Kenwood KDC-322

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from hunts

Year / Model Reviewed:
2003 kdc-322

Strengths:
very durable

Weaknesses:
it can only require 1 code and I cant understand why they charge so much for the manual online....does anybody know the code?

Summary:
I havent got to use it yet due to the code it requires...

Similar Products Used:
never had one similar before

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $129.00 from Best Buy

Year / Model Reviewed:
2004 KDC 322

Strengths:
Superior sound quality to the factory deck in my 1999 Saturn, even with stock speakers. The satellite reception quality is also excellent; the only time I've ever lost the signal was in an underground parking garage. Kenwood packs a lot of features into this deck that you wouldn't ordinarily expect to see, such as 24 presets each for the Sirius and FM bands (12 for AM), 5 preset and one user-programmable tone control, separate functions for bass midrange and treble, remote control, and RDS scrolling titles of song, artist, and station in Sirius mode (station only in FM and AM, if the station is RDS).

Weaknesses:
You need to spend some time reading the owner's manual to understand all of the controls. If I want to find out what's playing on one of the Sirius streams not programmed into one of the presets I have to use the remote and direct tune it; the scan function does not seem to work. That might be something in the owner's manual that I haven't yet read. These are minor problems that don't detract much from my overall enjoyment of this deck.

Summary:
I spend a lot of time in my car and became increasingly annoyed with the crap that gets played on most of the AM and FM stations in my area thanks to Clear Channel Communications, which owns something like 80% of the radio stations in the country. Consequently, I decided to get satellite radio. The choice between XM and Sirius was an easy one for me when I did some research and found that Clear Channel holds an ownership interest in XM. I bought the KDC 322 primarily for its low price and the fact that it has was Sirius ready, which means better reception quality than the FM modulated units made by Kenwood, Audiovox, and others that work with stock radios.

Similar Products Used:
None

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Best Buy

Year / Model Reviewed:
1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA

Strengths:
Easy to use, inexpensive, tough enough to be thrown from a fleeing stolen vehicle, sounds excellent, Sirius Satellite radio, good looking.

Weaknesses:
Thieves want it. I may be forced to shoot the next person who breaks into my car.

Summary:
This is THE best car stereo I've ever had. I haven't had many though. Last year I decided to upgrade my stock radio in my 88 GTA. I bought a Sony Xplod radio. It was okay. Better than the stock one. It got stolen a few months later, so I decided to upgrade and get a satellite setup. Best Buy had a deal where if you buy a Kenwood radio, you get a tuner free! I bought the entire setup for $200. Best Buy isn't offering that anymore, but crutchfield is. The Kenwood radio is WAAAAAYYY better than that Sony Xplod radio. Sounds a whole lot better. I'm not into having the people three streets down hear my music, but I want it to sound good to me. It sounded even better after I upgraded the speakers. A couple months after I bought it, my car was broken into AGAIN and my Kenwood deck was stolen. The cops caught them in the act and had a car chase. They were throwing radios out of the car. They threw mine out of a moving car. Landed in the grass, but about 40 mph. I got it back the next day and it STILL WORKS! Couldn't believe it. I'm getting ready to buy another Kenwood radio and put this one and a satellite setup in my wife's car. If you don't have Satellite radio, it's awesome. The people who tell you that it's stupid or a waste of money, don't have it. I was REALLY skeptical at first, and even thought about taking it back to Best Buy, but went ahead and installed it anyways. Now, I can't stand to be in a car without it. Over 100 channels with all kinds of music and no commercials. It sounds like a CD. WAY better than FM. The only time it ever cuts out is if I'm in a tunnel or under a bridge for more than a few seconds. It works in thunderstorms, and out in the middle of nowhere. The Kenwood radio also tells you the name of the song, the artist, and other info. If you get this radio and get Satellite radio, you'll be glad you did!

Similar Products Used:
Sony Xplod, stock radio