JVC KD-HDR1

The KD-HDR1 is a great little HU to check out the world of HD radio with. It's a lot cheaper than other models with a built in tuner too.

My only two problems with this unit are:

1. The remote is too small. I drop it all the time and it is awkward in the hand.

2. You can't switch to secondary HD stations from the remote.

Other than those two issues the unit is great.

This head unit is so sweet! It has a built in HD tuner. Many radios are HD ready and require the seperate purchase for the HD tuner. There are many more goodies. Satellite radio,CD changer, and auxillary inputs are optional. Dimmer automatically activates when you turn on your headlights. Or you can dim manually. There's front, rear, and subwoofer RCA outputs. That leaves alot to be desired for expanding your system. And having dedicated sub output means you can fade between front and rear speakers with the subwoofer volume remaining constant. Did I mention you can control the sub output level from the head unit? The CD player performs flawlessly. Many rough roads and no skipping. And there's direct track access for tracks 1-12. I can't speak for the built in amp. All of my speakers are powered by external amplifiers. It doesn't have a fancy display and there are units out there with many more bells and whistles. But for the price, it can't be beat.

I replaced the stock radio in my '99 Altima with one of these (and four boston acoustics s65 speakers). The HD radio is excellent. I can hear a distinct difference, and my wife noticed it the first time she heard the radio go from HD to regular FM (we drove outside the HD signal range). The HD sounds as good as a CD to my ears, though considering it's a '99 and engine noise, road noise, etc., it's not the best environment to compare. I agree with the other reviewer that you should check your area to see if HD is worth it. I live near Baltimore, and our favorites stations are HD, with additional multicast channels. But the signal is more finicky. I can get the FM signal well past (10 miles at least) where the HD signal drops out. It is also finicky during bad weather, and drops out or goes in and out of HD, which produces a kind of whooshing sound. It might be hard to find someone with HD to ask, but it's worth asking around. If most of my commute were outside HD range, I wouldn't have bothered. As it is, about 99 percent of the time it's perfectly fine, the sound is as good as the XM-equipped car I've been in, and I don't pay any monthly charges. The other 1 percent of the time -- and when I'm traveling -- it has good FM performance and a nice CD player.

Great headunit. The HD tuner is worth the price. I would recommend first listening to HD radio to see if it is worth it before purchasing this because I couldn't tell a huge difference. in quality I did pick up a lot more stations though. Lots of features great value. Easy install.

This is an awesome head unit, the HD tuner alone is worth the price. The sound quality is crisp and clear and the bass output is great.