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Clarion NX501 (NX-501)

In-Dash Double DIN 6.2" LCD Touchscreen DVD Receiver w/ Built-in Navigation and Bluetooth

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In-dash Multimedia Receiver • 6.2" Full-Color LCD Touchscreen display • Built-in Navigation • Built-in Bluetooth • iPod Ready • 3 Sets of 2V Preamp Outputs • 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround • 12 Million POI

Learn more about the nx501

Good news and a little bad...

This item has been discontinued

But you may be interested in the newest model that's available.

nx605 thumbnail

Clarion NX605 (Factory Refurbished)

OUR PRICE: $399.99

View item

Product Highlights


In-dash Multimedia Receiver • 6.2" Full-Color LCD Touchscreen display • Built-in Navigation • Built-in Bluetooth • iPod Ready • 3 Sets of 2V Preamp Outputs • 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround • 12 Million POI

Description


Clarion brand icon

Authorized dealer


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

General Features:

  • In-dash AM/FM, DVD, CD, MP3, WMA player with Built-in Navigation
  • Built-in Bluetooth technology supports hands-free calling with a compatible Bluetooth phone
  • Large fixed face with rotary knob and buttons on the left
  • 6.2" Full-Color LCD Touchscreen display
  • Wireless remote control included
  • Blue button lighting
  • CEA-2006 compliant amplifier
  • Power Output:
    • Peak: 50 watts x 4 channels
    • RMS: 19 watts x 4 channels
  • CD Text Display
  • MP3 ID3 Tag Display (Title/Artist/Album)
  • 1-year SonicElectronix.com warranty

Playback and Audio Features:

  • Playback of DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA, MP3, and WMA
  • Tuner with 18FM/6AM presets
  • 5.1 Channel Dolby Digital surround
  • BeatEQ 3-band parametric equalizer with 5 selectable tone curves (4 Preset, 1 User)
  • 24-bit digital-to-analog converter
  • Balance and Fader control
  • Subwoofer phase control
  • Subwoofer volume control
  • High pass/Low Pass filters
  • Amp cancel feature
  • Magna Bass EX Dynamic Bass Enhancement
  • 2-Zone Entertainment

Expandability Options:

  • 3 Sets of 4V preamp outputs (front, rear, and subwoofer)
  • SIRIUS Direct Connect Satellite Radio Ready: SIRIUS SCC1 required and sold separately
  • iPod Ready:
  • Built-in Bluetooth Technology for handsfree conversation
  • HD Radio Ready: Clarion THD400 required and sold separately
  • Rear USB Input
  • Rearview camera RCA Input
  • Front-panel auxiliary input: 3.5mm (headphone jack) allows connection to portable media devices such as MP3 players, etc.
  • 1 Rear Auxiliary A/V Input
  • Steering wheel remote ready: PAC SWI-JACKv1 or the Axxess ASWC required and sold separately

Navigation Features:

  • Built-in SiRFprima GPS Receiver
  • TeleAtlas Mapping Coverage of US 50 States, Canada, and Puerto Rico on Preloaded Micro SD Card
  • Simple Destination Input
  • Turn-by-turn voice prompts
  • Selectable route guidance
  • 15 Million points-of-interest including national parks and gas stations
  • 4GB Map Storage
  • Text to speech for street announcements

Bluetooth Features:

  • Built-in Bluetooth technology for hands-free talking and audio streaming
  • Bluetooth version 2.1+EDR certified
  • Supports A2DP audio streaming
  • Bluetooth profiles supported:
    • HFP: Hands Free Profile allows a hands-free car kit to connect to a compatible mobile phone
    • HSP: Headset Profile enables the a Bluetooth headset to connect to a compatible mobile phone
    • A2DP: Advanced Audio Distribution Profile allows high quality audio to be streamed from an audio device to the car stereo
    • AVRCP: Audio/Video Remote Control Profile supports basic remote control functions (play, pause, etc) via Bluetooth
  • Works with most Bluetooth enabled cell phones
  • Includes a built-in microphone for convenient talking

Product history:

Clarion NX605 thumbnail
(newest, current model)
Clarion NX604 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX605 (Factory Refurbished))
Clarion NX603 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX604)
Clarion NX602 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX603 (Factory Refurbished))
Clarion NX501 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX602)
Clarion NX500 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX501 (NX-501))
Clarion NX409 thumbnail
(previous model, replaced by Clarion NX500 (NX-500))

