Kenwood Excelon KDC-X569 Car CD / MP3 Player

I needed (read that as 'wanted') to upgrade to an in-dash MP3 player as I had collected quite a few digitized songs online. I wanted something that (obviously) played MP3s as well as being capable of controlling the necessities in the rest of my system.

Having built-in crossovers, a 3 band parametric EQ, 22 watts/channel RMS and 50 watts/channel peak internal power with the ability to defeat the deck's internal amplifier to reduce heat build up when component amps are used, and three sets of RCA pre-outs (front/rear/and a non-fading sub out with dedicated level control) advertised that the KDC-X569 was up to the task.

Station-grabbing 9.3dB FM sensitivity assures you'll not be fighting a wavering radio signal while listening to your favorite broadcast tunes.
0 Bit mute during CD playback assures you'll not hear any background hiss in between tracks of your discs.


It will display ID3 Tag (v.1) information (track title, artist, album title, etc) provided it was recorded onto the MP3 disc along with the musical information. This info can be set to scroll automatically or manually. The display has a dimmer to tone it down a bit when the vehicle's headlights are switched on. It will display CD Text information if it encoded into a disc. Up to 30 disc names may be programmed into the deck for various cds you listen to frequently. 100 discs may be programmed if you use an optional cd changer.

Kenwood states this deck to have "Digital Optimum Servo Control" which is advertised to read each cd individually and determine that disc's reflection rate and the modulation of its pits then set the servo gain best used for that disc. Adjustments are made automatically when imperfections such as dust, fingerprints, or scratches are found. Kenwood states this helps to 'reduce' skipping and mistracking. They don't advertise it to be a skip-free deck but I'm here to tell you - in the 6 months that I have had this deck in use it has yet to skip the first time! And that includes a jaunt down a road that was not designed with compact cars in mind.

As well as the industry standard for high-end head units, detachable face security, it features an optional user-settable 4-digit security code so that should the unit become disconnected from constant power the code must be entered into the deck before it will become operational.

The internal network shows me the only weakness I have found with this deck. Front channels HP crossover variable from 100, 125, 150, and 170Hz. Subwoofer pre-out LP crossover variable from 120, 80, and 50Hz. The rear channels HP crossover is only selectable active/inactive at a non-variable 200Hz ?!? I'm not understanding why you would want to filter your lower mid-bass out of your rear speakers and not the front where more often than not (but certainly not always) a vehicle's rear interior speakers will be as big or larger than the front interior speakers. i.e. capable of producing lower-octaved tones! The logic there escapes me. Thankfully, in my personal set-up I have crossovers in my amplifiers as well and do not depend on the rear pre-out crossover in the deck.

So, all in all - if you're looking for a rock-solid cd player that will read MP3s then this one will suit you fine. If you need the internal crossover to be less limited for your rear channels then this one will disappoint.

One last note - being that this deck is from Kenwood's top-end eXcelon line the factory warranty is twice that (2 yrs)of their normal head units.