i was just wondering what everyone thought of kenwood because i havent seen many kenwood setups on the site i personally love kenwwod i have all kenwood setup in my car and alot of my buddys have some kenwood gear and it sounds amazing

 

Kenwood is all right. My dad did car stereo for about 25 years and said the same thing about Kenwood - it's all right. I have a Kenwood amp - no complaints.

 

thats the thing nobody is love it or hate it with kenwood when the topic comes up in the posts i read it goes to two brands and kenwood just drops out of the argument alltogether no ones says good or bad they just ignore it

 

I mean, personally, I wouldn't buy Kenwood speakers or subs. But I would buy a Kenwood Amp.

 

whats wrong with the speakers and subs i think they sound pretty damn good with that being said i havent heard alot of brands the best i have heard was kicker butt the kenwoods sound better then the pioneers and sonys and ive heard alot of good with pioneer

 

Like I said, they're all right.

JL Audio makes the best subs, then Kicker and MTX.

 

as sad as it is i have never heard any jl audio gear if i did im sure i would be convinced lol butt for now im pretty satisfied with two of my KFC-W3514DVC subs and my KAC-9103D amp because im trying to get through college so i dont have alot of money and im not going to be competing with my setup lol i just need it for my own listening

 

I used to buy Kenwood decks, then I bought my first Alpine and will never go back to Kenwood. Kenwood speakers suck, their amps suck if you want any real sound quality. If you want something that sounds real good, JL amps, Boston Pro subs and speakers.

 

I LOVE my kenwood deck. You basically want the features that you like, and a friendly interface. The pre-out voltages and the 50Wx4 power output is pretty standard. I like the feel of the remote, the way the volume control **** works, etc etc etc.
Their speakers/subs are "normal" quality. Not as bad as pyle and whatnot, but not extra high power handling, super long excursion kicker/rockford/whatever competition type of subs. Their "typhoon" or whatever they're called, the subs? Those are pretty cool looking

They don't make any "huge" amps, so if you only want about 500WRMS, you can probably do just fine with a kenwood.

 

yeah i only need casual listening so im not looking for competition quality gear and i cant hear anything wrong with the sound of their speakers what i think of it is that there all pretty much the same each has its good and each has its bad butt some DO have more goods then others realy i think its all about prefrence

 

id only buy kendwood headunits.. and out of them id probably only buy the excelons

 

I have a Kenwood Excelon and I have no complaints.

 

Opinions are like.... well.... Anyway, Kenwoods subs aren't the loudest out there, and their lower end stuff isn't the best sounding either, but FWIW I had a 950w Kenwood amp (9152D) pushing two XW1202 Excelon 12" subs. They were rated 300RMS 1200max each (Yeah 300/1200, strange I know) I had tham in a convertible Mustang and they sounded DAMN GOOD and my box made them very loud. Louder than any 300w sub should sound. I Still have them and will be putting them in my IROC. Here's a pic of them in the Mustang. Excuse the ports, they're not finished yet.

These subs had very good quality also. Their decks, I've had nothing but good luck, but now they're being encoded so that they won't play burned CDs with anything copyrighted on them. This may be a non-issue for you but for me I have an instant knee-jerk reaction to that kind of thing.

For your money, I'd say there are better choices of subs but for the price of their amps on eBay, I'm not complaining. As for the mids/highs I have no experience with them.

Your best bet is to find a car audio forum. They know about this stuff than anyone.

And JL makes the best subs? LOL Kicker and MTX... even more LOL... Maybe 10 years ago, since their subs haven't changed. Anyone ever hear of Elemental Designs? Crossfire? Diamond Audio? They all shut the aforementioned manufacturers down. Just go ahead and recommend some Audiobahn.

Stay away from Pioneer amps and subs. Stay away from Sony.

Best idea, read read read on forums like SoundDomain or ICIX (sponsored by Elemental though...) You'll find a wealth of information on there along with SPL #'s to back up claims. There are many great places out there.

 

Biggest pieces of junk out there, I watched a buddy of mine melt the voice coils on 8 of them he had hooked up to the same setup he had 2 Pioneer Premier subs (one JL 500/1 amp). Now he's went to the Boston Pro G510-44 which probably blows most away out there right now.

