Customer Ratings & Reviews

Great factory replacemrnt

Perfect factory radio replacement. Looks better than factory and performs much better. Bluetooth alone made this a great radio for hands free cell phone use. Plenty of sound adjustments to tweak in just the the rite sound from your existing speakers. The variable lighting adjustments let me math it to my dash lighting perfectly.

The best Radio for the Price!!

The Clarion CX609 just Rocks! I purchased this unit to replace the stock radio in my 2007 WRX and it's the best purchase to date for my car.
Everything works the way it's advertised, definitely the best value for your money.
Because I am an avid iPhone user, my only complaint is iPhone cannot transfer the phone book onto the unit, but I believe that's an apple restriction, not the CX609. The manual is written horribly, especially the bluetooth pairing instructions. I found instructions posted by another reviewer of this product from a different website, so I'll post the instructions here for anyone else that is having the same problem I had.

For people having trouble navigating the CX609 menus, the Bluetooth pairing is actually pretty straightforward once you choose to ignore the user manual. Here are the steps from memory:

1. Switch source to Bluetooth by pressing source button
2. Hold down DISP button until menu options displayed
3. Press right arrow until PAIRING menu
4. Press Play/ENT to select PAIRING
5. Press right/left arrow to choose memory slot (1 through 5 devices)
6. Press and hold Play/ENT to go to SEARCH/WAIT menu
7. Press down arrow to select WAIT
8. Set phone to search for Bluetooth devices before proceeding
9.Press AND hold Play/ENT until WAITING is flashing on the headunit
10. New device should appear on phone and use phone to complete pairing.

Sonic Electronix has the best price for this unit.

I Love It

Awesome clean and very stock look. I don't like all the flashy other kinds but I wasted the bluetooth and the USB connection. Check your iPod gen and cell phone bluetooth signal before you buy. My 6th gen Nano doesn't work with the receiver and my old cell cannot connect either. Luckily I have a gen touch that works flawlessly and I'm getting a Droid in Feburary so no biggy. Other than that the custom colors are great and bright. I found the exact match to my factory illumination. Radio stations don't come in very well for some reason but I didn't buy this to listen to the radio. iPod playback is crystal clear and after turning on the HPF and messing with some other systems my factory speakers sound 10x better.

Love it.

I purchased this to replace the factory HU in my Pontiac G6, primarily to gain bluetooth capability with my DroidX. The radio fit nicely with the Scosche mounting bracket, and sounds good with the factory amp.

The setup controls were not immediately intuitive, but the instruction manual got me up to speed very quickly.

My only complaint was the Scosche GM13SR harness that I purchased (recommended by both Scosche and Sonic). It was wired wrong for my car, and therefore would not turn-on my amp. But this complaint has absolutely nothing to do with the radio.

I'm very happy with the unit. Bluetooth works great with my DroidX, for both audio and phone calls.

Nice Purchase!

Love It! Make easy and secure the answering and talking while driving. I recommend this product 100%

Great little unit

All the bells and whistles for a great price. Could use a little more output power but otherwise good stuff.

Cx-609

Love the radio, installation was a snap with the provided adapter. Great product, great service!!!

Great features for the money.

With front USB inputs & Bluetooth, this unit is worth the money.

Tacoma _ 08

I just installed my new Clarion CX609 on my 2008 Tacoma Truck. It looks good and sounds even better. As the other reviews point out there are some issues with features buried in the menus, which make it a bit tedious. The installation kit I received worked great, except for the color its a dark silver (grayish) but still looks good. I also purchased a SWIJACKv1, which also works great. The best advise I can give, is to get familiar with the diagrams and do a bit of research before you begin taking the dashboard apart. It took me about 4 hours to do the entire installation with my friend's help. We preped and soldered some of the harnesses out of the truck, and this helped us to have and easy installation. I reiterate the key for smooth installation is to get familiar with all the schematics and prep everything before you start.

Excellent headunit!!

