Kenwood KDC-X859 Car CD / MP3 Player
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Similar in In Dash Receivers
- MP3 / WMA Playback: MP3 Playback
- Player Type: CD
- Controlled Devices: CD Changer Sirius Ready
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Kenwood X859 - A good start
Pros
D-Mask,amp control
Cons
unintuitive
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
This receiver has almost too much to offer. If you can live with the sometimes overwhelming menu, this receiver is a great start to a great system.
I purchased the Kenwood X859 and installed it just a few weeks ago. I chose this head unit over it's more expensive sibling the X959 because of the D-Mask feature and the rotary volume knob (no button presses for volume control).
D-Mask
Unlike most head units that require you to remove the faceplate for security, D-Mask rotates the faceplate into the dash leaving only a plain black piece of plastic visible. To a casual observer on the street, it appears that your faceplate is missing. I like this feature mostly because it gives me a certain level of security without forcing me to add another task to my routine when leaving the car.
Display
The display on the head unit is really great. Even in fairly direct sunlight you can get all of the basic information (volume, source, etc) in one glance. In addition, the X859 allows you to tilt the receiver at a 15 degree angle with the press of a button. It remembers this setting and is very nice for low-mounted stereos or tall drivers.
Pre-out control
Probably the best part for me about this head unit is the level of control you receive over the pre-outs (RCA). You can set high-pass and low-pass filters through a menu on the head unit and also modify the bass curve response. For me this is great because I can leave my amps on their "through" setting and adjust the filters on my head unit. Right now I have my front speakers playing only 80 Hz , rear speakers playing 60 Hz and the subs playing 80 Hz-. Being able to do all of this from your listening position really shortens the amount of time to configure the system to your liking. One downside of all this control is that the fader and balance settings are buried in the same menu as all of the above features so it's not the easiest thing to get to. I thought this would get to be annoying, but once you have everything set correctly there's really not much reason to adjust.
MP3 playback
A quick note on the MP3 playback. This player loads discs much faster than the Aiwa CDC-MP3, it only takes about 7-8 seconds for an MP3 disc to start. Once that is accomplished, seeking between files is very fast. The sound quality is excellent and it has no problem with a variety of bit rates including variable bit rates.
D-Mask
Unlike most head units that require you to remove the faceplate for security, D-Mask rotates the faceplate into the dash leaving only a plain black piece of plastic visible. To a casual observer on the street, it appears that your faceplate is missing. I like this feature mostly because it gives me a certain level of security without forcing me to add another task to my routine when leaving the car.
Display
The display on the head unit is really great. Even in fairly direct sunlight you can get all of the basic information (volume, source, etc) in one glance. In addition, the X859 allows you to tilt the receiver at a 15 degree angle with the press of a button. It remembers this setting and is very nice for low-mounted stereos or tall drivers.
Pre-out control
Probably the best part for me about this head unit is the level of control you receive over the pre-outs (RCA). You can set high-pass and low-pass filters through a menu on the head unit and also modify the bass curve response. For me this is great because I can leave my amps on their "through" setting and adjust the filters on my head unit. Right now I have my front speakers playing only 80 Hz , rear speakers playing 60 Hz and the subs playing 80 Hz-. Being able to do all of this from your listening position really shortens the amount of time to configure the system to your liking. One downside of all this control is that the fader and balance settings are buried in the same menu as all of the above features so it's not the easiest thing to get to. I thought this would get to be annoying, but once you have everything set correctly there's really not much reason to adjust.
MP3 playback
A quick note on the MP3 playback. This player loads discs much faster than the Aiwa CDC-MP3, it only takes about 7-8 seconds for an MP3 disc to start. Once that is accomplished, seeking between files is very fast. The sound quality is excellent and it has no problem with a variety of bit rates including variable bit rates.