JL makes good subs if you get the W7 line, the lower end ones are junk, just like Boston Pro subs (G510, G512) are probably the best right now.

 

i appreciate all the feedback butt its nto good to tell me to shop around as i already have everything bought i got two of their KFC-W3514DVC subs (the box says 1500 watt peak 760 max and 380 rms???) and a KAC-9103D amp(1800 watt max 500 rms at 4 ohms) and a set of thier 6x9s and 4x6s plus a KDC-X991 hu and i got it all on ebay for less then $1000 so im pretty satisfied with it i havent got it in my car yet butt ive listened to it and it sounds pretty damn good (loud AND clean) no complaints yet

P.S. ive seen a 1000 watt kenwood amp melt a 1200 watt mtx sub in ten minutes

 

Really? I haven't heard anything bad about the eD stuff... O well anything is possible. As for the W7s, they're OK I give them props but I've just been unimpressed with them as of late when compared to alternatives. I've really been liking Crossfire here lately. 7yr warranty...

Brennan, I think you'll be happy, just don't overdrive the subs. They have a pretty high sensitivity so they'll be loud for a 380w sub... Just don't overdo it you'll be fine. With the Mustang box I had instant aromatic feedback when I drove them too hard They would smell before they'd audibly distort so it was kind of hard to find the right volume to jam at. It's probably gonna be even harder because I plan on using a sealed box in the IROC. Just be careful because you'll have to wire that setup at 1ohm to make the power you need and at that power level you'll be able to easily overdrive those subs.

Best of luck and I know to do some more investigation on eD.

 

1 ohm? i was thinking more along the lines of 4 ohms the way my amp is it is a mono amp butt it has two outputs so i was going to wire each sub to its own with 2 ohms because i cant get it at 4 ohms using 2 of the voice coils the amp is 500 watt rms at 4ohm

 

The amp is a monoblock with a splitter inside the case I think is how its set up. (Anyone in the know feel free to jump in here...) Thats the way my Kenwoods are. The subs I have are 2 Ohm DVC subs. I have the subs wired in series to make 4 Ohms, but I have 1 on each "Channel" of the amp, which brings the Ohms down to 2, which is the lowest stable on that amp. If you wire your subs in parallel that is 2 ohms each and then wire them parallel on the amp brings ohms to 1. If you wire the subs in series and then parallel on the amp it will bring your ohms to 4.

The amp is rated at 500W @ 4 Ohms and should be an actual 1500 or so at 1 Ohm. It will power those subs easily. At any rate, 4 Ohms, 250w RMS per sub is leaving a lot on the table for a sub rated for 380.

 

thanks for the info jaredi after reading what you said i was thinking since both my subs are dual voice coil (4 ohm per coil) i was going to wire each sub at 2 ohms each to its own "channel" presenting the amp with a 1 ohm load butt i cant figure out what kind of power it will be sending to each sub i have an idea but i know its off what do you think?

 

LOL klortho... eD isnt that bad of a company.. and lmao at the fact that you think bostons are the best out there.. loooooool.. go buy a DD Z lines sub and watch whats better

 

If you turn it all the way up you'll be sending the subs probably a real-world 750 watts RMS. But the good news is you don't have to turn it all the way up. You can adjust the gain down and tune the subs to run at about their max at a specific volume number and once you tune it don't turn it up past that number. Thats what I had to do. I had a JVC head unit and I set it for the subs to be driving on the edge of their range at volume level 35. I just turned the system up to 35 while playing a loud bass song and set the amp gain and eq. After that you know where the 'limit' is.

 

sorry butt im kind of a noob at car audio can you clarify what the gain is? and how do i set it? thanks

 

Gain is how "loud" the amplifier "runs" the subs. It's generally a dial on the side of the amp.

 

would this also be called input sensitivity?

