Man the Headunit Game Changed audio wise

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I'm good with 320. Tested side by side with a CD and I can't tell a difference. Anything less I can easily.

 

[jatyro91]

pioneer 2800bs has all of that and its active capable. Its the kenwood ddx 373 counterpart. Different tuning features, brighter sound, more up to date with software including spotify. Takes a bit more experience to tune and get the proper sound over the kenwood which basically has auto tune buttons for SQ tuning.

I loved my 2800BS until it **** out in the cold a year and a half after I got it. I thought I had weak connections at first, but after redoing them and google searches it seems that's just something Pioneer touch screens are plauged with.

 

[djnsmith7]

What is flac? Higher quality regarding compression?

Once you go FLAC, and you have your hardware configured to take full advantage of the improved sound quality, you won't want to listen to any other file type. Everything else will sound watered down & like it's being dragged in the mud. I stopped listening to my 10k MP3 collection days after my FLAC library was proper. My library starts at 1400 kbps & goes up from there (as opposed to MP3's which peak @ 320 kbps).

If you're considering going the streaming route (to avoid buying & storing a CD collection), give Tidal a listen (they have a free 1 week trial). They have a Hi-Fi (FLAC) collection & it's not bad. A lot (but certainly not all) of their stuff is on par with my FLAC collection (which means some of the should-be reference tracks actually sound very close to that level). I listen to both collections regularly & I'm not, by any stretch, an easy customer to please when it comes to music. Three weeks in & I'm still an active customer.

 

[ace_800 5,000+ posts]

I just want a DD with optical out, USB, Bluetooth, Flac, and Android Auto.....is that so **** hard?

 

[murphy917]

Whew! Glad to hear you talking about how the game has changed....

I'm just getting back into building a new system for an old RV I picked up recently and been out of the game for about 10 years....

Just for kicks, here is the last Kenwood Excelon I puchased 10 years ago for a project in my landcruiser build. It had great specs then...

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Since I'm looking for another single DIN HU, I've been trying to catch up on all of the advancements in technology but its so hard to keep up unless you.....keep up.

I've looked at the current Excelon line from Kenwood and "on paper" they look like a steal for what you get but I'm a little concerned about the build quality and real world performance issues that I've read in some of the reviews on Crutchfield and Amazon.

Been looking at the KDC-X898 and KDC-X501 (cant decide if I want 2usb or not & 3 line display)

It seems like that the Pioneer models have the most current software compatibility. That could just be my first impression as I use Spotify and the pioneers are compatible whereas the Kenwood & Alpine dont appear to be.

At around $120, the Pioneer DEH-X6800BS or DEH-X6900BT for $90 appear to be a steal for the connectivity but havent had a pioneer HU since my first tape deck...ha! (one of the first DIN style decks in 80s)

As far as Alpine goes, the CDE-143BT for $129 looks decent as a budget option or the CDE-HD149BT for $210 for more control appear to be their most appealing options.

Still in the planning phase of my RV build but I have a lot of reading to do to get caught up on how much technology has changed and I havent even come close to deciding on speakers yet...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

omg.. my 1st CASSETTE player was a spark-o-matic from advance thing is it was $59 and this $119 kenwood is like the freaking str ship enterprise in comparison.. u guys need to wait 15-25yrs and buy whatever they installing in whatever peeps are driving then probably be more like drones than cars then u see how i feel.. oh and i have no idea what spotify even is., yeah i got old..

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='murphy917']Whew! Glad to hear you talking about how the game has changed....

I'm just getting back into building a new system for an old RV I picked up recently and been out of the game for about 10 years....

Just for kicks, here is the last Kenwood Excelon I puchased 10 years ago for a project in my landcruiser build. It had great specs then...

View attachment 26556201

Since I'm looking for another single DIN HU, I've been trying to catch up on all of the advancements in technology but its so hard to keep up unless you.....keep up.

I've looked at the current Excelon line from Kenwood and "on paper" they look like a steal for what you get but I'm a little concerned about the build quality and real world performance issues that I've read in some of the reviews on Crutchfield and Amazon.

Been looking at the KDC-X898 and KDC-X501 (cant decide if I want 2usb or not & 3 line display)

It seems like that the Pioneer models have the most current software compatibility. That could just be my first impression as I use Spotify and the pioneers are compatible whereas the Kenwood & Alpine dont appear to be.

At around $120, the Pioneer DEH-X6800BS or DEH-X6900BT for $90 appear to be a steal for the connectivity but havent had a pioneer HU since my first tape deck...ha! (one of the first DIN style decks in 80s)

As far as Alpine goes, the CDE-143BT for $129 looks decent as a budget option or the CDE-HD149BT for $210 for more control appear to be their most appealing options.

Still in the planning phase of my RV build but I have a lot of reading to do to get caught up on how much technology has changed and I havent even come close to deciding on speakers yet...[/QUOTE]

@BOOMINGRANDPA is an old timer that just got a new school head unit and he can tell you how his kenwood kdc x301 is suiting him.

Things to look out for
24 bit Digital Analog Convertor aka the build quality you mentioned
4 volt pre-out or higher even though 2 volts work fine aka all the pioneer counter parts
13 band eq or more
time alignment
3 way network active mode if you want to do an active setup which means you have to go with pioneer since alpine and kenwood dont really offer any units that do network mode under 200 dollars.

