

This is my first head unit purchase since the 907, which I believe I bought in 1998. I got the 693 installed in my 1991 Toyota 4x4 today. My how things have changed and the 693 is awesome! It's nearly impossible to effectively operate without really spending some time with the unit and/or reading the manual. That's fine as I generally don't want people messing with it anyway.

The 693 sounds great. After playing around with time alignment, I can say that is a feature I can't live without from now on.

It was mentioned above that the 693 doesn't have per speaker time alignment. From what I can tell, it doesn't let you adjust every single speaker because it's not setup to run an active setup, but it does do more than just front and rear. The manual lacks and the UI is a little confusing, but it appears there are two separate time alignment areas as follows:

1. The first is in the Sound -> Setup -> DTA. This apparently "fine tunes" the cabin selection that is made in Sound -> Setup -> Cabin. I did not use (turned off) the cabin feature as there is just too much variance between vehicles IMO for that to be effective. What I'm not sure of is if the DTA settings have an effect if Cabin is turned to Off. Anyway, the DTA section allows you to set front/rear/sub time alignment, but not individual speakers.

2. The second is in Sound -> Control -> Position. Within that you can select Front-Left, Front-Right, Front, and ALL. Basically there are four presets available. To fine tune each preset, you first select the one you want to adjust, then you back out and go to Sound -> Control -> Position. That allows you to separately adjust FL, FR, RL, RR, SUBL, & SUBR. I opted to do 3 presets: 1) Front-Left for when I am the only person in the vehicle, 2) Front-Right for when I want the system to sound best in the passenger seat, and 3) Front for when I want a sound optimized for both seats. While setting up time alignment, instead of making actual measurements, I opted to just tweak using my ears. On to other things...

I opted to turn the internal amp off as I am running RCAs to a Soundstream D60II (old school) amp. This powers a set of Soundstream SS511 (old school) component speakers installed in the doors. That setup sounds great!

Overall, I am very happy with the 693, but I've got to spend some more time with it. I do have a couple questions:

1. My 693 doesn't beep even when I have Menu -> Beep set to ON. I'm wondering if you have to be using the internal amp for that feature to work?

2. What exactly is the 693 doing when you select speaker size, location, & tweeter none/use within Setup -> Sound -> Speaker? The manual says that it affects the crossover settings, but it doesn't say much beyond that. I found that it sets the crossover for my SS511 set (component set with 5" driver and a tweeter) to 60hz with a 12db slope. Then I can go into Setup -> Sound -> Speaker if I want to tweak the X-over and slope. I am yet to figure out what the Speaker Location & Speaker Size Tweeter settings are for.

 

[Chad T 10+ year member]

What I don't like about the 693 after a few days of use:

1. As others have said, the display can be difficult to see when there is direct sunlight. The problem is not the brightness level of the display, but rather the shininess/reflectivity of the faceplate. It would have been nice if Kenwood would have used a duller finish. This issue can be minimized with display settings. I need to play around with it more, but so far it seems that Colors 10, 7, & 5 (in that order from most to least effective) with Contrast at 5, and Positive display work the best. Thankfully those colors blend fairly well with my vehicle. Viewing the display at night is an issue in a total opposite way....the display is too bright for my tastes. This can be adjusted by changing the color, reducing contrast, and/or changing from Positive to Negative, but that would be a pain to mess with on a daily basis. I may end up wiring the unit to my vehicle's dimmer control as that would be easier to tweak.

2. Another issue with the faceplate being so shiny is that it shows fingerprints and other grime very easily.

3. I am getting used to the menus, but you have to go into them for nearly EVERYTHING. It would be nice if time alignment presets and some other features were quicker access.

4. I don't like all of the screen gibberish/hyperactivity you see when bouncing around the various functions of the head unit. I'm not sure if Kenwood thinks that is visually cool or if the head unit has processing latency and they give us something to look at while it is processing.

5. I already miss the motorized mask face of my 907. That's not really a critique of the 693 since nobody (that I know of) is doing that anymore on new head units. Motorized Mask was such a cool feature, but it was prone to failing as my 907 failed twice because of it.

6. I've not really got into EQ'ing with the unit yet, but it would be nice if it had more bands or a parametric EQ. But anybody that researches the unit up front should already be aware of those specs.

7. The manual isn't the worst I've seen, but it could be better. Some parts are worse than others. The section near the back that tries to explain calculating custom DTA settings was almost comedic it is so bad.

That's what I can think of right now. I'll edit this post if in the future if I run into more things I don't like about the 693.

BTW, those "issues" are all totally workable for me. There isn't any one thing that really turns me off. For the feature set offered, it's truly amazing that these things can be bought for around $150 shipped brand new on Ebay.

 

[abrhino 10+ year member]

i just orderedone for $150 shipped, install kit,antenna, and harness/ AXXESS amp turn on interface cost another $35..

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

I have the HU, I love it. Awesome iPod control, good SQ, can turn off the built in DSP and amp. I definitely recommend this unit for anyone.

 

[blindskater1213 10+ year member]

I just got it and it is pretty awesome! No complaints... however, I cant seem to figure out how to set the date? Haha, I must just be missing it, I set the x overs, eq and everything else but I cant find the date...

 

[callmeryang 10+ year member]

I just got it and it is pretty awesome! No complaints... however, I cant seem to figure out how to set the date? Haha, I must just be missing it, I set the x overs, eq and everything else but I cant find the date...

ME TOO. i can't find how to set the date or time..

 

[blindskater1213 10+ year member]

ME TOO. i can't find how to set the date or time..

Haha, I got the time, its under either menu or setup and you have to press and hold the right knob on the one that says "Time" or "Set clock" or somehting like that