JVC KD-AHD39 Car CD / MP3 Player

I have had this unit for about 1 month. Installation was not easy (used crutchfield kit). But now that it is in, it looks pretty good (not great). When I first turned it on, I was surprised by the sound. It was great! Better than the stock Volvo radio. There is no need to upgrade AMPs or Speakers for my car.

Yes, the buttons are small, labels hard to read, but once you have it setup with your favorites, things sound pretty good.

I bought the radio for the HD capability. It sounds pretty good (I am sure that there is a lot of processing going on, HD only transmits at 96 Kbytes/sec), but in the last 10 years or so, most of my music has been MP3s and radio, so this sounds on par with what is now the "norm". Normal CDs do sound better than I remember.

By default, the head unit seems very "bassy", and I have not had the time to figure out how to adjust the EQ to fix it 100%, but I am sure the controls are there.

I choose the JVC because it was the most economical HD headunit that fit in my car. I did not want an "external" HD accessory box. HD was my primary requirement, every other feature was "optional" in my mind. The ability to finally play CD-MP3s in my car is nice, I don't understand why this was not "standard" from the factory, but I digress.

The sensitivity is good for this radio because it has the HD built in with the normal FM, you don't have to "split" the antenna feed.