mspiegle
11-29-06, 01:58 AM
Some background info:
I haven't touched the audio system in my car since I bought it except for adding an amp/sub (kicker 600.1/Kicker free air) and changing the headunit. The previous speakers (coaxial cerwin-vega in front and stock components in the rear) are still in place and were used for this review.
I had "upgraded" to an older Alpine 7874 head unit for free. It certainly sounded better than what I had before, and it allowed specific control of the subwoofer as well as some VERY basic sound tuning. Recently, I decided to redo the entire system from the ground-up and just today I picked up the headunit, components, and new subwoofer (amps are in the mail).
I couldn't wait to try out the new headunit (JVC KD-AVX2), so I just did a quick swap in my driveway to see what it was like. Keep in mind that I don't have anything spectacular to compare this headunit to and my speakers are certainly far from quality.
First impression when pulling the unit out of the box:
WOW, the faceplace is way cooler in person than in pictures. The screen is so big and the black finish is very nice. It feels fairly solid and I have no complaints. The actual unit itself felt very solid and looked to have decent quality construction. I also noticed the multitude of RCA options (video in, line in, center out, sub out, 2nd audio out, video out, front out, rear out). The remote wasn't quite as "cool" and seemed a little lightweight, but it gets the job done.
Installation:
Installation was very straight forward. Nothing strange here.
Usage:
This unit is VERY easy to use. I love the menu system. I feel like I can move around fairly quickly and there's a decent number of options. When you go into a particular menu, the unit remembers where you were so you can get back to that same spot quickly. The headunit has room for 3 user-preset equalizer curves as well as many other presets. There is an option to disable the internal amp. The buttons have a nice 'click' when you press them. Overall, pretty impressed and happy with it.
Sound:
It sounds WAY better than my old headunit. It is also far more powerful. The old headunit was never loud enough for me, but this one can far surpass my desired level of loudness. Obviously, this wouldn't be an issue with amps, but I don't have my amps yet.
DVD:
I loaded up a DVD with 3.2 GB worth of 320kbit CBR MP3s and popped it into the headunit. I had organized all my music like so:
Artist1:
artist1/album1/songs.mp3
artist1/album2/songs.mp3
artist1/album3/songs.mp3
Artist2:
artist2/album1/songs.mp3
Artist3:
artist3/album1/songs.mp3
artist3/album2/songs.mp3
...etc...
Unfortunately, the headunit didn't separate the music by artist (even tho the ID3 tags were there). When looking at the music list, it gave me a listing of all the albums (folders with MP3s in them). That's somewhat unfortunate, but i'm going to try some other things to see if it'll work how I want it to.
Downsides:
So far, the ONLY thing i can complain about is how coarse the adjustments are. With the exception of the volume control, it seems that the equalizer adjustments aren't "fine" enough. Changing a band 1-point in either direction makes a big difference. Same goes for subwoofer level. I also prefer a volume knob instead of a button, but that's subjective.
Conclusion:
So far, I have no regrets. I haven't tried putting any special media on DVD yet, but I will report back as soon as I do. The feature set and price point of this unit are great. I would recommend this unit to anyone who is interested in such a thing.
I haven't touched the audio system in my car since I bought it except for adding an amp/sub (kicker 600.1/Kicker free air) and changing the headunit. The previous speakers (coaxial cerwin-vega in front and stock components in the rear) are still in place and were used for this review.
I had "upgraded" to an older Alpine 7874 head unit for free. It certainly sounded better than what I had before, and it allowed specific control of the subwoofer as well as some VERY basic sound tuning. Recently, I decided to redo the entire system from the ground-up and just today I picked up the headunit, components, and new subwoofer (amps are in the mail).
I couldn't wait to try out the new headunit (JVC KD-AVX2), so I just did a quick swap in my driveway to see what it was like. Keep in mind that I don't have anything spectacular to compare this headunit to and my speakers are certainly far from quality.
First impression when pulling the unit out of the box:
WOW, the faceplace is way cooler in person than in pictures. The screen is so big and the black finish is very nice. It feels fairly solid and I have no complaints. The actual unit itself felt very solid and looked to have decent quality construction. I also noticed the multitude of RCA options (video in, line in, center out, sub out, 2nd audio out, video out, front out, rear out). The remote wasn't quite as "cool" and seemed a little lightweight, but it gets the job done.
Installation:
Installation was very straight forward. Nothing strange here.
Usage:
This unit is VERY easy to use. I love the menu system. I feel like I can move around fairly quickly and there's a decent number of options. When you go into a particular menu, the unit remembers where you were so you can get back to that same spot quickly. The headunit has room for 3 user-preset equalizer curves as well as many other presets. There is an option to disable the internal amp. The buttons have a nice 'click' when you press them. Overall, pretty impressed and happy with it.
Sound:
It sounds WAY better than my old headunit. It is also far more powerful. The old headunit was never loud enough for me, but this one can far surpass my desired level of loudness. Obviously, this wouldn't be an issue with amps, but I don't have my amps yet.
DVD:
I loaded up a DVD with 3.2 GB worth of 320kbit CBR MP3s and popped it into the headunit. I had organized all my music like so:
Artist1:
artist1/album1/songs.mp3
artist1/album2/songs.mp3
artist1/album3/songs.mp3
Artist2:
artist2/album1/songs.mp3
Artist3:
artist3/album1/songs.mp3
artist3/album2/songs.mp3
...etc...
Unfortunately, the headunit didn't separate the music by artist (even tho the ID3 tags were there). When looking at the music list, it gave me a listing of all the albums (folders with MP3s in them). That's somewhat unfortunate, but i'm going to try some other things to see if it'll work how I want it to.
Downsides:
So far, the ONLY thing i can complain about is how coarse the adjustments are. With the exception of the volume control, it seems that the equalizer adjustments aren't "fine" enough. Changing a band 1-point in either direction makes a big difference. Same goes for subwoofer level. I also prefer a volume knob instead of a button, but that's subjective.
Conclusion:
So far, I have no regrets. I haven't tried putting any special media on DVD yet, but I will report back as soon as I do. The feature set and price point of this unit are great. I would recommend this unit to anyone who is interested in such a thing.