Kenwood eXcelon DDX9905S

Kenwood eXcelon DDX9905S

This is the best Double Din out right now. Very surprised a reviewer mentioned the screen is not good. Comparing it to a tablet is not the best way to review this product. It is a headunit and should be compared to other headunits. I ran a tablet with a Sony GS9 for years. Tablet's have their issues also. This Kenwood is a step up from the 9904s. Better sound, better screen, and quicker response. Even the boot up seems a few seconds quicker. If you want the best double din headunit look no further. Another plus...It can handle large drives of music and navigate them fairly easy.

Sound is amazing! LCD screen, not so much.

I bought this unit because I have a large library of HD FLAC audio files. I have been using a Pioneer AVH4200NEX. The Pioneer played all my files but converted them to CD quality.
The audio quality on this new Kenwood is off the charts amazing! 24/FLAC files sound like they have been fully unleashed. The definition and spacial imaging is awesome. This unit also has enough processing power to play an external USB as well as Apple CarPlay without the delays and skips that the Pioneer suffers from. It boots up my 2TB SSD quickly & starts playing.
The only downside is the video quality of the LCD screen. I expected more from the HD rating but the playback of HD video files is very sub par. You are also limited in playing them with a USB drive or on a DVD-r disc. You are also limited to 4gb files & every HD video I have played on it so far is very pixilated & grainy. A 480p DVD looks fine but not great. Definitely not HD in that regard. Graphics & photos do look crisp & bright, however.
In all, if you want great audio, this receiver is amazing. If you listen to HD audio files, they will sound like everything you hoped for.
If you are fired up about the HD display, you will probably be disappointed, especially at this price point. Go with a tablet display hooked up to a standard head unit if you want to be impressed with video playback. You will trade sound quality for that setup but the video will be better.

By Rick on May 8, 2018 Verified purchase

Excellent

Amazing head unit. Fast and responsive software, screen is clear and bright, most importantly sounds great with tons of tweaking ability. Only complaint is the screen seems to pick up my finger prints very easily (as do all touch screens for me). This is my first Kenwood as I use to use Pioneer almost exclusively but they need a serious UI update. This Kenwood blows away Pioneer and Alpine from my experience. Got it at a steal of a price too!

By Anonymous on May 22, 2019 Verified purchase