JVC kdlx3

Price Paid:  $150.00 from ebay

Year / Model Reviewed:
 JVC KD LX3

Summary:
I must say that this is a perfect head unit for somebody that''s entering the upper levels of car audio. the 4v preouts are pretty nice, especially since you can turn off the internal amp and just run your amps off the RCA''s only. the wattage is enough to make some speaker applications work without amps. i recently bought a new car, and put the kameleon in my new one...cause i still like it that much. my old car had infinity fronts, soundstream rears, and kicker comp vrs. i had the subs run off a aura 3005 amp, as well as the rears. sounded awesome.

Strengths:
clean sound, almost never will distort. easy to work with, controls are simple enough even for those who can''t push buttons well. RCA''s!! sub out control, very very handy. remote...it''s all about the remote. disc text is a great feature, i highly recommend you get it.

Weaknesses:
once in a while the cd won''t eject completely, so you have to pull it out a bit, nothing major, the motor kicks back in with a little help, and the disc slides right out. feel kind of scared with the moving parts, but i''ve never had a problem with it. most people say they''re afraid of all the motorized parts, but i still have yet to find somebody who''s motorized pieces break....mine''s still goin'' strong.

Similar Products Used:
aiwa, sony, kenwood....bunch of stuff. like mine the most so far...i will part with is eventually for an eclipse....

Price Paid:  $300.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2001 KD-LX50

Summary:
ive had the jvc for about 8 months now without even a single hassle.it has really impressed me.the display and features are great.4 volt pre-outs
and sub woofer out,plus u are able to chang the frequency to the sub out cd text,voice coice control that does come in handy,and many more features make this head unit a must,i have never experienced any problems even minor ones
the sound is great clarity is exellent and the bbe really makes a diffrence
its got vcr control as well and is an all round winner

Strengths:
exellent features,great looks,reliable,good power handling

Weaknesses:
no extra security measures
codes etc

Similar Products Used:
alpine 7949e
sony explode

Price Paid:  $191.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 jvc el kameleon lx-30

Summary:
this head unit is very good. great features, and sound output. it had everything to run my system: components, 6x9's, 12" sub, 5ch amp. this head unit sounds good, reads cdr's and looks great. it is very easy to figure out, it took me less than 10min. HOWEVER, this unit is made JVC and with very poor build quality. the unit was sent to me with a defective cd player (the cd player did not work at all.) do not get this unit w/o taking the risk or w/o an extended warranty (3+ yrs). there are many things that are bound to break on this unit.

Strengths:
great features, cool look, easy to figure out, CHEAP

Weaknesses:
poor build quality, too many motorized parts that are bound to break

Similar Products Used:
kenwood, alpine

Price Paid:  $300.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 kdlx30

Summary:
This is one of the worst CD players I'v seen in my life, and I worked around an audio shop. My friend also has one and he has some of the same problems, I would not recommend this head unit to anyone. I wish I would have went with a Sony Mobile unit they are much better as well. I don't want to sound bias but I've given this thing a 1 year trial and it's a piece of junk. All the others have given good ratings but as time goes by they will see these things starting to happen, believe me this unit became very popular across our small farming community and everyone has turned out S.O.L. because the business went out of business!

Strengths:
The best qualities of this kdlx30 would have to be the subwoofer output and the disk titling, track titling and the idea.

Weaknesses:
This cd player is the worst cd player I have ever had, the preamp just burned out, (which is still on warranty and JVC wants me to find a service station, and the nearest registered is about 500 miles away) but anyways t
It does not eject cd's out the whole way and I have had it for apprx. 9 months, when it is cold out I have to shut it off at night or the titling and the time is reset. Not cool every day I have to reset the time. The only other thing is that the faceplate seems to attract fingerprints and dust.

Similar Products Used:
I have an alpine CDA 7840 in my pickup currently and is about 2&1/2 yrs old and out performs this JVC night and day.

Price Paid:  $260.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1999 KD-LX10

Summary:
I would recommend this deck to someone who wants great sound quality, but does not wish to expand their system any further. Since I bought this deck I have added an Audiobahn A3200E amp (1000+ watts RMS), and two Audiobahn Alum12 Subs. I wish this thing had some 4 volt preouts, so I don't have to turn the gain on my amp so far up. Also, I would really like another set of preamps, so I can add another amp for mids and highs. But I am still happy with the 17watts RMS / 45 peak, but a High pass crossover would be nice to get the bass out of my 4" speakers, since my subs handle all that. Since this is a high-end deck (supposedly, it's really not, just a low-end deck with the neat el-kameleon style), it should've come with more features, or been cheaper (i paid 260$ which is retail, but you could get a lot cheaper @ ebay). But this deck does what it set out to do, and that's to put out unparalleled sound output. This thing is crystal clear and can go pretty loud with minimal distortion. I also like the looks. Oh and the BBE II feature is pretty amazing. After I turned that on, I will never go back to the original sound w/out the BBE.

Strengths:
Very clean, powerful sound. Display looks good, controls are fairly easy to use.

Weaknesses:
Lack of features is my biggest complaint about this unit. Back when I bought this, I knew nothing about high-quality audio, and the 45watt max power appealed to me for the price. Now that I am hooking up amps, and subs, and who knows what, I am wishing I would have spent a few extra $$, and got some 4v preouts, and maybe two or three sets of them. Motorized faceplate doesn't like to come out sometimes (1 in about 50 times). Also when ejecting CD, it doesn't come all the way out, and I have to remove the cd myself or it will load back in. The Audio cruise feature is stupid. Who wants to sound volume to go up as the RPM's go up, and then back down when it shifts? Worthless if you ask me.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer DH6200 (had many more features for comparable price)