Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X697

KDC-X697

I really like the look of this head unit, it's very sleek and elegant. The flaps over the cd and usb/aux ports are a classy touch. I also like the glossy finish, I'm not having any of the glare problems that a lot of reviewers write about. That may be because I have heavily tinted windows.

The sound quality is fantastic.This is the first non-Alpine/Pioneer head unit I've owned in years, and I'm not disappointed. One important thing to note when setting your amp gains, this head unit's preouts do not clip at full tilt - volume 35/35. If you set your amp gains at 28/35, which is about 80% like most people/sites recommend, will will end up with a fairly low preout voltage. To get the full 4 volts, you need to use volume 35 and sub +1.

Kenwood has seriously stepped up their game lately. One reason I decided to go with Kenwood over Alpine/Pioneer/Claroin, is that I was so impressed with my girlfriend's Kenwood head unit. I got her a new KDC-108 a little over a year ago for dirt cheap, and she loves it. Looks, sound quality, durability, these are all around quality units, and they seem, to me, to be much better value than what the other guys are putting out.

There are only 2 things I don't really like about it. Firstly, if you pause then go to a different song, that song automatically plays. You can't pause a song right at the beginning because the you have to hold the pause button for a couple seconds. That may sound like no big deal, but I just find it a little annoying that whenever I get in the car, the middle of a song, or at least a second or two into a song, starts playing, instead of the beginning. & there's nothing you can do about it.

Secondly, useless functions like "loudness" and "supreme". I know most companies have similar functions, but Kenwood - You would be much more highly respected in the audiophile community if you'd get rid of that crap.

Okay, so my two complaints were pretty weak, but that's really all I've got. I really like this head unit, and I highly recommend it. As far as I'm concerned in the heard unit market, Kenwood is one of the big boys now.

Excellent Head Unit

I bought this unit to replace the factory stereo in my 2001 Nissan Pathfinder. I didn't have a lot of money to spend and this unit offered a lot of features for the price. I hooked it up to some JBL GTO speakers I had. I have another car I use for a daily driver that has an expensive and very complex system. When I fired up the Kenwood with the JBLs I was amazed at how well everything sounded with just the head unit and no amp.

Don't let the price fool you. It offers some great features and has a pretty extensive menu of settings. I really like having the front and rear USB ports. You can even add satellite radio to it. I have a 64GB thumb drive with nearly 4000 songs loaded on it connected to the rear USB port. Paired to JBLs the sound quality is very good.

So far I guess my only complaint with this unit is that it doesn't have blue tooth. If you need that then you need to look at another model. I really didn't have high expectations so I was very surprised by its capabilities. I recommend this unit.

its ok

itts ok..just not happy w the screens and resolution

GREAT SOUND

This is a very nice unit - great sound. Must use the remote for everything which is a bother - radio preset recall with the remote is a pain. But the sound makes up for any problem. To hard the set up and the operation directions - useless

Most bang for your buck

After doing some research i found the eXelon product line rates well with most audiophiles then it's just a matter of finding it at a price you can live with. Well i had to wonder if the cops were coming to my door because i stole this item legally. Sonic electronix always has had what i wanted in stock at a great price with timely delivery A WIN, WIN, WIN SITUATION FOR ME !!!!!!! also included was a wiring harness for a professional installation

Really great deal!

I would recommend this unit, I wanted to replace my old unit which only had the iPod hookup, now I have that plus pandora, I'm good!

Kenwood eXelon is the only way to go!

I can some up this cd-head unit in one word.....CLARITY. I've used several types of kenwood decks and have yet to be disappointed. Ever since i tried the eXcelon line, I haven't looked back. I narrowed it down with 6 choices: 1: deck size, 2: pre-amp voltage, 3: number of rear RCAs. 4: display text/font style, 5: usb location & 6: price. Sonicelectronix has such a wide variety of car audio, with in unbelievable pricing. I will continue to check here before looking elsewhere. FYI- if your credit card shipping/billing addresses are different, CALL-IN YOUR ORDERS! Sonicelectronix FTW!

Great Product.

I bought this stereo to replace the existing one in my Tahoe but I'm very satisfied with this product. It has all the features I was looking for like Pandora , Two usb connection and great sound.the best part was the price I paid less then What I thought.
Great stereo I would definitely recommend it.

Best Bang for Your Buck!!

The 4V preamps are a great feature to get the best quality audio out of your speakers,amps, and subs. The USB inputs are almost useless unless your music files are meticulously sorted on your player. Aux input will make up for the weak USB inputs.

Cannot beat it for the price.

I purchased the XDC-697 for $104. I was looking for a single DIN unit with a multi-line character display and USB. Most other Single DIN units have 10-12 characters max at a time. This unit can have three lines and probably 16 characters across.

The colors are customizable (buttons and/or display to match my dash). The audio adjustment options are endless. The display and interface customizing options are endless as well. You could get lost for days tinkering with your settings.

I have had it for almost a month now and finally think I have all of the settings where I want them. It pushes my speakers nicely. The higher end units have bluetooth.

My Gripes:
-------------
1. The faceplate appears to scratch easily
2. If you like adjusting your EQ frequently, it is not a simple process
3. FM reception is not as great as my GM factory HU
4. You have to download the 104 pg manual online to understand the settings
5. The lack of buttons on the faceplate gives the remote control easier control over the unit
6. You only have one audio 'User" preset

All in all I love this HU. It only took me three weeks to understand what all it can do.