kenwood excelon series.......

[JAL232 10+ year member]

Just installed my 890 this weekend. Man what a difference in sound it makes from stock. I have a grand prix GTP and ive upgraded the 6*9 rears to Pioneer 4 ways. It sounds great..looks great..and I love it..I would recommend this HU anytime

 

[rollerdj 10+ year member]

the 890's a great unit, but i still like my 25th anniversary unit better. plus you don't see to many of them. at least i havn't seen one round here yet.

 

[15nissen 10+ year member]

i have the excelon x590 and i love it. its fairly easy to use and has alot of good features......//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

better screen too

You sure about that? Looking at the two units on the Kenwood site they look to have the same display.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

You sure about that? Looking at the two units on the Kenwood site they look to have the same display.

According to the specs the KDC-X790 and KDC-X890 both have the same 64 color flourescent display.

You have to upgrade to the KDC-X990 to get the same 4,096 color OEL display that the 25th Anniversary XXV-01D was given. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

So, as far as differences go between the X790 and the X890 I think that the only difference is the USB input on the X890.

If you have no use for the USB then save some cash and get the X790. You'll get the same internal crossover network, the same high-end DACs, etc etc etc featured in the X890 just without the added "handy" factor of the USB input port.

(I'm with rollerdj, personally, and am in love with my XXV and plan on using it until it simply falls apart. That is unless Kenwood puts out something I absolutely have to have then the XXV will get safely put away and kept if for no other reason than there aren't heaps of them out there.)

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

Cool, thanks Prowler, I just ordered an X790 for a friend of mine. Looking forward to checking it out first hand.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

if you haven't already figured this out, kenwood fans are just as die-hard and vigilant as alpine and pioneer fans.

we love our ****ing decks.

they look beautiful, yet never tacky, and sound amazing to boot.

I bleed black, blue and red. Only decks i'll ever own.

But i WILL mention kenwood's ipod interface leaves a bit to be desired //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

but they could always come out with an improved one.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

if you haven't already figured this out, kenwood fans are just as die-hard and vigilant as alpine and pioneer fans.
we love our ****ing decks.

they look beautiful, yet never tacky, and sound amazing to boot.

I bleed black, blue and red. Only decks i'll ever own.

But i WILL mention our ipod interface leaves a bit to be desired //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

but they could always come out with an improved one.

With two exceptions ever since the very first Kenwood HU I ever bought (a dual-shaft tape deck...yes, I'm that old) I haven't bought another brand of HU.

The two exceptions are an Alpine CDA-7875 I found at a garage sale for $20 (working!) and a Sanyo tape deck I eBayed for a work truck once.

Those of us that believe do so rather strongly //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[tab10 10+ year member]

I was going to get the Alpine 9857 for my ***** Am, but I have been reading disappointing reviews of the '06 Alpines. Also, I have read that 9857 may not work the HUMOUNT that I ordered.. So I started looking elsewhere....

So guys... the Kenwood X890 FTW???? Is it a definite upgrade over the 9857??

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

I was going to get the Alpine 9857 for my ***** Am, but I have been reading disappointing reviews of the '06 Alpines. Also, I have read that 9857 may not work the HUMOUNT that I ordered.. So I started looking elsewhere....
So guys... the Kenwood X890 FTW???? Is it a definite upgrade over the 9857??

Just looking at it from a specs point of view and leaving out my predisposition for suggesting Kenwood HUs in general I would say most certainly.

The Alpine has a 3-band para-EQ similar to the Kenwood's and it adds the BBE processing which the Kenwood lacks (though I haven't a clue as to how much, if any, an advantage this presents for the Alpine having never heard the results of its use).

The other nod towards the Alpine is its ability to utilize Alpine's new high-speed iPod interface which word on the street tends to agree is the best of the bunch currently available if iPod integration is important to you.

But then the Kenwood brings some really high-end Digital/Analog converters, a built-in aux. input, a pretty solid built-in crossover network, and the previously mentioned USB input port.

Screen preference might be a half-n-half mix as the Kenwood has a 64 color display which is nice but the Alpine features their BioLite display which most users who have experienced it seem to be quite fond of it.

If preamp output voltage is of any importance to you then that award goes to the Kenwood with 5-volt preouts as compared to 2-volt outputs on the Alpine.

Both seem to sport a decent feature-list with the Kenwood, in my humble opinion, having the advantage is SQ-potential with better overall internal processing. Add to that my long-held loyalty to Kenwood and more specifically their eXcelon HUs the KDC-X890 is easily a winner over the CDA-9857.

 

[TheOtherSide 10+ year member]

Ive been using eXcelon HU's for some time now. Got my first one in '97, the PS809 and it is still in my old beater car. Still sounds great, never had any probs with it, other than the cable wire breaking (the thing that connects the mask flip face to the HU body wore out but was easily replaced). I am currently running a x979 that has more audio setup controls than I can use. Internal crossover networks are great too. Also, I think the x870 may have this too, is the digital time alignment feature. Helps get the sound closer to perfect. I'll stick with my Kenwood's. I have also used a few Eclipse's but something about them being almost twice as expensive and sounding the same on the same rig didn't help their case.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

x979's were the best, wish i still had mine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

i love my xxv. sound quality is great to say the least.

 

[randyrsx 10+ year member]

x979's were the best, wish i still had mine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

I do! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif My x790 is still currently broken. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[MrSwiss 10+ year member]

According to the specs the KDC-X790 and KDC-X890 both have the same 64 color flourescent display.
You have to upgrade to the KDC-X990 to get the same 4,096 color OEL display that the 25th Anniversary XXV-01D was given. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

So, as far as differences go between the X790 and the X890 I think that the only difference is the USB input on the X890.

If you have no use for the USB then save some cash and get the X790. You'll get the same internal crossover network, the same high-end DACs, etc etc etc featured in the X890 just without the added "handy" factor of the USB input port.

(I'm with rollerdj, personally, and am in love with my XXV and plan on using it until it simply falls apart. That is unless Kenwood puts out something I absolutely have to have then the XXV will get safely put away and kept if for no other reason than there aren't heaps of them out there.)

the 890 has a 4 band eq, the 790 only has 3. I own the 790.