the crossovers, the 105 s/n, the eq, the sub level control.

heats up and distorts at loud volumes, screen messes up when its cold or moisty, skips on every bump that you can feel. Maybe because its not in super tight...

This deck is pretty nice because of all the features, but i have had some problems with it though. When its cold, sometimes the display will get messed up. If you play it loud(33 volume lvl) for a while it will distort. It skips on almost every bump that you can feel.For the price it should be an almost perfect deck, but isn't.

Similar Products Used:

pioneer cassete deck with changer, never skipped. nakamichi 45z had good sq, but tray broke.

non-fading control, 4.5v pre-out, cross-over, oversize display, excelon quality

i found none!

Kenwood KDC-X815 is probably one of the best head unit i have ever played with. I love the display as much as i love the features. This unit is packed with tons and tons of features. So much features that in a days worth, you would only probably know the deck on the shallow side. I'm very into car audio, so i figure out the unit in a half a day, but all i can say is that this unit is worth every penny that i paid for. 4.5v pre-out,3 pre-out,non-fading control,cross-over, really nice display, really nice setup, ect. ect., Oh and one more thing, tons of features (if i didn't or forgot to mention it).

Feature rich, nice display, 4.5V preouts, sound quality, D-Mask, Radio Data

sound quality is only good when it's not skipping.

Let me start by qualifying everything else that follows with the fact that this deck skips like a 12 year old schoolgirl. It skips randomly with brand new CDs on the highway, and if you want to listen to anything with a scratch on it, well forget it on my deck. Maybe some other guys have good ones, but it sounds like it's a luck of the draw thing. Beware is all I can say, make sure you get a good warranty. I had a pioneer and a sony deck before this that never skipped.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, this deck is pretty cool, I esp. like the 3 sets of 4.5V outputs, with the NF rear for my sub. It's cool that I don't have to crawl under my seat to adjust the crossover frequency to my mids and tweeters.

The display is nice, D-Mask rocks and the sound is great. But it skips.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Pioneer. Excelon has much better features, but I have to say it again...skips

Everything. This deck has every possible feature that I needed and then some.
The display is amazing,I like it more than the mega-bucks pioneer's organic display. It's functionality and ease of use is top-notch and the sound.... the sound is pure heaven. It gives my 4 4x6 speaks(notorious for no bass) a great deal of tight-ass bass. One superb feature of this model and other excelons is the 105db signal to noise ratio(in other words CLEAR)
The d+mask is one of the best security features on the market. Did I
mention how good the display and sound is? All the sub/amp control features round out the package.

What don't I like.........? uhhhhhhh....... I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT.

I paid cost (400 cdn) but I would have even paid full price if I knew it was going to be this good. I obviously would recommend this deck. If you are on the fence with a number of other brands, I hope that this review changes your mind and sways you towards this deck. One of the salespersons said,
"if you want to save a little money and not have quite as many features go pioneer or panasonic(allthough the day/night display is nice),but if you want the deck that is the cat's ass go with the 815 excelon kenwood"
nuff said, buy it.

Similar Products Used:

I bought a decent clarion the day before I bought my excelon and had it installed. Needless to say I took it back the next day and paid a little bit more for the kenwood. It was the smartest thing I have ever done. I have nothing against Clarion but when it stopped working properly on the day that I bought it(display). I knew it was time for a change. My sister has a mid-end Kenwood and sounds pretty awesome so I decided to go top-end and the sound is even better. I also looked at Premier- Pioneer,Panasonic,Alpine, and some others but for the money the Kenwood is better all around(even if you had to pay more,it has better features and sound)It does not compare, it is in a league of it's own. ALLTHOUGH ECLIPSE AN NAK ARE AMAZING AS WELL. But the kenwood has much better value.

Most of the features this unit boasts have already been highlighted in the reviews preceding this one, but the main ability that sets this receiver apart from others is the sound customizability. Built-in System E's+ Advanced Crossover, Kex equalization, DRIVE circuitry for distortion free sound (even and extreme volumes), and subwoofer control. Your ears couldn't thank you enough for the incredible sound quality. (Make sure you have high-end speakers to fully appreciate the quality)

I haven't noticed anything wrong with sound quality, though have found it very hard to see the display in direct sunlight. But most receivers are like this anyway, so this is only nitpicking. The buttons are a little small, but if you've used aplines, eclipses, etc. your probably already used to it.

