The listening was done by my gf (a concert pianist who does not perform), my best friend (also a home audio nut), and myself. CD's used included a selection of classical and jazz.
My intention is not to provide you with specs (you can check them out yourself) but to share my subjective listening impression. The Mac and the Pioneer combo are nearly the same price (mid $2k) while the Kenwood is substantially cheaper ($950). But Kenwood has been billed by some as a "giant killer" so I thought it would be interesting to see how it would fare in this company.
Link to Mac 406
Link to Kenwood KCD-01
Link to Pioneer DEX-P9R and DEQ-P9R
System: Butler TDB-475 driving Dynaudio MD130 + MW160. Sound deadened doors, no subs.
Looks and usability
Mac 406. Fit and finish is superb. The knurled metal knob feels very old school and is nicely weighted. This unit is very minimalist with no tone controls and (as everyone knows) no FF/RR. The display is minimal and visible under direct sunlight (my car is a convertible).
The major benefit IMO is that it looks cheap. So hopefully thieves won't notice it. But it certainly does not feel cheap - you get a nice block of perspex, nice buttons, and subtle badging.
Apart from the lack of FF/RR there are no ergonomic faults with this unit. Everything is easy to access and control. The face is not detachable.
Kenwood KCD-01. The face is made of real aluminum but it is shiny and IMO looks cheap. I mean "cheap" in a different sense to the Mac though - in this case it looks like a poorly finished attempt at being flashy. The Mac is a well finished attempt at being understated. It feels like it is a class below the other two CD players. Because, well, it is
The display is easy to read under direct sunlight. All the buttons glow a cool white at night. The forward/backward track button is rather small. You definitely have to look for it before you can press it. A larger button would be nice!
Pioneer DEX-P9R. The face is made of aluminum but has a flat finish. The finish has a certain subtle lustre. The buttons are made of painted plastic. The display is OLED and is difficult to read under direct sunlight even at the brightest setting. Too many reflections. There are a couple of features in common with high end home audio CD players - you can simplify or turn off the display. I have always believed that this is a gimmick in home audio as I could never hear a difference. I would be lying to you if I told you I could hear a difference in my car!
There are a couple of irritations. First, no mute button. If I get a phone call I have to manually turn the volume down. Also, there are no radio buttons. To access a preset station, you have to use the remote or scroll through the best stations memory.
The graphic equalizer is a major PITA to tune. All you have is this 4 way controller. It is slow and requires a lot of button presses.
Sound quality
The Mac 406 was the first player installed in my car. It is incredibly detailed. You can hear when singers breathe, you hear the thud of fingers as they hit the keys on the piano, you can even hear someone turning the page for the soloist. The downside is that it sounds dry and the midrange is a bit thin. For some reason, pianissimos were almost inaudible over road noise while the fortissimos had me rushing to turn down the volume.
The Kenwood went in next because my installer was heavily recommending it. He let me try it for a day and I decided I did not want it. The sound is sweeter and fuller than the Mac. However it lacks detail. If I tried this unit first off I may have been happy with it, but after knowing that I can extract a lot more detail from my music I wanted better.
So I installed a Pioneer DEX-P9R with the DEQ-P9R. I managed to claw back a lot of detail although I still believe that the Mac 406 extracted more from the CD. This player is far more musical though! After some equalization and general tuning it sounds even better. Punchy, tight bass, excellent instrument seperation, and deeper soundstage.
Conclusion
First, a disclaimer - at the moment I am still not entirely satisfied with my setup. There are certain frequencies that sound hard and shrill. Some instruments still do not sound natural. The bass is OK but my system can definitely benefit from a small sub. IOW there are deficiencies elsewhere in the system that may have influenced the results - by exaggerating deficiencies or by hiding strengths.
Based on what I heard, I would place the Pioneer first, the Mac second, and the Kenwood third.
I have listened to other SQ decks (Clarion HXD2 and Denon DCT-R1) but not in the same system. As I cannot isolate the performance of the HU from the rest of the system I will not comment. All I can tell you is what the buttons felt like
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