My friend Just bought a Daihastu Applause Automatic ( The Slowest thing I have ever Driven, but it does have its good qualities) and he called me to check it out..
Well the car was great , but the Audio was pitiful..
The Two Front Speakers were half cone 4 inches. they sounded terrible.. The head unit had been Bridged to run the two speakers and None of the Wiring on the speakers had any protection from shorting out on the metal door cut outs..


Needless to say all the Connections were unprotected Soldering with Sticky tape ( The Clear stuff) wrapped around them and to make it worse it was a Kenwood Tape Deck...

Needless to say this has all been fixed with the Kenwood Cassette Deck enjoying a sharp high fall collison from a reasonable height into a Wheelie bin..
Since it is For my Friends Wife I have told him to Go Sony.. So in went a Sony CD Player and matching XPLOD 4 inches and even a pair of 6 inches underneath the rear shelf to avoid Theft..
So all looks factory except for the Head unit..

My friend Just bought a Daihastu Applause Automatic ( The Slowest thing I have ever Driven, but it does have its good qualities) and he called me to check it out..
The slowest thing I have ever driven is an FSM Niki (I kidd you not) and that WAS the slowest thing I have ever driven.....and I could lift the bak of it off teh ground by myself. Handy when you don't have a jack....


The Two Front Speakers were half cone 4 inches. they sounded terrible... The head unit had been Bridged to run the two speakers and None of the Wiring on the speakers had any protection from shorting out on the metal door cut outs..
MMMn, toasty warm headunit bridging goodness... I love it. Especially on a Kenwood.


Needless to say all the Connections were unprotected Soldering with Sticky tape ( The Clear stuff) wrapped around them and to make it worse it was a Kenwood Tape Deck...
Yay... so it was installed by a real pro?
Kenwood head unit... probably running it bridged is what it deserved.... :bowrofl:


Needless to say this has all been fixed with the Kenwood Cassette Deck enjoying a sharp high fall collison from a reasonable height into a Wheelie bin..
You couldn't wait so we could kill it together, could you???


Since it is For my Friends Wife I have told him to Go Sony.. So in went a Sony CD Player and matching XPLOD 4 inches and even a pair of 6 inches underneath the rear shelf to avoid Theft.. Should be okay for the wife..... she probably will never know the difference.


So all looks factory except for the Head unit..
Stealthy... like that alot. How much better does it sound now?

Tons better.. It is like a normal Stock stereo, onlly with aftermarket gear and a Bit of Bass..
The head unit Beeps so she is reminded to take the face plate off

I have to admit, throwing the Kenwood Deck off their Balcony into a Wheelie bin was kinda fun..

We could have sold it on E-bay.. But I doubt anyone would have liked the fact that the internal Amp was nearly cooked and the tape head were Magnatised together..

oh really? i always use normal sticky tape, and i always thought bridging the stock headunit would give me extra power.....

wwow i finally see the light.

hey, i left the 'ground' wire hanging off the back of my car dragging along the ground, and my headunit still doesn't work...any ideas?

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed..

I had another friend whos Fuse Blew in his Headunit, so he replaced with a Screw.. Then wondered why smoke was pouring out of his Cassette slot..

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed..

I had another friend whos Fuse Blew in his Headunit, so he replaced with a Screw.. Then wondered why smoke was pouring out of his Cassette slot..

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed..

I had another friend whos Fuse Blew in his Headunit, so he replaced with a Screw.. Then wondered why smoke was pouring out of his Cassette slot..

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

OOOH DOUBLE POST oops caps, :confused:

Was this a factory install or was it done by some dodgy bros, shop.

Had a Autobahn sticker stuck to the head unit....

the slowest thing i have ever driven was a really really old holden barina AUTO!!!!!

hey, i left the 'ground' wire hanging off the back of my car dragging along the ground, and my headunit still doesn't work...any ideas?

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed.