 

I love Kenwood decks, they tend to be on the forefront of what people want. All of the high end 2007 units have USB hookups that will run the small external hard drives. The SQ from Kenwood decks is excellent and they last. You really can't argue with solid build quality, good sound, and user friendly technology. I myself will NEVER again own an Alpine deck. I've been down that road 3 times and all 3 times it was a nightmare in the long run. I've had Pioneer decks wear out on me but they're also well built units, and JVC is nice for a lower priced more basic deck. Anymore I only buy Kenwood head units, and I make sure to get the mid to high end models because they have all of the features I usually want. I've also had some experience with a pair of the tornado cone subwoofers and one of their mono amplifiers both of these performed very well. The only thing I've never had a desire to own was Kenwood speakers. They seem to be basic and not really worth the money you pay for the name.

 

The best setup I have ever heard was in a van in 88. The guy had a Pioneer with a JVC eq with echo effect. Never seen or heard anything like it since. Whenever I see JVC I try to see if it has echo. A big van, hot Arkansas summer night, ex number 2, a cooler of beer and freebird in echo. DAMN!

 

Love Kenwood decks. I have a excelon in my other car for 5 years now and still is the best. If I wasn't staying with the stock looking cd player I would buy another. I always liked the fact that they had just enough buttons to work with to get around on it. Not to many and not to few. I won't touch there speakers but there amps for full ranged speakers are great. Always heard they are really bad for subs though.

 

Look at what most of the people who do serious car audio competition and what will they be running, Boston Pro speakers and Alpine decks

and for eD, yeah it is that bad of a company considering they aren't willing to back their product and give a refund from faulty subs.

just heard a set of these in a Trailblazer SS, only takes .5 cu.ft and will rattle your teeth out with only two JL 500/1 amps hooked up to it.

 

are they SQ drivers? i thought ive heard that those bostons were decent SQ

 

Those Bostons there are their competition grade subs, and they hit like a Mack truck. Can feel the vibration from them hitting in the front seat of the Trailblazer and they're in the very rear of the truck.

 

You should do more than feel a vibration from it. Hell I've got a friend with a pair of MMATS P3.0 subs hooked up to about 1500wRMS and they make it hard to breathe normally. They are at the rear of a Blazer. And they are pretty cheap comparatively, and also pretty basic, but loud enough you can't see straight.

As far as new Kenwood decks, it might not be an issue to some but they are making new Kenwoods so you can't play burned CDs if the music is copyrighted. That pisses me off.

 

When're they supposed to start this?

 

gettin a little off track here lol butt does anyone know if the gain is also called input sensitivity?

 

the gain is basically the how much your going to send to the sub.. to correctly set it i suggest using a DMM and mathcing the voltage up.. if you have a 1000w sub running at about half gain with the right voltage you will running 500w.. and those boston subs are ***** and i know they lol... vibrations.. my RL-p knocked the wind out of my chest and that was only an SQ driver LOL

 

okay thanks bandit i got that figured out now does anyone know how to set the input sensitivity the amp manual says match it with the pre-out voltage of the deck butt i cant find that anywhere and i dont have the decks manual does anyone know about the panasonic CQ-DP133U (just a temporary till i got my new one)

 

Most decks pre-out voltage is 4v, some Alpines have 8v pre-outs.

 

the age old question.....

the problem with all electronics is every year typically things can change. over the 15 years i've been personally playing with the stuff i have yet to find one brand that has lasted the test of time and this goes for everything.

now days you have to treat each component individually and unfortunately even bench test them before hand. my last headunit for example. a avn-5495. retailed for $2,800. claimed to have a 5v preout... nope... 2v..

did this matter, depends... if your running factory speakers and wiring then no. the 50x4 max output of the deck is just fine. i was running a external amp only powered speaker setup so having the voltage that low was very very bad.

i had a eclipse single din temporarily in the car with a claimed 8v preout. retail $499. tested just under 9volts! sounded amazing and with my amp only driven setup i could barely turn it up.

a year later come to find out eclipse has changed "owners" over the years. what was good with them 10 years ago definately wasn't the same when i bought my setup. the avn-5495 wasn't even built by eclipse. granted it's main purpose was for navigation but even it's claimed 5v preout is false.

so point being you can't even compare headunits in the same family let alone outside. every unit has to be looked at individually. this is same for all electronics. figure out what you need and narrow it down from there.

good luck.