Specifications & Details


In-Dash Receiver Specifications
Receiver Size
Double DIN
Anti-Theft Security
Security Code
Wireless Remote
Yes
Peak Power Output
50 watts x 4 channel
RMS Power Output
19 watts x 4 channel
Preamp RCA Outputs
3 Sets (6-channel)
Dedicated Subwoofer Preamp RCA Output
Yes
Preamp Voltage
4 volts
Built-In Equalizer
BeatEQ 3-band parametric equalizer with 5 selectable tone curves (4 Preset, 1 User)
Display Type
TFT-LCD Display
Touchscreen
Yes
Display Adjustment
Brightness
Expandability Features
Inputs
Audio/Video (Rear)
Auxiliary (Front)
Auxiliary (Rear)
Backup Camera
Outputs
Audio/Video (RCA)
Memory Card Slot
microSD
Steering Wheel Control Compatible
Yes (Accessory required and sold separately)
Tuner
AM/FM Tuner
Yes
FM Presets
18
AM Presets
6
Navigation Features
Map Database
Tele Atlas
Maps
Complete 50 USA
Canada
Puerto Rico
Map Dimensional Display
2D
3D
Points of Interest
15 Million
Warranty and Return Policy
Parts Warranty Duration
1 year
Labor Warranty Duration
1 year
Warranty Provider
Sonic Electronix

Item Details


Manufacturer:

Model Number:

NX501

Weight:

9.25lbs

Internal SKU:

nx501

Internal Product ID:

35578

Product and How-to Videos


Customer Ratings & Reviews



5 star
46%
4 star
33%
3 star
4%
2 star
4%
1 star
13%



Durability
4.2
Value
4.2
Features
4.4
Design
4.7
Usability
3.9

Customer Reviews

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my tuppence worth or 700 quids worth

this unit is the worst purchase i have ever made from a sat nav point of view.it has sent me the wrong way down a one way street .sent me on a 15 mile goose chase.does not accept full post codes.the radio is on all the time you are using sat nav. believe it or not clarion we all do not want the radio on.then there is the clarion pass the buck help lines . and the buck stops with you .my unit is fitted to my new zafira dec 2013 .in closing the very first tom tom made is better. any comments please

By tango 6 on April 6, 2014

33

found this helpful.

Excellent product

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.

By Fatty on February 29, 2012

15

found this helpful.

Excellent Head Unit! Best Ever owned! A+

This headunit is flawless in every sense. The screen quality is top notch and is probably the best I've seen in an in dash screen. After the update from Clarion's web site this unit is flawless. Everything about it is awesome.

Pros:

-Screen Quality is amazing. Best I've seen on an in dash.
- Iphone like scrolling works perfectly after update
-Bluetooth is the best I've ever heard, people think im just on the phone.(I do own the external mic though, can't comment on internal one)
-Bluetooth Streaming works perfect and honestly sounds better then any other bluetooth A2DP I've heard, you can change the song on radio as well.
-Ipod Audio and Video is flawless, works very well. Ipod sometimes can be sluggish for a second or two, but not a big deal at all.
-Radio is great too, presets change instantly like on stock radios.
-Navigation is the best I've ever used, beating out garmin, kenwood, pioneer, tomtom, JVC.
-Navigation is fast and entuitive and very clean and sharp to look at, not boring like many other navigation units.
- Browsing through the whole unit is really fast and really has no lag issues at all, maybe before the update a little, but post update,

Cons:

-Sunlight glare is sometimes an issue, but not a huge deal.
-Boot up time is ONLY 10-15 seconds after update. Not 15-25 seconds like a lot of other people are saying.
-Bypass is a switch instead of always bypassed, again not a huge issue.

By Mike on November 9, 2011

14

found this helpful.

Love this deck!!!

I was very hesitant on buying a clarion deck, but I couldnt help notice the higher end specs that it had for its price range. I was looking for something to replace my pioneer single din and provide some cleaner and louder sound. This by far did the trick. The pioneer had to be at 3/4 volume for me to get a comfortable level to listen to my music, and sometimes at max volume when I wanted to really listen, it would still be insufficient. But this Clarion has plenty of power and at am able to listen comfortably at about 1/4 volume. Max volume hurts my ears. On top of that, the clearity from this deck is crystal clear. I have aftermarket Polk speakers and a Rockford Fosgate sub. This deck provides a great sound to my system. The touch screen cant be beat. I love the scrolling feature. Very similar to cell phones and other touch screen devices today. My friend has a toshiba double din and this touch screen blows it out of the water. Bluetooth works perfectly and clearly without the need for an extended mic. Navigation is as complete and in some cases even better than my garmin, which I never even use anymore. This is easily a $1k deck for half the price. Only thing that I would say could be better is more customization on the many different screens. There are a limited # of backgrounds to choose from, and they are only for the home screen. Not a big deal, but if I wanted to be nit-picky. Also, really wanted to be able to use and SD card to play music off of. The micro-SD slot for this deck is only for the navigation maps. But I just use my ipod so it still isnt that big of a deal. Highly recommend buying this unit and highly recommend sonicelectronix.com.

