What do you think of these two HU's

[rjay 10+ year member]

I kind of been looking at some HU's and these two caught my eye. JVC KW-R900BT and Kenwood Excelon KDC-X896. Both have some nice features and seem to be pretty comparable. Below are some of the key differences between the two.

JVC has 5v pre amps, 5 band eq, comes w/blue tooth adapter, and of course is DD size. ($249)

Kenwood has 4v pre amps, 3 band eq, built in blue tooth, and built in hd radio. ($259)

I think I like the look of the JVC a little better and it would fill out the radio opening, but I know Kenwood makes a good unit, or atleast they use to?

Edit: I also just seen Kenwood Excelon KDC-X796, seems to have the same features as the KDC-X896 so I'm not sure what the differences are or if the 896 is just a newer model. But the KDC-X796 is $219

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[CrossFired 10+ year member]

Because I've read mostly good on the Kenwood and more bad on the JVC(as brands), I'd go with a Kenwood.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

I haven't looked into it to verify it, but a lot of people have been saying JVC is the same as Kenwood, just a bit cheaper and for a different market. They both make solid head units.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I'd rather have the kenwood... JVC's are cheap

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Yeah I always considered the JVC to be a lower grade of car audio equipment, but it seems alot of there units are getting solid reviews and this one packs some pretty good features so I'm not sure.

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Was leaning towards the Kenwood KDC-X796 and then came across these two Alpine units. First one is CDE-136BT for $199 and/or CDE-HD137BT for $219. Both of these seem identical except the 137 has the built in HD tuner for $20 extra and these do only have 2v outputs, but from reading the web it seems that it's not that big of a deal. So how about these compared to the Kenwood? Thanks

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Anyone have any input on the fm reception? I've narrowed it down to the KDC-X796 or CDE-HD137BT, both have 9.3 dBf for fm sensitivity and since my car seems to have reception issues, somtimes, I want the better one. So being they have the same numbers, are they about the same or is one actually better than the other?

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

They're probably going to have the same reception. I do like the AM/FM tuner on the Kenwoods as even the cheap head units get excellent reception. You do need to have a good antenna and cable, so if you have an older vehicle that's something to check.