Please tell me you are joking :confused:



I had another friend whos Fuse Blew in his Headunit, so he replaced with a Screw.. Then wondered why smoke was pouring out of his Cassette slot..

lmao!! that reminds me of my cousins little ford laser. His fuses kept blowing so he stuck some nails in there. I dont think some people know what fuses actually do :confused:

um why do so many people here hate kenwood?, i find them a great brand for headunits, someone explain?

Please tell me you are joking :confused:



lmao!! that reminds me of my cousins little ford laser. His fuses kept blowing so he stuck some nails in there. I dont think some people know what fuses actually do :confused:

yeah, what do fuses do? I always thought they were just good looking pieces of transparent plastic(sometimes glass) things with a bit of metal inside.

its stupid how they just blow sometimes. they should make them so they dont blow.. i always just grab some spare piece of metal and shove it where the fuses go. sick of replacing them.

btw, my wiring is a little rooted in some places...it sparks too.

TUFF TR.. The reasons why I hate Kenwood have been sent to you...

Just for everyone Elses Knowledge, I have seen so many things go wrong with Kenwood Equipement that I rate them lower then BOSS....Sony is more relaible then Kenwood..

TUFF TR.. The reasons why I hate Kenwood have been sent to you...


Send me a copy~!

Post 'em up Magnat!!

. I went to Harvey Norman when I was interested in buying a New Stereo system and got the guy to Demo it with some Techno, it was supposed to be Kenwood's top of the line Midi System (Midi system= one with CD tape and Tuner in a medium sized unit) He claimed it had better Bass then the Sony one I eventually Bought, So he Cranked the Kenwood up and it Blew up in store.. Smoke pouring out the Amp..

2. My best friend Bought a Kenwood CD player for his Excel ( I know it was a Good Car back then) he had it for 1 month , had it Professionally installed and it developed a Nasty Noise in it every time you turn it on., kind of like a Big POP, he had no amp so it could not have been that , so he sent the CD player back, only for Kenwood to tell him that was normal

3. I went to a Sound off, the Kenwood Rep was there and he challenged me to a Sound off.. His $25.000 system which was fully installed and of Show quality and me with my $1500 self installed system..
He managed only 123.4db and I whooped him and managed 128db.. His system shorted out soon after..

So you see.. I really do have a reason to hate Kenwood... It is not just something I choose to do .. it is just I have seen so many things go wrong with Kenwood products that I despise them with a Passion

umm.. wow lol. Sounds like Kenwood need to get their **** together.

BTW, what do you think of the Clarion decks ? I bought my self a DB336MP a while ago. I was just wondering if they have any known problems to look out for.

Interesting, everyone I know who's had kenwood has never had a problem. Tho I know a ton of people who've had problems with sony gear.

Clarion have proven to be reliable over the years, sure they are not 100% fault proof, I have used Clarion Amps amp, Speakers,and Subs all without any Problems.
Sony CD Players seem to have a problem with ejecting CD's after a while, but I have not heard of any other Problems.. My Friend Cranks the crap out of his SONY system and it has never skipped a beat ( Only for the Sticky CD ejecting Problem and his Head unit getting hot)

His Splits go great and his amp does'nt get too hot and his Sub ( 10 inch Black Circle one) has never Blown or anything..

Cannot say the same for other friends who have had Kenwood Twister Subs ( Blue Conned ones in particualr) and Kenwood Co Axials..

strange, my parents have had heaps of kenwood stuff with no probs watsoever, I was quite impressed with there kenwood headunit and 6 X 9 inch speakers they had in they're Landcruiser . Very clear sound with great bass. This car wasn't a *****umen tractor either, was used on rough off road quite often.

TUFF TR.. The reasons why I hate Kenwood have been sent to you...

Just for everyone Elses Knowledge, I have seen so many things go wrong with Kenwood Equipement that I rate them lower then BOSS....Sony is more relaible then Kenwood..


By saying this i truely am starting to wonder if you known anything about car audio at all!!!