By Andre on May 11, 2012

13

found this helpful.

great deck

I have had this deck for about 6 months now and it works great, a lot of great features.

By Scott on January 20, 2012

13

found this helpful.

Awesome Unit

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!

By Dean on May 21, 2012

12

found this helpful.

Good with a few gotchas

Has great features. The onboard mic works really well. Great selection of inputs/outputs.

My first unit had a bad internal ground, so the points below I know aren't related to my unit as the replacement does the same things.

Things I wish I'd known before I bought:
1: the "custom" EQ mode doesn't affect the sub preouts

2: Sirius ALWAYS starts in "all channel" mode, not preset mode (Clarion says this is due to the scc1, but my Pioneer starts on presets...) Whoever's fault it is - REALLY? if you've defined presets why would you want to always start in all channel mode...

3: I fill my USB stick in artist folder, then album folder. 2 issues: USB input starts in first artist folder, showing album folders. Inconvenient. Secondly, if you swipe back, its sorted in oldest to newest "folder modified" order (should be either alpha, or rev modified - I usually want to listen to artists I've most recently loaded). It does start where you left off in a track between car starts (my pioneer starts the track over), so thats good.

4: It boots somewhat slow - this is really only a problem when you put it into reverse. I'm usually long gone by the time the backup camera comes on. Additionally, I get "no signal" for a few seconds when I do wait long enough. I have the same Boyo camera on my Pioneer unit and have never had that issue. Could be connection diffs between vehicles, but its still noteworthy.

Overall, this is a vast improvement over the Pioneer in my other vehicle, but it does have a few quirks as I've mentioned. Oh, and since its now a discontinued unit from Clarion, they've said they won't fix any of those issues because they're cosmetic, not critical to operations.

By PhoenixWeasel on April 24, 2012

13

found this helpful.

Lovin this unit

I really like this unit, i just got it installed last week and ordered it off of this website. It is off the chain and really beats out other units, especially in this price range. I played with the jvc and pioneer models near this price range and though they were more expensive, they didn't come close. Navigation is awesome, Bluetooth works well and I don't have the external mic but everyone says they can hear me really well, interface is beautiful and USB drive connectivity is excellent as well. All around great unit!!! Only thing that I don't like as much is that the lights have to be blue.

By george on January 21, 2012

12

found this helpful.

Worst service ever from Clarion and Naviextra

I don't recommend this product for the following reasons:
Clarion support is non existent. You call leave message and no one calls back.
You report a problem and no solutions are offered.
Bought this system on a friend's recommendation and had nothing but a nightmare. very difficult to set up blue tooth.
Touch controls are temperamental. constantly having to turn off unit to fix.
IPod music frequently drops off and radio comes on.
Had problems with maps, was told need to update, bought a package and wouldn't install as the SD card provided is too small, I had to remove maps in order to install new ones.
The St for streets are called saints and Dr for drives are called doctors, I contacted Clarion and was surprised to reach anyone, spoke to a Ramesh who told me not their problem should contact Naviextra. Sent an email as no phone, received an answer requesting info which I provided. Several emails back and forth and finally a month passed and got a reply from Naviextra that they cannot change the saints and doctors as product is outdated. I emailed back that the product is only 2 months old and if outdated why sell it. Received a response back that it is not their problem but Clarion. One blames the other and one takes responsibility. I called the dealer who was very helpful and offered to call them. However being disgruntled for two months I opted to return and buy Kenwood stereo which is supported by Garmin. A far superior mapping.
Buy this product if you want a headache.

By disgusted on March 24, 2013

11

found this helpful.

Clarion NX501 review

I purchased this unit from Sonic Electronix over a year ago. There were no issues with shipping, Sonic took care of all the customs, duties, etc., for shipping to Canada, as promised. The installation of the unit itself was straightforward, and it fit nicely into the double-DIN space of my 2007 Honda Pilot. I also installed a Sirius SCC1 satellite radio tuner at the same time, and re-purposed my old iPhone 3G as an iPod dedicated to the Clarion, stashed in the glove box. The main things I use the NX501 for are iPod, navigation, Bluetooth cell phone interface, satellite radio, and AM/FM radio, in that order. The iPod playback is fine, and whatever album art is present on the iPod gets displayed on the screen during playback. The skip button is a bit sensitive, and you need to press directly and deliberately on the arrow, or else the track won't skip as expected (although you may still hear a 'beep'). Sometimes you'll hear a double-beep, indicating that two tracks were actually skipped. The other main issue is that when starting the vehicle, the iPod isn't always detected right away, and you have to power-cycle the HU to get it to be detected. I just updated to the latest firmware version (July 2012) from Clarion's website this past weekend, and I haven't noticed this problem since the update, so hopefully this issue is fixed. I normally just select one of my playlists and hit shuffle, so I don't do a lot of manual searching for individual songs or artists. This is do-able, but when scrolling down a long list of songs or artists, the touchscreen is a bit sensitive, and will sometimes select an item you touched, when really you just meant to scroll down with a swipe gesture.