I absolustely love this headunit!! It fit perfectly in my 2005 Nissan Pathfinder! The color schemes made it a PERFECT match to my trucks amber interior!

The built in amp is STRONG!! Definitely kicks and makes my stock speakers sound upgraded!

The sound quality is great! Nice and crisp and it's also adjustable via the EQ.

Bluetooth is awesome!! No hiccups at all!!

USB port works PERFECTLY!! I just load up all my music on a tiny flash drive and I listen to my music like that!

The only minor downfall is the learning curve to the menu options (for customizing), but once you figure it out it's super easy!

Thanks SONIC!! Best service ever! This is why I keep coming back to shop here!

Great unit with one very annoying feature

This is a great head unit, but if you have a phone with bluetooth and A2DP, you will be annoyed unless you can turn A2DP bluetooth off. If you link your phone to the unit, every time you get in your car and turn on the key, the unit and your phone will link up and it will change your input to the phone and plays your phone's music, whether you want it or not. I listed primarily to XM, so every time, I have to re-select XM. Clarion should have put a control for this "auto select" as you cannot turn it off, and if you have an iPhone, you cannot turn A2DP off..VERY annoyed. Other than that, I love the sound, look, and features. SonicElectronix were great dealing with. Fast shipment.

Clarion CX609

Love this headunit. No complaints whatsoever. No problems with the transaction either.

My experience with this new radio...

This radio on paper has everything you would need:

Bluetooth
Mp3/WMA support
Color matching ability
OEM double-din look
etc, etc

I received this unit and installed it ASAP, when all was and done there was no glimmer of life on the head unit. The manual that comes with the radio gives you hints of what to do but does not explain what needs to be done correctly.

It turns out that the unit has two yellow wires that need to be connected to the wire harness' one yellow wire. Once this was done, BAM there was life. The manual almost seemed to say that the 3A wire did not need to be connected in its own vague way.

Once that was done I was impressed with is sound clarity and brought my factory speakers up to a new level of sound compared to the OEM unit. The AUX input also has good sound levels that can be adjusted as well, now any external devices that I use will sound great.

Now, for the final pain in the ***, The unit as a Bluetooth profile of 2.0, so, my Palm Pre has one of 2.1. This did not allow my radio to play well with my phone. I tested my phone with a Pioneer that my friend owns and it synced with no problems at all. That led me to feel it was my radio and may need to be exchanged for a Pioneer (which only has blue illumination).

The manual is no help when it comes to the bluetooth operation and setup, it is not translated well and makes it almost a pain to read through. The way I ended up getting my phone to work was to sync my daughter's Samsung Instinct which I am guessing uses the profile 2.0, and it worked.

I noticed that now I had all of the settings that the manual was talking about (select, delete, etc) and could see her phone name. I deleted her phone and then tried mine again and BEHOLD it worked. It even showed to transfer the phonebook when I told my phone to send it (but that didn't happen). The phone now works with no problems in answering and pairing when needed. The phonebook did not transfer but maybe Palm can issue a backwards compatible patch for it's bluetooth on the Pre.

I am happy as now I can keep the unit and match the color scheme along with the handsfree feature. I do not know if it is possible for Clarion to also update the radio's firmware, I will have to keep an eye out.

So, the Clarion CX609 is a great OEM radio replacement but you may have to deal with a few little quirks here and there. The USB data read is fast, IPOD feature works great, not very intuitive but once you figure it out its a breeze. The display can be hard to read for some depending on where the unit is installed and angle of view. I have not tried the satellite function as I do not have the tuner installed.

