Doogie

Seriously considering an upgraded HU for the vert with Nav. and I am leaning towards the Pioneer Avic X-940BT. They also just started a $100 rebate today, which may have sealed the deal for me. Seems a like a well balanced unit and is reasonably priced (especially with the rebate plus $150 in Crutchfield gift cards from work!), while also meeting several of my requirements including Nav, Bluetooth and a Pandora interface for Android cell phones.

Any general Pioneer feedback or direct experience with this H/U is appreciated!

Doogie

After some additional research, I may end up spending the extra $$$ and go with a Kenwood DNX6990HD.

Five.Point.Oh

Go w/ the Clarion NX602. Its the only one that got all 5 star reviews. Its what I may get in the future,

Doogie

Star ratings are a good start, but I have received some real feedback about the Kenwood from a guy that has both... mainly focused on GPS verses other units like the Pioneer I originally listed. But I will check out the Clarion as I am open minded and just want to ensure I get the best possible unit for the money.

Five.Point.Oh

The best bang for your buck is probably the Sony XNV-770BT. 7 inches, TomTom nav w/ lifetime updates, 4 star ratings, Bluetooth. All for $750. The next cheapest 7-incher on Crutchfield is a Clarion that cost a grand. So, I'd say the Sony is a pretty good deal.

Flagstang

loved my clarion

Doogie

I am less concerned about saving money and more about having a quality unit, even if it costs a couple hundred more.

Doogie

Which Clarion did you have Flagstang? And how was the display with the top dropped?

Five.Point.Oh

It looks like he had the Clarion MAX675VD.

Pete07GT

I threw the Clarion DNX9980HD into my S197 a few months back and have been happy ever since. Garmin beats all other built-in Navs hands-down. When selecting Kenwood, don't go with anything but the Excelon Series. I tried a lower-end model and it took a dump on me after 2 months when installed brand new out of the box. The Kenwood software can get "glitchy" like randomly resetting itself BUT I find this only happens when trying to throw my IPHONE on while the system is booting up and trying to load my external hard drive. It simply cannot load and multi-task at the same time.. I'd give mine a solid 8 out of 10 and I'm very picky with my electronics.

Doogie

The Kenwood having the Garmin GPS is one of my top reasons for going with that unit. And having HD radio would be nice add as well.

Pete07GT

The first time I powered up the 9980HD and heard the HD Radio, it was just surreal. I had no idea it was factory on the unit and DON'T forget about parrot bluetooth.

Doogie

Was "Clarion" as typo as I assume the DNX9980HD is a Kenwood.

Pete07GT

D'oh!!! 24+ hours with no sleep and working a 13 hour shift. It IS a Kenwood Excelon! The best part aside from the nav and hd radio, IMO, is definitely having 2 USB inputs for various USB devices but mainly external music players and phones! I have my 1TB external hard drive running all of my music everywhere I go, then I can charge my iPhone at the same time while on Bluetooth synch and a mic on my steering column. The iPhone fits snugly in the cup holder, between the cup portions of my center console and im still able to shift! I hole sawed a cable through the center plastic, just underneath the lip of the console that clips shut, this made t possible for me to route 2 USB cables. 1 of the cables pictured is for the iPhone and the other for my droid phone. I couldn't ask for much else in terms of features and customization.

Doogie

Thanks for your input Pete as you pretty much sold me on the Kenwood... but not sure I want to spend the extra money on the touch screen, so I will probably just go with the DNX6990

Pete07GT

Be careful man, that WAS the one that tanked on me after a few moths. Make sure Kenwood fixed the boot problem whereby the head unit isn't stuck in an endless loup.

Flagstang

it was great all around. You can add pretty much any option. It was good with the top down.

Doogie

Hey Pete... did you install your Kenwood H/U with a full PAC interface? Asking because I am having problems getting the dimming to work. When I turn the lights on, the H/U backlight flickers on/off. I spoke with Crutchfield tech support (who were very helpful) and confirmed the voltage coming out of the blue PAC box is pulsating instead of staying at a steady 12v when the lights go on. They are sending out another PAC box to test, but they are not 100% sure it work on these cars as there might not be the right signal available to make it work.

So I may end up needing to run a separate line from the H/U harness (orange/white wire) to the headlight switch if the replacement PAC box does not fix it. Not a huge issue, but it would be nice to have the slight dimming when the lights go on.

BTW, this seem like a very nice headunit and I can't wait to test out the GPS. Even sitting in the garage, I get better signal on this unit than any of my portables

Pete07GT

Sorry for the delayed response man. In all honesty I'll need to check with the shop who did the install or pull the center console apart and take some pics for ya. If you give me a day I'll roll over to a buddy's and rip it open... I'll just need an excuse to do it so he will help me out. Sorry for the lack of specifics but there was a reason for me not doing it myself, I have a destruction factor that comes with all of my work that it's best for me to pay a pro to do certain things for me..

What model did you get on the Kenwood line? DNX9980HD I hope? One suggestion, format all of your drives to FAT32 for mp3 playback, I can get you the name of the software I downloaded to format my 1TB drive with if you need it later on.

Doogie

I just could not spend the huge $$ for the 9980 and went with the 6990. Don't worry about pulling it apart as I will know within a couple days which route is needed once the replacement PAC box arrives. Not sure I will ever need the formatting info as we will more than likely just be using the over air tunes along with Pandora.