Phoenix Gold Vs Kenwood

[KUB3]

I also looked at a new nakamichi cd400 for that low price. But funnily enough a few people suggested I look at an old school Kenwood SQ HU instead, for next to no money as well. So that is currently my temporary HU until I save up for either an MX406 or a Z1.

[Tiger]

Hmmm.... leave the Kenwood SQ unit where it lies, me thinks.

You'd be better off with a Nak or if you're going old school units, go a 7909/7949/7998 Alpine unit. Tried and proven units, I know that one.

[KUB3]

It's only until I save for the Z1 or similar anyway. But a few people said it's a good unit

[Bfowler]

what's wrong with kenwood head unit sq? they still feature 24bit DAC's like the NAK's.

and while they still give me a audio stiffy, naks arent know for their reliability eithe

[oldskoolmseriesfan]

Kenwood vs PG are you fucking kidding me????
how old is this little girl....I mean friend
when you get yours back, let him hear both, hook one up, give it a listen, and then the other, I gaurantee you he will feel like a TOOL.!

is this post real?????????????????????????????????????

What dont you understand about me post meng?

[KUB3]

That's what put me off the Naks too. The 700 has a less than ideal reputation for going wrong. The 500 seems even worse with known software issues. The 300 is not a great SQ unit as it's rather budget. So that just leaves the 400. Which has in built amps that get too hot and can cause issues. But the 400 seems the safest bet. Especially if you can somehow turn off it's amps


ps

My temporary SQ HU - old school 5v Kenwood KDC-PS905...

[marko]

i'd still have a cd700 any day of the week, wish i never got rid of mine.. i'm looking for one on the cheap as a little project.

[KUB3]

Knowing your luck you find a mint one for five quid

[eazy-e]

i have a newer kenwood hu in my gf's car its got alot nice features but i like my old alpine 7894 the most , alpines the best hu imo (for a good price)

[Eric D]

Kenwood and Kenwood eXcelon are two different things. Every Kenwood deck I have ever tested had a clipped output. Every eXcelon deck did not clip.

Any deck that clips is starting the foundation of your stereo off badly.

[KUB3]

At what volume did those units start to clip?

[Eric D]

I am pretty sure every one of them clipped at three notches prior to full. To be safe I would go 5, and set my amp gains to that point. Then be certain to never turn the deck up past that point, as you would be clipping the outputs.

[NewOldStock]

Kenwood and Kenwood eXcelon are two different things. Every Kenwood deck I have ever tested had a clipped output. Every eXcelon deck did not clip.

Any deck that clips is starting the foundation of your stereo off badly.

My wife and I both run new Pioneers - the difference being hers is a Premier and mine isnt... her amps are not as nice as mine, her fronts are about equal, she has cheaper interconnects and cheaper speaker wire, but her system sound significantly better (and believe me it frustrates me)

I installed both systems... put the same amount of deadening and love/care into the installs ... so I have to believe that the Premiers are similar.

[KUB3]

Ok thanks. To be honest I have never pushed any of my HU anywhere near their maximum upper range anyway.

[tonym]

'ur friend should send me what hes smokin..I would smoke it like PG would smoke kenwood

[oldskoolmseriesfan]

I set my piece of crap kenwood deck to 3/4 full volume and backed it off another 8 notches just to be safe,My deck is the KDC-4032, it does have some nice features for the price I payed, (210 CAD) but there is no depth or wideness to my sounstage, and now I have real problems, rca grounding issues after 3 years and I have not changed a thing


sorry guys gotta go its HOCKEY TIME

[Tiger]

Kenwood head units have also been known to scratch the crap out of discs too. The CD laser lens is apparently a harsh one.

[Eric D]

Kenwood head units have also been known to scratch the crap out of discs too. The CD laser lens is apparently a harsh one.

That sounds more like an urban legend to me. I know Kenwood is not perfect, but I have never seen one scratch a CD, and I have worked with MANY of them. Now I have seen decks from all brands scratch CDs in extremely loud systems where the deck skips bad from all the bass, and the owner chose not to mount the deck to anything in the dash, just push it in the hole and call it good.

[Tiger]

One of my friends had a setup where he used Kenwood headunit and KEF gear. Got close to 150 out of 2 x 15s in this little Laser hatchback. He swears that the best move he made was ditching the unit. Hence where I got the above quote from.

Back in the day I used an old Kenwood tape deck and stacker. The stacker was very temperamental, so I relied on my tapes! hahaha. Ah well.

I'm very Alpine biased. No dramas with them at all. Been running them for the last 7 years and I probably won't look back. My only change to a non-Alpine main source would be for a Clarion HX-D2 or a Denon DCT-Z1.

But hey, if this unit works, go for it.

[KUB3]

I've always been open minded. I've owned most major brands of HU out there. None of which have given me any issues. Except perhaps my first Alpine which did seem to scratch a lot of CD's. But none of them failed like many new decks seem to (Pioneer etc)