SOUND: Pioneer 6800 VS Kenwood Excelon X590

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

You should like it just fine.

The KDC-X889 is a more than capable unit //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[MTXman 10+ year member]

I always buy Pioneer HUs and they have always been faithful, especially with the tuning abilities.

The kenwood is fugly IMHO, but if looks dont matter base it on other things, but its hideous.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

he's got a point, SILVER matches most car interiors way better than black and red.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

heyman421??

Care to respond to my question regarding your earlier post???

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

ah, no i was confused because i remembered last year everyone was comparing the xxv-01d and the x990, and i remembered one of them had a different DAC that the other kenwoods didn't have.

then for some reason i was thinking it was the xxv-01d, where it was the x990 that use wolfenso-and-so DAC's

i already addressed the mixup on the last page

and besides, you really went out of your way to call me out on that, can't we persecuted kenwood fans just get along? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Ahh......mixing it up between the Burr Browns and the Wolfsons //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

It all makes sense now...

Yeah, we can get along. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsup.gif.3287b36ca96645a13a43aff531f37f02.gif

 

[ty1er 10+ year member]

I went ahead and purchased an X889. I seriously doubt that I won't be happy with it, I seem to be hearing only great things about the Kenwood Excelon decks and this thing has features out the ***. I'll be back to review it briefly after I install it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Good choice!

I have owned quite a few different kenwoods, and pioneers. If your looking for excellent SQ, Kenwood far exceeds pioneer.

thats my 2cents

 

[vincentp83 10+ year member]

OK, I lied. The store I was buying from didn't have the x889 in stock anymore, even though it showed it on their website. I called in and they had the x890 for around the same price, so I bought that, but I'm a little bummed. It seems like the x889 had better speaker size settings and it had the SRS WOW functionality, which the x890 doesn't. Sure, it has USB, but I won't be using that. I really don't want to wait much longer to put this in my car, so I'm not feeling like returning it and searching around for another 889. Is the SRS a big deal to be losing, or is the x890 actually a better unit? I'm sure I won't be dissapointed with it, I was just a little disheartened to find out it didn't come with that feature since it sounded interesting to me.

 

[explorer2 10+ year member]

The 890 has wolfson dacs, which are claimed to be better. I dont use the srs anyways but the speaker size settings are nice, what did they change?

 

[vincentp83 10+ year member]

It's hard to tell. According to Crutchfield, these are what each unit offer for speaker settings:

For the X889

Sound Management System (S.M.S.): In order to optimize the sound quality, you can use the Sound Management System to set the vehicle and speaker sizes. The S.M.S. settings include the following:

Cabin Setting: Choose from Compact, Full Size Car, Wagon 1, Wagon 2, Mini Van 1, Mini Van 2, SUV, Mini Van Long, or Off

Speaker Select Front: Choose from 4", 5", 6-1/2", 6-3/4", 7", 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 6" x 8", 6" x 9", 7" x 10", or O.E.M.

Speaker Select Rear: Choose from 4", 5", 6-1/2", 6-3/4", 7", 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 6" x 8", 6" x 9", 7" x 10", O.E.M or None.

Speaker Select Subwoofer: Choose from 6-1/2", 8", 10", 12", 15" or over, or None

Preset Memory: Call Mode 1 & 2 and Memory Mode 1 & 2

For the X890

Speaker Settings: The Speaker Setting function tailors the System Q Sound Control settings according to the type of speakers in your vehicle. You may select a Speaker Setting of "SP Off" (flat), "SP OEM." (for OEM factory speaker systems), "SP 6x9/6" (for systems with 6" and 6"x9" speakers), or "SP 5/4" (for systems with 4" and 5" speakers).

My car has 6.5" speakers front and back, so there doesn't even seem to be a proper setting for it.

 

[boarder124 10+ year member]

I really like my x889. It is almost identical to the xxv-01d, as the maunals are the same. The only difference that i could find between the two is the screens and the xxv-01d might have better quality rca cables out of the hu, other than that, I honestly don't think that there is a difference between the two. The SRS function is useless in my opion, as it degrades the SQ of the unit. The only think that kenwood needs to work on is getting a hu to go 3-way active. If the x889 had that feature it would be hands down one of the best hu's on the market, but it still is one of the best hu's for the money.