kenwood?

[kunar]

whats your opinion on kenwood in general? after i built to box for my car, i found a couple used (barely) kenwood subs for a decent price. went to one of the local car audio places looking for an amp, and the one i liked the best ended up being kenwood. now i'm looking for a head unit and the only one i really like is a kenwood. i'm by no means brand loyal, i've actually had no experience with them up till about a week ago. so is it decent equipment? price seems fair, but will they last?

 

[Loud Ranger]

i had a set of the kenwood 12's with the silver cone and i was very dissapointed, but those were there low end models. Their amps will not put out the rated power they claim so i personally dont use them.

 

[4x4fun]

they make good stuff. their not top of line but its good i have there new HU in my truck now. as long as the money is right

 

[kunar]

here's the head unit i'm looking at. i can get it locally for $250 and he claims he will beat any price. the things im looking for specifically is HD capable (without buying a $150 tuner) usb input in the back, and a flip down face so this head unit meets all of those. i cant find anything comparable for that price.

this is the amp i got (and for $10 less than crutchfield wants) it says it pushes 300w rms @ 2 ohm, which is how it's set up. more amp than i really need, but the smaller and slightly cheaper one wasnt enough. i also needed an amp that would fit on the face of my box between the subs, and this one is physically small enough it fit well.

the subs i got are nothing special, maybe a little lacking on the bottom end but other than that i have no complaints. once again, it's more than what i need. a guy i work with had bought them barely used and never used them himself. they sat in a box on a shelf for 3-4 years, till he sold them to me.

 

[flyingbrick]

Their amps will not put out the rated power they claim so i personally dont use them.

All amps are "overrated", just like all subs are "underrated” it’s to save us from ourselves.

 

[Loud Ranger]

All amps are "overrated", just like all subs are "underrated” it’s to save us from ourselves.

quality amps usually are underrated, i like a lot of kenwoods head units especially the exceleon series, but i wouldnt buy their amps or subs personally.

edit: the subs i had were the ones you linked to, but i had 12's

 

[4x4fun]

that's the same HU i just put in my truck. you can change the colors i would suggest green, its the only color that you can see with bright sunlight, its a lil tricky, and youll have to read the manual, and the remote is a god send. but like it. and i paid 250 for mine, and got the ipod cable for free, so see if you can work that out.

as far as the subs and amp never really used them, but if there a good price, and you like them. who am i to say

 

[4x4fun]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loud Ranger View Post
Their amps will not put out the rated power they claim so i personally dont use them.
All amps are "overrated", just like all subs are "underrated” it’s to save us from ourselves.

has any one ever bench tested them, to back up this statement,

 

[Loud Ranger]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388690&highlight=kenwood+overrated

its not just kenwood, many amplifiers are given the trusted CEA certification without actually being able to do rated power constantly and at each ohm load, as the power output is only verified at 4 ohms, they can put what ever they want for 2 or 1 ohm loads.

i had one of the "900w" rms mono amps and switching to a kicker kx550.2 was a big upgrade, the kicker sounded better but it was a class a/b compared to a class d so i expected that, but it was louder to the ear too. This was 2-3 yrs ago so I havent tried any of their newer stuff.

http://www.caraudiomag.com/reviews/...9104d_review/output_power_distortion_etc.html

this link is a review and output test of a 9104d, like the one i had its supposed to be 900w rms at 2 ohms or 900+ at 1 ohm.
they were able to get 644wrms at 14.4, and since it probably wont get a constant solid 14.4v youd be seing slightly less than that.

 

[kunar]

that's the same HU i just put in my truck. you can change the colors i would suggest green, its the only color that you can see with bright sunlight, its a lil tricky, and youll have to read the manual, and the remote is a god send. but like it. and i paid 250 for mine, and got the ipod cable for free, so see if you can work that out.

as far as the subs and amp never really used them, but if there a good price, and you like them. who am i to say

i'm not worried about the ipod cable, i dont own an ipod. having bluetooth would be cool though, but the add on for that is over $100. how do you like HD? and color changing... i wondered if it did that but i havent seen it advertised anywhere. are you sure its the same one?

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388690&highlight=kenwood+overrated

its not just kenwood, many amplifiers are given the trusted CEA certification without actually being able to do rated power constantly and at each ohm load, as the power output is only verified at 4 ohms, they can put what ever they want for 2 or 1 ohm loads.

i had one of the "900w" rms mono amps and switching to a kicker kx550.2 was a big upgrade, the kicker sounded better but it was a class a/b compared to a class d so i expected that, but it was louder to the ear too. This was 2-3 yrs ago so I havent tried any of their newer stuff.

http://www.caraudiomag.com/reviews/...9104d_review/output_power_distortion_etc.html

this link is a review and output test of a 9104d, like the one i had its supposed to be 900w rms at 2 ohms or 900+ at 1 ohm.
they were able to get 644wrms at 14.4, and since it probably wont get a constant solid 14.4v youd be seing slightly less than that.

so what are 'good' brands? you named kicker specifically, but what other brands do you use? keep in mind that this is nowhere near being a competition system, but at the same time, i dont want to spend my money on junk. i will be replacing speakers all the way around before long too...

 

[Loud Ranger]

i'm not worried about the ipod cable, i dont own an ipod. having bluetooth would be cool though, but the add on for that is over $100. how do you like HD? and color changing... i wondered if it did that but i havent seen it advertised anywhere. are you sure its the same one?



so what are 'good' brands? you named kicker specifically, but what other brands do you use? keep in mind that this is nowhere near being a competition system, but at the same time, i dont want to spend my money on junk. i will be replacing speakers all the way around before long too...

i like kickers amps, but theres a lot of good stuff out there, kenwood is far from the worst i was just saying it wouldnt be my first choice. if it sounds good to you thats all that matters.

 

[4x4fun]

how do you like HD? and color changing... i wondered if it did that but i havent seen it advertised anywhere. are you sure its the same one?

if it looks like the same one, unless theres a model Number difference. but if it is the one that changes colors? the scrolling colors is a demo thing once yoou install it you have to go thur the setting and pick your color you want it to stay on.

so what are 'good' brands? you named kicker specifically, but what other brands do you use? keep in mind that this is nowhere near being a competition system, but at the same time, i dont want to spend my money on junk. i will be replacing speakers all the way around before long too...

i like kicker and alpine my self,

 

[irishblessing]

kenwood makes good stuff i personally like jl audio we have jl audio in our boat kenwood in our f350 nd pioneer in my ranger the jl audio sounds the best

 

[kunar]

well i did it again. i went today to look for speakers. shopped around and this is what i ended up with. nothing special but the price is right. they replaced the stock rears. the fronts already have JBL's (PO replaced)

 

[constant_projecttruck]

Kenwoods motto is quality sound at a low price....but I would never use their speakers again. I had the same 6 1/2s as you and they lasted about 2 months. I stick with MTX, or Pioneer. My Pioneer 6 1/2s I have now get abused but they still sound crisp and super clean. As for subs....I had the same 12's loudranger did...they didn't kick that hard and they had a lot of distortion. They just couldn't give out tight quick bass. Same amp now with MTXs....super clean.

This is of course my opinion...