Clarion NX501 (NX-501)

I spent several months researching DD head units to install in my 2012 Ram 1500 Express crew cab. I didn't want to spend $2k on a factory nav unit plus $200 on a lockpick. My little sister is a pro installer and recommended Kenwood or Alpine. I asked her about Clarion but she stated she never dealt with them and didn't have an opinion. In the end, I selected the nx501 based on features and price. The sirius direct connect and integrated Bluetooth made this unit at least $200 cheaper than every other manufacturer out there (besides, boss, jensen and valor but come on).

Pros:
-It has a volume knob
-The nav is fast and accurate, route planning is quick and efficient as well
-The unit has a hard nav/av button right above the volume control, this allows you to switch from the nav map to the active source so you can change stations or songs or video or whatever and then press it again to take you right back the nav map. I find this EXTREMEly convenient and well thought out. Not sure if this is considered standard.
-The integrated microphone works well in my vehicle, the head unit is positioned near the top of the dash and i think that helps. My Blackberry Bold 9650 had no issues pairing with the unit and my contacts were instantly available
-No issues with sirius loading as stated in earlier reviews, there was a firmware update released last year which was already applied to my head unit when it arrive in February 2012. It has lost my presets twice so I'll need to get to the bottom of that
-Front a/v input is very convenient
-The User Interface is fast and intuitive
-Everything needed was included in the box, my sister was impressed with the packaging and included accessories. Less than $800 for sat nav, sirius, integrated bluetooth, backup camera and harnesses/adapters
-Dual zone is a very cool feature although I don't get to use it often but it does work and is not as distracting as you would think it may be with having two different sources playing at the same time

Cons:
-Sirius has lost my presets twice so far (in 1 week)
-USB Audio has somewhat limited functionality, random is available but other sorting options seem weak or unavailable.

Other thoughts:
-I do not own an iPod as I am capable of thinking and organizing music myself
-I have had the nav unit on and routing, listening to sirius, flipped on the backup cam and accepted an incoming call all at the same time without a slowdown or hesitation from this head unit.
-I would recommend this unit to anyone, everyone that has seen it has liked and can immediately figure out how to use it without much help from me.

I was in a real mess trying to get great sounding tunes in my new car. I got some Pioneer tweeter and mid range speakers for the front of my car. Trying to find what I wanted in the rear was my problem, people said 2 way speakers would be fine or 3 way speakers. Well knowing what I know I went to a junk yard, yea I know I know used speakers. I found a 2009 nissan pathfinder and pulled the back speakers out. They were 6.5's what I needed but the best part of my junk yard was the Bose speakers I got. I put them in the other night and they sounded ok. When I got my Clarion NX501 put in today I fell in love with my car then. 200 watts and all the options on the deck like phone, gps, xm radio and god knows what else I'll find learning about this new deck. It is a super clean sounding deck and I was shocked on my way home, I went over the speed limit just a little and the music stopped and a voice said, your over the speed limit 2 times till I was going the right speed. It knew the road I was on and the speed limit of every street I was on. This deck and the guy from Sonic Electronix set me up for a refund with the other speakers I got and told me about the Clarion NX501, it all sounded great but I told him that I didn't want to get another deck cause if I did I would lose my steering wheel options on the car. He said don't worry cause they had a cable hook up that worked for the deck i got and the steering options would work. I tell ya if I could send that guy a dinner somewhere just to show him I love this deck and all the new toys with it. Thank you Sonic Electronix for all your help in makeing this 51 year old jam like I did in the 70's. Take care and what ever you get from them is a deal and super price. Thanks again!!!!

I bought 2 of these units - one for a 2000 Camry, the other for a 2007 Honda CRV. The installation of both went without a hitch (one with an optional steering wheel mounted volume and mode control) and the supplied modified trim kits fit exactly. However within a month one of the units experienced a corrupted SD card which made the Navigation system inoperable. Clarion replaced the card and it now works fine. Otherwise, both units perform very well and I am delighted with both the price and quality.

I wasn't too thrilled at switching from Pioneer F90BT to this unit, but since I sold that unit and couldn't get a good one used I decided to give Clarion another shot. (Don't get me wrong, I loved my old single DIN Clarion). I was pretty set on Pioneer due to the touch screens and other functions.

Installation was pretty easy and no major complaints lots of hook ups and the ability not to plug in a wire if you are not using it. One thing I was not thrilled about is there no VSS wire. But the built in microphone makes things go smoother. I was worried about not having the VSS wire for GPS use; some how this unit is unfazed by not having one. It locates me quickly, calculates the arrival times well and never misses telling when to exit. You honestly wouldn't be able to tell that the unit wasn't using it if unless you look at the vehicle speed on the unit than you would see it is a few mph off.

The GPS antenna is a little thicker than I would like and I suppose some cases this might be a down side but it did effect my install at all.

Touch screen is really good for an in dash head unit. My expectations were low dealing with version 2.0 on the F90BT and this was way better. Don't get me wrong, this is no HTC or iPhone, it is a radio company that is doing a touch screen. Response to touches is right on and quick; the swipe feature on the main screen is great, on the sirius screen for browsing though stations by category and trying to go back a level can be tricky. The lay out of screens is great, it is logical and all things are only about 3 clicks away at anytime. The unit boots up fast I can have music in 30 seconds after the key is on (this is an estimate). The slowest feature would be the GPS boot up which is still under 2 minutes from key on to ready to take an address.

Issues I have had. Once, the unit freaked out and the touch buttons didn't work, menu and source buttons and I had to use the reset button. Three times in the last six months randomly it reset my Sirius presets... Not sure why. Sometimes (about 4 times I have had this issue) when booting up the Sirius doesn't seem to load and required me to power down the unit and power it back on and it works flawlessly.

Down Sides: I am being really picky here, I wish it had a mute button for navigation. I do not like the new parking brake wire hook up, with it looking for a switch, it took me a bit to get this part correct.
The equalizer is pretty confusing, I normally set them up myself but I just use the preset function which are solid in typical Clarion fashion.
If you are an iPod user, the no iPod cable would be an issue, but from what I can see an ebay iPod cable would work for this unit and is a heck of a lot cheaper.

Overall, Buy it. It has a solid feel and I love the reaction time/responsiveness. If you are tired of Pioneer giving you push buttons for volume (big issue for me, I like the volume knob) and are worried about switching brands give this guy a shot. I am sure it will impress you and make you smile.

The Clarion NX501 is absolutely the best multimedia head unit I have ever had. I have owned the alpine and pioneer multimedia units and this bar far blows them out of the water. The UI on this is amazing far more advanced than the others out there, the bluetooth works great, and the nav system is amazing. I have had this for about 6 months with no issues whatsoever. The install is about the same as pretty much every unit out there.

The only gripe I have about this unit is the fact that the unit comes with a satellite antenna nice and small for the NAV system but if you want to add Sirius satellite radio you have to purchase the additional component, which is not a problem but that component also has a satellite antenna that must be installed as well. So you would have 2 antennas on your vehicle. Not sure why they cannot just make it both in one. So I opted not to get sirius radio and use Pandora instead via Bluetooth.
Also one other thing the MIC internal or even the external (Clarion RCB199) one I purchase with this unit does not work very well. People complain they can hardly hear me.

Other than those two things this unit an awesome!