The rest are just features you want but IMO, audio quality quality and tuning is at the top of my list. If its not a 24 bit dac or higher its basically trash sounding along with all the tuning features.

[quote name='BOOMINGRANDPA']omg.. my 1st CASSETTE player was a spark-o-matic from advance thing is it was $59 and this $119 kenwood is like the freaking str ship enterprise in comparison.. u guys need to wait 15-25yrs and buy whatever they installing in whatever peeps are driving then probably be more like drones than cars then u see how i feel.. oh and i have no idea what spotify even is., yeah i got old..[/QUOTE]

spotify is a music streaming service thats a downloadable app on your smartphone

spotify has all your oldies music in there man in remastered high quality. I'd totally get it for your smart phone. The audio quality is just a lot better than youtube or pandora or FM radio. Very similar to CD if you have the paid subscription which has extreme audio streaming quality. IF you get people to share the bills and do a spotify family which is 15 dollars for 6 people, its only $2.50 a month per prerson for unlimited high quality music and you can search up anything you want and any play list you want or any album or make your own playlist. Yes IT DOES sound THAT much better when you toggle the extreme audio quality in the settings. Imagine what you have right now but A LOT better.

Single person subscription is 10 dollars so eff that idea. for the family just have them make new accounts under the main account holder/payer's address and viola you can have 6 people total that can split the bill with.

never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. There's a nice standard of living that can be had for moderately cheap if you know how to work the system.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

DUDE thats funny reminds me of 4 yrs ago when my stepmom asked me what wi fi was lol, cool man, shame i didn't live long enough for us all to have flying cars.... and yes to rv dude my x301 will blow your mind it has more on it that my home theater receiver and only cost $119 -$129 the 24 bit convertor and extra few watts sounded like i added 2 extra mids and a 8" sub beside my 12", also has hp xover for speakers..amazing..

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Yeah and now even the cheap china mainstream stuff is pretty good for what you get. The kenwood ddx373 i got for my girl's setup is actually sounding better than my setup SQ wise. Stage is wider and more open, detail without any sibilance and did not need to reduce the typical 5khz to 8khz range that I always have to do with pioneer head units. Not to mention its with aluminium dome tweets which usually are extremely sibilant and harsh in my older pioneer head unit setups.
I'll post a build log of her 2016 civic install soon.

Only reason I got this pioneer was networking. Never again.

 

[murphy917]

If I went with the Kenwood, i would go with the KDC-X898 for the 24bit d/a but the spotify control is kinda steering me to one of the Pioneer Units

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

If I went with the Kenwood, i would go with the KDC-X898 for the 24bit d/a but the spotify control is kinda steering me to one of the Pioneer Units
I dont think I have the room in the doors to do an active setup. This motorhome is based on a 1991 Ford E350 and while it's built like a tank, the doors are the old school rollup with the pushout vent windows that people used when smoking. It might be kinda tight to get a set of components in there?

It takes 6 1/2 coax in the door but i'd like to do a set of components if the installation options and level of difficulty werent too difficult. I just dont know much about the install side of things, to be honest.

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Active means you can get some nice quality neodymium drivers rather than components with weak and bulky ferrite motors. Look into crescendo UN, ct sounds neo, mclaren pro audio neo and prv neos. All have shallow mounting depth that cant fit most vehicles are are very good drivers. Paired with a silk dome tweet and active network crossovers and you are golden.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

If I went with the Kenwood, i would go with the KDC-X898 for the 24bit d/a but the spotify control is kinda steering me to one of the Pioneer Units

you should plant that bich flat black put some 26s and drop it with a supercharge 454!

 

---------- Post added at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------

 

If I went with the Kenwood, i would go with the KDC-X898 for the 24bit d/a but the spotify control is kinda steering me to one of the Pioneer Units

you should plant that bich flat black put some 26s and drop it with a supercharge 454!

 

[murphy917]

ha! I hear ya grandpa....

you're never too old to improve your quality of life, right? Thats what spotify has done for me...I have spent $$$$$$ on music over the years, from albums to cassettes to CDs. but for less than the cost of one CD per month ($9.99) you can subscribe to Spotify (several other services but I like it best) and have access to any possible artist and any possible album you can think of....all inclusive... It was a no brainer for me and the amount of music I used to buy every month.

 

[murphy917]

Active means you can get some nice quality neodymium drivers rather than components with weak and bulky ferrite motors. Look into crescendo UN, ct sounds neo, mclaren pro audio neo and prv neos. All have shallow mounting depth that cant fit most vehicles are are very good drivers. Paired with a silk dome tweet and active network crossovers and you are golden.

Ohhhh...Gotcha, I thought active meant running seperates, but you're talking about really choosing the individual drivers to build your soundstage. Wow! That sounds cool, but way above my head. I was thinking about a set of Morel Maximos or something like that but would totally be up for something like youre talking about if I could do it without needing too much power. Im trying to keep things efficient as I'll be dry camping a lot and using solar to recharge the batteries.

 

[murphy917]

you should plant that bich flat black put some 26s and drop it with a supercharge 454! 

---------- Post added at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:43 PM ----------

 

you should plant that bich flat black put some 26s and drop it with a supercharge 454!

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif stay tuned for the paint job....