Kenwood x889 vs Eclipse cd5435

[Stillmatic22 10+ year member]

Which would you choose and why? Both have 5v pre-outs. Which would have better SQ out of the 2. Oh and how does the alpine 9853 compare SQ wise with the 2.

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[JLCivic 10+ year member]

I prefer Eclipse to Kenwood. The 05 Excelons have received some very glowing reviews on the forums. Nobody can tell you for sure what your ears will tell you. If possible, listen to both.

 

[Logikalliquid 10+ year member]

Definatley get a listen to both(all 3) if possible. I don't know what exactly was changed this year beside the front face, but my '04 Excelon sounds real smooth. I've heard that Eclipses can have a hollow/tinny kinda sound or the most perfect sound ever(either you'll love it or hate it).

 

[El Ropo 10+ year member]

The x889 has more features that allow you to customize the sound to your liking, such as digital time alignment, cabin size and type selection, and speaker size. It also has a 4 band PEQ with adjustable center frequencies, and decay rate. Another advantage is the fully selectable xover points. The x889 allows you to choose low pass or high pass at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, etc up to 220 I think, with individually selectable slopes of 12, 18, or 24db. The eclipse only allows certain freqencies on low/highpass, like 63, 80, 100 etc.

The eclipse does have its own form of SRS WOW, which the x889 has as well. I can't imagine the eclipse sounding any better than the x889, given all the extra flexibility the 889 has. Also, with x889, you can remove your faceplate! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[SoLowitHrz21 10+ year member]

X2 el ropo

 

[JLCivic 10+ year member]

The x889 has more features that allow you to customize the sound to your liking, such as digital time alignment, cabin size and type selection, and speaker size. It also has a 4 band PEQ with adjustable center frequencies, and decay rate. Another advantage is the fully selectable xover points. The x889 allows you to choose low pass or high pass at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, etc up to 220 I think, with individually selectable slopes of 12, 18, or 24db. The eclipse only allows certain freqencies on low/highpass, like 63, 80, 100 etc.
The eclipse does have its own form of SRS WOW, which the x889 has as well. I can't imagine the eclipse sounding any better than the x889, given all the extra flexibility the 889 has. Also, with x889, you can remove your faceplate! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Just playing devil's advocate here....more features is certainly no guarantee that the kenwood will sound better. Any Eclipse I have ever had sounded amazing simply set flat. As for detach face, some prefer it, some don't.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

These dont quite match up on paper, nor price. My take is you are not buying authorized since you are comparing both. Yes the Kenwood has more tunning capabilities and Crutchfield sells it at $449 vs Eclipse that runs $300 even or under whichever dealer you go to. A better comparo would be against a cd8445 which has 24bit, 7band Parametric, T/A...8v/55ohm outputs...hmmmn..

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

These dont quite match up on paper, nor price. My take is you are not buying authorized since you are comparing both. Yes the Kenwood has more tunning capabilities and Crutchfield sells it at $449 vs Eclipse that runs $300 even or under whichever dealer you go to. A better comparo would be against a cd8445 which has 24bit, 7band Parametric, T/A...8v/55ohm outputs...hmmmn..

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

unless you try both in the same car side by side you cant say which sounds better

but my excelon keeps impressing me,every time I mess with it I grab a little more SQ

unlike my 9833,which is a bloody disgrace to tune and mess with -

there is no perfect HU IMO - every one has something I can find wrong

but try the 889,youll be smiling