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<blockquote data-quote="zippinbye" data-source="post: 8167116" data-attributes="member: 623244">If you want some recent experience based on advice from a &quot;value&quot; car audio guy, here it is. I assume you are scrapping the Kenwood due to lack of features, maybe it&#039;s a few years old. Like you, I wanted better sound and modern features, the most important being hands-free phone calls in excellent quality.&nbsp; It was all about keeping my teen daughter&#039;s eyes on the road.&nbsp; The following does all that, plus streams music via Bluetooth from your smartphone.&nbsp; I cannot think of any item I have purchased for $130 or less that does so much or makes a car so much better than this Pioneer deck (mind you the car is a &quot;classic&quot; 95 Volvo, easy to improve!): Pioneer DEH-X6500BT.&nbsp; Let me preface by saying I have no great brand allegiance, it&#039;s just what I chose and I am very pleased with it.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure competitors offer equally fine products.&nbsp; Just now the DEH-X6600BT superseded it, so get that for the same price.&nbsp; It adds Siri interface if you are into iPhones.&nbsp; I bought the 6500 from Crutchfield in December.&nbsp; I expect it&#039;s on eBay for $100 or less now.&nbsp; But to play devils advocate for a double DIN touch screen DVD that does everything of the former, plus the obvious &quot;more,&quot; two days ago I installed a Pioneer AVH-X2500BT in the Volvo&#039;s replacement, a Toyota Avalon.&nbsp; It&#039;s was new in box for $208 shipped on eBay.&nbsp; So forgetting about the video capabilities and touch screen for a moment, both styles of Pioneer will rock your Integra in a way a factory stereo never imagined, just powering 4 channels directly from the deck.&nbsp; I am very pleased with the sound from these Pioneers with stock speakers in both the Volvo and Toyota.&nbsp; Both cars had &quot;high end&quot; factory sound systems from their day (JBL in the Avalon), so the speakers are decent and greatly enhanced by a modern &quot;push.&quot;&nbsp; Sure, it would be better with some upgraded speakers too, but I&#039;m pretty confident that the deck alone is the biggest bang for the buck.As someone else alluded too, bass enhancement would be a great benefit too.&nbsp; I bought a cheap eBay amp (Dual XPA2100, around $50 I think) that calls itself 300 watts.&nbsp; I ran it bridged (one channel, RMS 150w @ 4ohms) using the Pioneer&#039;s preamp sub woofer RCA output, powering a Kenwood 12&quot; woofer in an enclosure in the huge trunk.&nbsp; The woofer and enclosure were on a sale at Best Buy, $75 total, although they retailed for $200 and $100 respectfully.&nbsp; With Crutchfield&#039;s free install gear and miscellaneous cables and stuff free from my electrician neighbor, I was at about $260 for the entire Volvo system.&nbsp; The package has a crisp, powerful sound that is very adjustable.&nbsp; Remember, this is not audiophile stuff, but value that blows the door off stock.&nbsp; In the Avalon I&#039;m reclaiming my trunk space, replacing the factory 8&quot; sub in the rear deck (it was fried) with something aftermarket for about $50, and powering it with the same Dual amp ... again, low cost, huge benefit.&nbsp; Since I already had the amp, magically, I am at $260 once again, this time with video touch screen.&nbsp; Well, back-up cam and some cables for iPhone 5 video interface will increase that, but I have a foundation.&nbsp; BTW, this set-up supports a great GPS NAV option ... numerous apps available for the iPhone 5 that will allow you to touch-screen interface from the Pioneer.The sound in both these cars now rivals the Mark Levinson systems in our Lexus sedan and SUV, and actually does much better on bass for the obvious reasons.&nbsp; Bluetooth conversations are better than anything I have heard in any other car.&nbsp; Sorry for all the rambling, but I wanted to explain what you might expect for a very modest investment.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="zippinbye, post: 8167116, member: 623244"] If you want some recent experience based on advice from a "value" car audio guy, here it is. I assume you are scrapping the Kenwood due to lack of features, maybe it's a few years old. Like you, I wanted better sound and modern features, the most important being hands-free phone calls in excellent quality. It was all about keeping my teen daughter's eyes on the road. The following does all that, plus streams music via Bluetooth from your smartphone. I cannot think of any item I have purchased for $130 or less that does so much or makes a car so much better than this Pioneer deck (mind you the car is a "classic" 95 Volvo, easy to improve!): Pioneer DEH-X6500BT. Let me preface by saying I have no great brand allegiance, it's just what I chose and I am very pleased with it. I'm sure competitors offer equally fine products. Just now the DEH-X6600BT superseded it, so get that for the same price. It adds Siri interface if you are into iPhones. I bought the 6500 from Crutchfield in December. I expect it's on eBay for $100 or less now. But to play devils advocate for a double DIN touch screen DVD that does everything of the former, plus the obvious "more," two days ago I installed a Pioneer AVH-X2500BT in the Volvo's replacement, a Toyota Avalon. It's was new in box for $208 shipped on eBay. So forgetting about the video capabilities and touch screen for a moment, both styles of Pioneer will rock your Integra in a way a factory stereo never imagined, just powering 4 channels directly from the deck. I am very pleased with the sound from these Pioneers with stock speakers in both the Volvo and Toyota. Both cars had "high end" factory sound systems from their day (JBL in the Avalon), so the speakers are decent and greatly enhanced by a modern "push." Sure, it would be better with some upgraded speakers too, but I'm pretty confident that the deck alone is the biggest bang for the buck. As someone else alluded too, bass enhancement would be a great benefit too. I bought a cheap eBay amp (Dual XPA2100, around $50 I think) that calls itself 300 watts. I ran it bridged (one channel, RMS 150w @ 4ohms) using the Pioneer's preamp sub woofer RCA output, powering a Kenwood 12" woofer in an enclosure in the huge trunk. The woofer and enclosure were on a sale at Best Buy, $75 total, although they retailed for $200 and $100 respectfully. With Crutchfield's free install gear and miscellaneous cables and stuff free from my electrician neighbor, I was at about $260 for the entire Volvo system. The package has a crisp, powerful sound that is very adjustable. Remember, this is not audiophile stuff, but value that blows the door off stock. In the Avalon I'm reclaiming my trunk space, replacing the factory 8" sub in the rear deck (it was fried) with something aftermarket for about $50, and powering it with the same Dual amp ... again, low cost, huge benefit. Since I already had the amp, magically, I am at $260 once again, this time with video touch screen. Well, back-up cam and some cables for iPhone 5 video interface will increase that, but I have a foundation. BTW, this set-up supports a great GPS NAV option ... numerous apps available for the iPhone 5 that will allow you to touch-screen interface from the Pioneer. The sound in both these cars now rivals the Mark Levinson systems in our Lexus sedan and SUV, and actually does much better on bass for the obvious reasons. Bluetooth conversations are better than anything I have heard in any other car. Sorry for all the rambling, but I wanted to explain what you might expect for a very modest investment. [/QUOTE]

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