Kenwood KDC-x993, my opinion

[BoxingBuffalo]

This is my first move into a very feature heavy deck. Actually, this is my first deck with not only an ipod jack, but Ipod control to boot. I've been out of the game for almost 10 years. what a leap.

Initially I was pretty intimidated by how much this deck can do, and a month in, I'm still using barely 25% of all the features. Set up isn't that tough. I had some amp issues with this build so I was having to re-tune and set shit up a few times and after the third time or so I flew though the menu. But, that menu... The least intuitive deck ever built. I have no doubt in my mind that's a true statement.

So, to try and stay focused here.

Pros.

1: Different color displays. It matches my stock GM dash illumination perfectly. There are 6 or 8 preset colors that will match most factory illumination, then on top of that you can customize the rgb values if you want. On top of that, you can change the illumination behind the control knobs to something different than the center illumination. Not a feature I care so much about, but I love having the same color illumination all around.

2: The handsfree bluetooth is great. The mic is clear, never had a single complaint and I've never had to adjust the gain or noise reduction on the mic. Love this feature a ton. Outside one small con I'll mention later.

3: Clean and crisp as hell. Best sounding deck I've ever had. Even better than my old school Eclipse decks from the late 90's. Those decks were so warm and so clean. I don't run a processor or eq so, this was a big selling point. The EQ on board is pretty amazing. 5 bands, lots of control for a $250 head unit.

4 The crossover is so so. Until I get into a decent eq/procesor, this will do. My 4ch amp has a crossover that is pretty rough so I don't use it. My sub amp has no crossover. Only the old schoolers will remember this amp, but, my PPI Art series 600.2 doesn't have a crossover. So, the deck is doing an ok job for now.

5: The built in processor. Adjusting the distance of your speakers plus the size of all your speakers, plus cabin size= WIN. Like I said, best sounding deck I've ever owned.

6: Large remote. I've got giant hands so it's nice to have a good sized remote.

Cons/Annoyances

1: The ipod glitch. My lord this is a complete fuck up of a design flaw. I don't understand how they haven't done a firmware upgrade to fix this issue. It's even more mind boggling that a single deck ever went on the street with this glitch, and of course I knew nothing about it before I bought it, but... Say you have your ipod plugged in to the control cable. You start your car, shortly after the deck automatically searches for your phone via bluetooth and downloads the phone book. A great feature. But, once the phone book downloads, it shuts off the audio signal to your ipod. Every time. All of them do it. And there's nothing you can do about it. So, you have to unplug the ipod and plug it back in, or just leave it unplugged until the phone back is done downloading. This annoys me every single time I hop in the Suburban. I'm glad I didn't install the cable in the glove box like everyone told me to and I ran it near the transfer case gear shift so I have access to it. This glitch alone would cause me to never, ever buy this deck again. If it fries or gets ripped off, so be it.

2: The controls on the deck. Borderline useless. The volume knob is the only intuitive knob that functions how it should. Everything else is press and hold for 2 seconds down, then release, and press and hold up for 1 second, etc. The right control knob that operates the feature rich deck does everything. Everything... I quickly learned the remote because that knob sucks. It's hard to explain without simply saying it sucks.

3: Contrast/brightness. I have 10% tint on my front doors and 5% all around the rear. And I live in Oregon. It's gray here 9 months out of the year. And in the daytime, I still can't see the display. The tiniest bit of sun hits it, and all bets are off. No matter what I do to the contrast, brightness, reversing the contrast, it can't be seen the day unless you get right up on it. Maybe at the tender age of 31 my eyes are going bad, but I've heard this same complaint from numerous people.

So after one month, I'm over it. I bought this thing as an impulse buy which I never, ever do. And this is why. 10 minutes of research and I'd of found numerous people in numerous forums complaining about the same stuff. I went in for the Alpine equivalent of this deck with the handsfree bluetooth and the ipod control, and figured I'd try Kenwood for the first time in my audio career. I've only ever owned Alpine and Eclipse.

If Kenwood listens to all the complaints, works them out, this deck will be a major contender for most feature rich single din head unit under $300. But the way it sits, it's got a long way to go. Also, the amount of features this thing has, you are getting double din features in a single din head unit. But with that, comes some pain in the ass controls and a useless Kenwood manual to boot. Have some patience and you can figure it out. Took me no time. But in turn, I wouldn't recommend buying the thing until they work out the kinks.

[HaMSaMMiCH]

The whole year I was at Best Buy, those 2 knob Kenwood decks were the only ones I didn't like to install (eccept dual and whatnot) for exactly the reasons you said. Even once I had a handle on the menu system, it still usually took longer to set up then it did to install....

edit: and forget successfully explaining to someone how to use everything..... especially the IPOD controlls..... I hear people complain about the Alpine IPOD controll all the time and I think to myself "That shit is 1000x better then the Kenwood controll....." The only IPOD controll that I have used that was A LITTLE BIT better then the Alpine was Pioneer, and it even had some things that pissed me off......