Yes kenwood arnt the best brand out there, but value for money and RELIABITY they do have. i have had 2 kenwood decks 1st one was stolen, but never missed a beat. 2nd one has been great!!! i have now had it in 4 differant cars, 1 being my competeion fourwheel drive, meaning it copped a thrashing dust splashes of water, jumps(big jumps) etc etc. and as i said has never missed a beat. Yes now 4 years on one led on the front isnt working but you could hardly say this makes it unreliable.

As for sony though dont get me started!!!! best door stops i have ever seen, i have used several sony componants over the years. Everyone has either blown up or sounded absolutly horrible!!! i am also a electronics technition (havent worked in trade for last 12 months) and the products sony realease for the home market arent much better!!!

As the name says SONY EXPLODES!!!!

this is just my opinion hehehe :badgrin:

edit: i also ran kenwood coaxis in the doors on my fouby they were completely submerged in water several times yet still kept crankin, yes they werent the best sound, butr a hell of a lot better then any coax sonys i have heard

Brick, Those are your experiences, I am glad they are good ones, But I have had far less trouble with SONY..
Ditto here, my Friends first Deck was stolen, they waited till his mum took his car out and she forgot to take the face plate off when she got home..

I can say the same thing with my friends SONY system in his Vitara, they have been in the sun, Rain and Mud and still go Strong..We even Put a Sony System in a Ski Boat and it still goes hard...

It is Just , everyone I have persoanaly Met,and under advisement not to Get Kenwood, and have bought it, have had nothing but trouble..
Pioneer, JVC and even Clarion have proven over time to be more reliable..

Even some of my friends who sell Kenwood, don't think to highly of them at all.

I have sony 6x9's in the back ( god help me ) and they have been through so so much abuse.
1st in the TE running with no HPF and with 20WRMS off a Panasonic deck.
2nd in my current car running off stock deck ( all of 5WRMS ), then off the Pioneer ( 22WRMS :D ) and has had a go with 150WRMS going to each :shock: and now they are back on the pioneer deck. They are 3 or 4 years old now... still going strong. :D

I think when you buy sony or kenwood you dont respect it as much as more upmarket and quality brands, therefore more abuse.

True Mr Charisma
after all, you only pay what $100 or $180 so for SONY or KENWOOD compared to $300-$400 for Focal, Hertz or Boston, you tend to give more respect to the ones you have parted Huge Cash for

I have sony 6x9's in the back ( god help me ) and they have been through so so much abuse.
1st in the TE running with no HPF and with 20WRMS off a Panasonic deck.
2nd in my current car running off stock deck ( all of 5WRMS ), then off the Pioneer ( 22WRMS :D ) and has had a go with 150WRMS going to each :shock: and now they are back on the pioneer deck. They are 3 or 4 years old now... still going strong. :D

I think when you buy sony or kenwood you dont respect it as much as more upmarket and quality brands, therefore more abuse.

hell, i downgraded to some audioline 6" 4 way speakers for the rears!
60wrms HPF at only 80Hz i think...into each.....they seem to be doing ok lol

I personally would get Kenwood stuff before Sony.
I installed a Kenwood HU in my dads work ute which spent most its life on corrugated dirt roads in the country, and it never missed a beat. I also put in a cheap set of Kenwood 3way components in his front doors, and they are still going strong even with the grills being all kicked in!

Ive got a mate who used to fix car headunits, and he wouldn't touch Sony with a 40ft pole. He reakons that their insides are made from cheap as components. He likes Kenwood JVC and pioneer much better.

I havent got any complaints about Sony speakers though, apart from they look way to plasticy and in your face cosmetics. I just installed a set of Sony 6x9s in the back of my bro's TX3 and they go hard. I wanted him to get some JLs or something like that, but the Sonys were reduced from $260 to $80 so he grabbed them! :D

Again all manufacturers produce good and bad products. Also their reliability totally depends on how you treat them. There are billions of people in this world, just because you might know of 3 or 4 people who have had bad experiences, doesnt mean that everyone else has.