I recommend this unit if you want to match the color scheme in your vehicle, want good sound, bluetooth handsfree, need a double-din, and cost for what you get.

dissapointing interface

The user interface on this device leaves a lot to be desired. I expected a seamless link up with my bluetooth phone, but had to do a lot of fiddling around to get it to connect. The menus are not intuitive at all to navigate, and the names on the hard buttons do not make a lot of sense. The manual is a muddled version of English obviously not written or translated by a native speaker.
The unit was easy for me to install in a 2007 Toyota Highlander, and it does sound good. Once I got the phone hooked up via bluetooth, that is a very nice feature. However, the interface does fall short again here as it is nearly impossible to navigate my phonebook on the radio display. Most of the time I end up using the voice dialing feature on my phone, and then using the handsfree on the radio to talk. Overall a disappointing experience for the money. Too bad, I have owned Clarion products in the past, and been happy. I'll pony up the extra $$ for a LCD screen unit next time.

awsome radio , quick delivery

This is a great product, you have all you need, even can set the display color that suits with the interior of your car. I am having some issues with connectivity with my ipod shuffle. Still to figure out why, it give me error 3 which according to the user manual is file format problem, though it is mp3 file and plays perfectly in ipod , still to figure out the actual problem .

Great at the price

• Audio- this unit sounds nice with the polk/blaupunkt replacement speakers. Setting the custom eq settings is a bit clumsy but the adjustments are there. Power enough to fill the speakers just short of loud.
• USB- Powers Ipod and controls Ipod through head controls well. Even better, you can dump songs on a cheap thumb drive, and browse the folders through the head unit. Works just like the Ipod.
• Bluetooth- Works great and sounds great. Of course mike placement is important, don't point dash tweets at the mike.
• Display- I changed the color to match the dash lights, very good.
These is some glare on the display in the sun, a matte display plastic should have been used. (only dislike I have).
• overall - unit does everything it says it will. Tuner is good, CD is good, I don't sat radio, Lots of buttons to learn but lots of features.
It's not audiophile by any stretch, but it's good enough for my truck. The factory set up was not good enough.

AWESOME Deal!

For the price, I think it is unbelievable. Bluetooth connection is very clear, although it doesn't auto-connect with my BlackBerry half the time.

As for the look, it is very classic and OEM. Looks great in my Lexus ES300 (1998). Even better at night, with seemingly limitless shades of OEM lighting.

Great buy

Read the reviews here and went for it. Unit has all that I wanted, USB with out having to buy extra wires or adapters and bluetooth for my iPhone. Very good user interface. Instructions are written in broken english but they are workable. To access certain menu functions make sure that you are set on the desired input. i.e. if you are trying to set up the ipod controls then make sure you are in USB input. Bluetooth pairing is a little pain but just walk through the instructions step by step. It will never list the discoverable devices until you hit stop after 30 seconds of "searching". User code is 1234 and is not listed in the manual until pages after you need it! Love it so far. Bought a comparable Pioneer and hated it so bad I had Best Buy yank it back out.

Great Radio !!

I used it mainly to prevent the use of my IPhone while driving.
I can get the music from my IPhone thru the radio command, and it get connected to bluetooth no problem each time I enter the car so I don't miss any call and I get the sound thru the speakers and the voice thru the mic provided with the radio. Perfect radio for my use.
Excellent upgrade from my OEM radio.

Great Value for money

If you want a replacement stereo with more functionality than your stock unit but without paying an arm and a leg for DVD screens and GPS, this is the unit for you. Multi-colored backlights and bluetooth so you can talk handsfree where law requires are a real bonus, the kids love calling out red - pink - green as the color scans. Owned for a year with no problems. Only problem I have is it won't identify radio stations and songs played, which my stock radio would do.

satisfied

After much research I decided on this double din. I wanted something in the $200 range with bluetooth and usb. The variable colors were a selling point for me along with rear usb (in glove box out of sight). The bluetooth works great for phone/music but no hands free dialing thru reciever. I first bought a refurbished one and could only connect bluetooth by pairing each time, turned out to be defective and had to get another. Only other dislike is that when using USB stick it does not continue from one folder to another it repeats the current folder. Sound quality is excellent thanks to many bass, mid, treble, and crossover adjustments once you figure it all out. Overall I am very happy with this unit and it looks very clean installed in my Mazda3