Navigation is excellent, the only gripe I have is that the voice instructions will almost always use a 'highway' name, rather than the actual commonly-used street name. The street name is displayed at the top of the nav screen at the same time, so I'm not sure why the audio instructions always describe a highway. I've looked through the various nav options, but can't find any way to change this. I particularly like the 'quick search' feature. If I'm looking for a Thai restaurant, I can just enter 'Thai' in the quick search, and it will start listing various locations with 'Thai' in the name, by order of proximity.
I don't use the satellite radio that often, not because of any problem with the unit itself, but more because I find the audio quality of Sirius XM satellite radio quite poor. Much of the time the audio sounds like an old cassette tape recording, on a tape that's been played too often (old timers will remember the 'warble' sound of a poor quality audio cassette). The only issue I had with the NX501's satellite interface was that the button to store a preset station didn't work. However, I'm happy to report that this has been fixed in the recent firmware update. It would be nice to have a 'mute' button in the main nav screen, so that you could easily mute any iPod or music playback. When voice instructions from the nav unit are happening, any music playing back will automatically lower in volume, but sometimes as you're getting close to the final destination, you want to turn the music right off, but to do this, I need to switch to the iPod screen, hit 'pause', then switch back to the nav screen.

The Bluetooth hands-free interface works well, but the only feature I really wish it had was a way to trigger the dial-by-voice feature of my Blackberry. Without this, if I want to dial a number, I have to access my phone's directory via the NX501's interface, then scroll around to find the number I want. Not easy to do while driving, and a definite distraction. It keeps a record of recently received and recently dialed numbers, which makes searching for commonly used numbers a bit easier, but it would be nice if it tied this list to the phone's directory. For example, I have three numbers stored in my Blackberry's contact list for my wife; her work number, her cell number, and our home number. If I access her directory entry via the NX501, it shows all three numbers. However, if I select her name from a list of recently received calls, it only shows me the number she called from, not all three numbers. If she called me yesterday from work, and I want to call her today, but I know she's not at work, and I want to call her cell, I can't do it via the 'received calls' menu, and must call up the full directory, then search. My other issue is that when talking on the cell phone via bluetooth, the caller's voice only comes from the left or right channel, but not both (you can choose which channel, but why not a mono audio feed from both channels?)

Aside from my gripe about the audio quality of Sirius radio, the unit's overall audio quality is excellent. I replaced my stock Pilot speakers with Infinity speakers (2 way speakers in the rear door, and two-way component speakers up front, with the tweeters mounted on the sail panels), and it sounds fantastic, especially for iPod audio playback. You can push it nice and loud, with no audible distortion, and there are various EQ settings for tweaking the sound to your heart's content. I had originally planned on driving the four door speakers with an external power amp, but after hearing the sound from the HU driving the Infinity speakers, I was quite happy with that. I do still plan to install a subwoofer, but that's part of phase II. :-)

I only recently started using the AM/FM radio, since I found when I was installing the unit that I needed a special adapter for the Honda radio antenna. I ordered the adapter, but then never got around to installing it until recently. I've programmed in my presets, and it sounds just fine. The 'analog' radio dial representation on the display is a bit wonky; it scrolls vertically, whereas most radio dials operate horizontally, and the 'up' and 'down' buttons on the top and bottom of this dial are non-intuitive. It would also be nice to be able to edit the station names of the presets, rather than just displaying their frequency.

I haven't yet used any of the following features:
-DVD playback
-Rear seat DVD displays/audio zones
-USB audio (i.e. USB memory sticks or other devices besides iPod)
-rear view camera

I do have a license plate camera unit, which will get installed as part of phase II, with the subwoofer upgrade. I already have a portable DVD player (two screens, one master, one slave) for the kids when we go on trips, but eventually I'll get some headrest DVD units, and start utilizing the DVD playback capability of the Clarion.

In short, I highly recommend this unit. The price is right, it's packed full of features (way more than I can use), it sounds excellent, and has a great user interface. Many of the minor complaints I had have now been resolved by the firmware update, and hopefully Clarion keeps refining and adding new features in future updates.

By greengo on October 9, 2012

11

found this helpful.

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