Kenwood Excelon DNX9140 6.98 in. Car DVD Player

You know how when you make an expensive purchase, and you are able to justify the expense, because the item is just so worth it? Well this is nothing like that at all.
I will try to convey facts and refrain from opinion, but after dropping almost $2k on this item, my frustrations may come through. Please note that the dollar amount included the installation of the head unit itself, as well as the satellite component and a rear camera. While the Sirius satellite and rear camera function properly, I can’t say the same for two other features, the USB and the Garmin navigation.
I purchased this unit on Saturday, August 15th 2009. The dealer from where I purchased also did the installation. I must include that the dealer advised me against this unit, stating that although it is considered to be the Top-of-The-Line, customers have reported several bugs. I remained firm on my choice. After the installation was complete, I was given a basic operation demonstration, and an invoice for $1950.00. With no apparent problems, I paid the dealer an departed.
On my way home, I would glance at the Garmin navigation screen and note my location by the street names displayed on the screen. The data on the screen was accurate and informative, but this would all change very soon.

I replaced a Ford F-150 stock head unit with this new Kenwood DNX9140, so as soon as I returned home, I felt the need to test my collection of music on my new and improved sound system. The sound was a noticeable improvement, as is common when replacing factory audio equipment. I was quite eager to connect my USB drive to this unit and looked forward to the convenience of pooling an abundance of music and video on one device; however, it was quite late in the evening, so I decided I wait until the next day to delve into this new experience.

I woke bright and early on Sunday to begin transfer my media to the USB drive. In doing so, I created 11 folders with about 3000 files. After a couple hours of selecting files and then completing the transfers, I started my truck and connected the USB drive. From one of the screens, I selected the USB as the source and then waited for the DNX9140 to read the drive. The read time was about 45 seconds, but with a great deal my anticipation anything seems too long. Unfortunately, the read failed even after numerous attempts.

After researching this issue, I discovered that Kenwood will not read the drive unless it’s in Fat32 format. Needless to say, I had to format my USB drive, convert it to Fat32, and then begin again with the transfers. After a successful read, the display on the Kenwood DNX9140 changed to reflect the files on the USB drive. Of the 11 folders I had created, all but 3 were grayed out, making them non-selectable. I researched the problem even more and learned that there are strict file structure limitations for this unit to read a USB drive. The Kenwood DNX9140 will only read 254 folders, and each folder must contain no more than 255 files. If this were true, something I’ve not tested, you could have access to a max of 65025 files. If you deviate from this requirement, your files are not accessible. The limitations also state that the unit is capable of reading 8 levels deep in a folder structure; however, I have yet to have a successful read with anything more than one level.

Having spent an abundance of time trying to achieve something I expected to be quite simple, I gave up and decided to drive my vehicle to tend to some errands. I changed the screen to display the Garmin GPS navigation and pulled away from my home. Within half a mile or so, I noticed a statement/ message on the screen that read something like, “Downloading Automatic Updates.” I have several Garmin units and have never seen this before. The other Garmin units require a manual update, where you connect the GPS device to the computer, and use a file to upgrade the firmware, or simply transfer files to the device. I was elated thinking this was a new feature that might avert the manual method. The elation was short lived. This message remained on the screen for 27 minutes. After sitting in the parking lot of my destination for 15 minutes, I could wait no longer and turned off my truck. After returning to my truck, starting it up, and waiting for the booting of the system, The “Downloading Automatic Updates” message appeared again. My next destination would take another 15 minutes to get to: all the while the message on the screen remained. After returning to my truck and seeing the message for a second time, I hit the reset button on the front of the display. The system rebooted and the message was gone. While heading home with the Garmin navigation screen still on display, I noticed that there were no street names. Thinking I was zoomed out to far, I pressed the + icon to zoom in. This had little to no effect. The Garmin would list maybe a street to the right and a street to the left, but neither were anywhere near me. I changed the settings to show the most detail, but this didn’t help either, nor did selecting from 3D to 2D. To make matters worse, the moving map was tilted at an angle. Changing from North Up to Track Up did not correct this.

I found a couple of online forums, where others are dealing with the very same issues. One in particular made mention of an update file, which was available on the Kenwood web site. My hopes were that this update would correct the problems mentioned above, but after updating the unit to the new 1.70 version, the problems remain.

Both Kenwood and Garmin have sound reputations for quality and service; however, my experience with this Flagship Head Unit is pure disappointment. On paper, this unit would seem more than capable. If it lived up to the manufacturers claims, I would have no problems recommending it to audiophiles or anyone else who wants the best: Regrettably it does not; therefore, I cannot!