Cheers
Pete

Actually, I've had experience on both sides of the argument.

My old Kenwood cassette head unit lasted for 5 years, and 6 different cars, until my brother accidentally blew the output transistor running through some VERY cheap speakers, at full volume. Until then, it hadn't missed a beat, and since repair, has yet to.

However, the Kenwood CD-MP3 player in the 4bie has been back to the shop so many times, and had the mechanism replaced twice, to counteract a bad read error.

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed..

thats one of the funniest things i have read on this forum!
:bowrofl: :bowrofl:

on the topic of Kenwood vs Sony, i have a double DIN Kenwood CD/MD player which is now at least 4-5 years old, and it is still going strong. The speaker outputs are rooted, but that is solely my fault (when u accidentally wire amp outputs directly to head unit outputs, it makes loud noises and burning smells). But since that i've been running 2 amps for my speakers and the head units fine. my 3 year old kenwood 6x9's have been fine as well, they go hard off 50wrms.

Can't comment on Sony, never had any experience with them ,and dont ever plan to.

I'm running a 10 year old Kenwood amp in the car, its going well, after I had to do some circuit board modifications that is. (Thank you Pines for the amp, you're a champ :) )

Also running a Kenwood 10 stacker and that seems to be going fine as well.

I'm not saying Kenwood are great though, but in my case they work, and if it dies then it dies, not like I paid huge $$$ for those.

We have two kenwood active subwoofers for home audio.

sw-700 - like this one...
http://digilander.libero.it/HALFWAY/Kenwood%20SW-700%201.jpg

and an sw-500 - cant find a pic but looks very cool...

Big cannon.

They both go pretty well, but dont compete with the car ;)

Peace

Tim

We even Put a Sony System in a Ski Boat and it still goes hard...
Haha, a ski boat isn't THAT harsh an environment. Some of the systems I've seen in wakeboard boats are just rediculous.

Good one eek.. you sound like one of my friends who was told to earth his Amp to Bare metal.. So he extend a wire and attached it to his Dads Shed.. The rang me up and asked me how the hell was hes supposed to drive with his earth wire attached to his Dads Shed..

I had another friend whos Fuse Blew in his Headunit, so he replaced with a Screw.. Then wondered why smoke was pouring out of his Cassette slot..

your kidding about this story right??? No one could be that stupid

Haha, a ski boat isn't THAT harsh an environment. Some of the systems I've seen in wakeboard boats are just rediculous.
Im doing up a boat atm...KILLER budget install lol

Deck - Alpine 9835
Fronts - Stock with kicker 6" (powered by alpine)
Back - JBL GTO 6x9 (powered by alpine)
Boot - JBL GT4 15" (powered by cadance monobblock, 400rms)


Much work to be done :rant:

Im doing up a boat atm...KILLER budget install lol

Nice. Check these out for some food for thought: :nuts:

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/files/dsc02935.jpg

http://svtsupercharged.com/albums/tower/aaw.sized.jpg

http://svtsupercharged.com/albums/stereo/adz.sized.jpg

http://svtsupercharged.com/gallery/stereo

I have just returned from Canberra after installing Two Eclipse 123.4 12 inch subs in a BEVA dual chamber sealed enclosure into my friends VR Commodore and his BOSS 1200W amp remains cool even when he cranks it..

His Brother has just Bought a VR ute S pack and the Previous owner installed a 10 inch Sub... Through the rear Cabin by cutting a hole into the back of the tray and having the Sub fire through the seats.. It has a Pioneer Head unit, Stock 6 inch fronts, rear 4 inch Dual cone Pioneer and a 10 inch Audioline sub,,, No amp at all. The person who owned this Ute was a reall Moron, he Bridged the rear Channels of the Head unit to run the sub, at the same time as each of the Pioneer 4 inch Dual coners also have a rear channel each while the stock 6 inch fronts are running off the front channels.. Thing is it look professionally installed ??
Weirdest set up I have ever seen..
I will be undoing this install and re -doing it the next time I am down that way..