I paid a total of $449, which included installation and 2-year warranty on anything that could possibly go wrong with the unit (even theft). The sound quality for this price range is phenomenal and its got so many features, almost too many, that add to a well balanced receiver. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be able to control a wide spectrum of sound, and without spending a boatload of money.

Similar Products Used:

I've mainly had Sony cd receivers in my car. Have used/played with many other brands, and this one is definitely at the top of the $550 and under category.

Tons of features you can manipulate the sound as if you had an equalizer.
Display is very impressive the bars dance to the music. It makes my Infinity speakers scream. Awesome power. If you want looks this is the one for you.

At first this head unit was the best thing since sliced bread, but then I got my subs working. I have a Kicker Zr-240 amp and two 12' solo barics. After about two months of pounding my cds started to skip when I hit bumps in the road. Then my certain bassy songs made it skip. When you pay almost 600 dollars for something you expect it to perform at a 600 dollar level not a cheap wal-mart level. If you have powerful subs you may not want to purchase this product.

Awesome for regular use with no subs. Add subs be ready to be pissed off at the skipping it will do.

Similar Products Used:

The only other product I've had was a double din pioneer. The Kenwood blows it away with features but gets dogged when compared to the skipping factor. The pioneer never skipped the whole 2 years I had it.

The unit is packed with features and looks good, especially the D-Mask.

Unit doesn't handle stress well.

I don't know about the other people reviewing this radio, but after not only four months the unit completely failed to operate. It skipped so badly when it did work that it was hardly worth listening to cd's. I bought the unit new and it is still being repaired by Kenwood and has been in the shop for over 2 months. However, to pay that kind of money and have the unit compelely fail is unacceptable. Buyers beware of this unit. I would not buy another Kenwood as they are notorious for their models needing service.

Similar Products Used:

None

IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SPEAKERS AND SETUP THIS SYSTEM WILL KICK.LIKE NORMAL SYSTEM YOU ADJUST THE FRQ THE WHOLE SETUP ISN'T RIGHT BUT WITH THIS YOU CAN ADJUST IT ON ITS OWN.

HAVN'T FOUND ANY AS OF YET

BECAUSE I HAVE A GOOD SETUP UP OF SPEAKERS THE SETUP SOUNDS GOOD THIER TREBLE MID-RANGE AND GOOD BASS AND IS VERY CLEAR.

Similar Products Used:

COMPARE TO THE PIONEER KEH6900R ITS A PROS SYSTEM

Built-in crossover

Problems with clean discs skipping at the same (time) location on the disc.Most important controls too small and crowded. AM radio could not block out signals from other stations while listening to a strong signal station

When you spend more than $400 for a head unit, you expect high quality. Over the years I have owned Denon, Alpine and Eclipse. The Kenwood is at the bottom of the list in preformance and ease of use.

Similar Products Used:

Eclipse 55040 beats the Kenwood hands down

3 band parametric eq
front, rear and sub crossovers
great display
clean sound

volume buttons instead of knob

I did a lot of research and talked to many manufacturer reps. before making my decision on a head unit. I needed a great player to go with the rest of my system and the kenwood had the all the built in features that I was looking for.
My system includes
Kenwood KDC-X817 head unit
2 sets MB Quart 6.5" QSD components
2 JL Audio 15W3 woofers for SPL
2 MB Quart 12" Premium woofers for SQ
2 U.S. Amps Bass Mekanik PT-350 amps for mids and highs
1 U.S. Amps Bass Mekanik PT-1100 amp for subs
1 U.S. Amps US-X2R crossover for all three amps
1 Precision Power PAR-245 Parametric EQ
2 Lightning Audio batteries and all Lightning Audio Storm wires and accessories

You can find all these products except for the U.S. Amps at the store I work at.
The Sound Advantage
908 Main Street
Rochester, Michigan 48307
(248) 656-1611
my E-mail: bass20hz@hotmail.com

Similar Products Used:

Many Alpine units
The Kenwood has many more features than the Alpine and features a higher preout voltage.