Great review man, THX

[DGold]

I have the Kenwood x693 model or w.e, basically the same as yours jus no built in hd radio if i remember correctly. It works out a little better for me though bc all i use is a usb drive and the occasional cd. I could use aux input or ipod if my friends happen to want me to play shit in my car but thats not an everyday occasion so i just use the flash drive ran into my glovebox, put it on shuffle n forgot about it.

I do agree though, any light and you cant see shit. Only thing that helps me is my dash in the durango covers it from "some" sun but not nearly enough. At night though this head unit looks amazing so I deal with it.

The controls are much easier once u get the hang of it but theres just so much it can do and being only a single din it makes it complicated but thats a trade off double din vs single. I dont "love" the HU as much as i think i would of had i got my initial want of the alpine 9886 but the kenwood does have a very nice EQ and since I dont think ill be getting an alternate EQ this works.

Overall I'm pleased with it but like you said some major bugs that could be fixed and this would be one of the best HUs for the price. The 693 cost me 210 from crutchfield so for the price I paid. Im happy because with the 9886 I would of needed some extra cables for the usb

[HaMSaMMiCH]

Overall I'm pleased with it but like you said some major bugs that could be fixed and this would be one of the best HUs for the price. The 693 cost me 210 from crutchfield so for the price I paid. Im happy because with the 9886 I would of needed some extra cables for the usb

The 9886 comes with an IPOD full speed cable, and also has a USB port on the back. ONLY downfall is if you want to use USB you have to buy a $10 extension to run the cable to your glove box if you don't want to leave whatever it is always plugged in.....

^^^^the blue plug is ALPINE Full Speed and ALSO has USB so you can use both.....

[z_ro]

Cons/Annoyances

1: The ipod glitch. Have yet to experience this

2: The controls on the deck. Once you get used to them they're alot easier to play with as with any new toy

3: Contrast/brightness. Kinda agree with you on this. For the most part whatever they coated the face with is GLOSSY as fuck but i cant complain about it Cause it makes it look slick and clean. Plus from 8-5 most days i'm at work so all i got is evening night time cruisin .

all in all you're complaints are completely valid but i still LOVE my deck.

[z_ro]

I have the Kenwood x693 model or w.e, basically the same as yours jus no built in hd radio if i remember correctly. It works out a little better for me though bc all i use is a usb drive and the occasional cd. I could use aux input or ipod if my friends happen to want me to play shit in my car but thats not an everyday occasion so i just use the flash drive ran into my glovebox, put it on shuffle n forgot about it.

I do agree though, any light and you cant see shit. Only thing that helps me is my dash in the durango covers it from "some" sun but not nearly enough. At night though this head unit looks amazing so I deal with it.

The controls are much easier once u get the hang of it but theres just so much it can do and being only a single din it makes it complicated but thats a trade off double din vs single. I dont "love" the HU as much as i think i would of had i got my initial want of the alpine 9886 but the kenwood does have a very nice EQ and since I dont think ill be getting an alternate EQ this works.

Overall I'm pleased with it but like you said some major bugs that could be fixed and this would be one of the best HUs for the price. The 693 cost me 210 from crutchfield so for the price I paid. Im happy because with the 9886 I would of needed some extra cables for the usb

and no bluetooth. One of his complaints was about the bluetooth messing up the ipod signal. But i've never experienced what hes talkin about

[HaMSaMMiCH]

and no bluetooth. One of his complaints was about the bluetooth messing up the ipod signal. But i've never experienced what hes talkin about

Truth... and that Alpine bluetooth adapter is like fucking $200......

[melonhead]

I had a Kenwood a long time ago. Bought it used off a buddy and sold it after a few months. I didn't care for it. I've always messed with Alpine and Clarion decks. I bought an Eclipse CD3100 last year for the first time and I have no complaints. Got a good deal on it from Crutchfield. Paid $130 for it and then another $50 for the ipod adapter. No bluetooth on it but I think the model up has it. I didn't need it so I didn't spend the extra money to get the higher model. The ipod is fully controlled off of the deck which I like. It's much easier searching for songs off the deck while driving than searching from the ipod itself.

[HaMSaMMiCH]

I had a Kenwood a long time ago. Bought it used off a buddy and sold it after a few months. I didn't care for it. I've always messed with Alpine and Clarion decks. I bought an Eclipse CD3100 last year for the first time and I have no complaints. Got a good deal on it from Crutchfield. Paid $130 for it and then another $50 for the ipod adapter. No bluetooth on it but I think the model up has it. I didn't need it so I didn't spend the extra money to get the higher model. The ipod is fully controlled off of the deck which I like. It's much easier searching for songs off the deck while driving than searching from the ipod itself.

x2

[BoxingBuffalo]

That's a trip. So does anyone that has the 993 have that same glitch problem I do with the phonebook? Because I've read like a dozen reviews of this deck where everyone said the same thing.

I went to a shop where I know a dude that has been running this deck for a while and he said it was the first he knew about anything like that. Ugh.