Robert Canning
Kenwood have been making car audio for over 25 years now hence the 25th anniversary edition gear that was recently released.
Over that time they have been at the forefront of automotive electronics with products such as the smallest CD stacker of it’s type in the early 90’s, The MASK security system and some of the better in-dash fold out monitors.
So when Kenwood lobed their new top of the range 25th anniversary XXV-01D head unit on my desk I was quite excited.
Opening the package I was greeted with the protective box for the face, under that there is the unit itself and wiring loom. Also included are the manual, screws and other installation parts and a CD cleaning cloth with “25th anniversary” embossed on it, quite a nice touch.
Also included is a CD that contains some music and Phatnoise Media Manager.
Pictures do not do the XXV-01D justice. It has a aluminium front that is in black and black chrome, the large knob on the right hand side controls the volume and when pressed the sub control as well and various other functions, the knob on the left does the seek and track selection.
There are five other buttons that control the menu, source and other actions.
The XXV-01D is very well specified with a 24bit burr brown DAC, a DSP system (Easy mode; 8 Preset Cabin Size & Pro mode; Full Manual Control), built in crossovers, 50w x 4 mosfet amp, g-analyser (very nifty device).
It also supports WMA, MP3, and AAC music files.
The internal amp can be switched of to avoid any unwanted noise for those running external amps.
Also another interesting feature is the amp control that is used with Kenwood’s ’05 series amps. Unfittingly I don’t have one at the moment to try this function out but soon as I can ill give it a try.
The screen is an OEL colour screen that displays over 4,000 colours that is customisable with your own pictures or you can display one of the inbuilt movies.
Installation
Installing the Kenwood is pretty much the same as any other head unit, all the wires on the loom are well marked, and three 5v output gold plated RCA’s are used for front rear and sub.
As per usual there are plenty of mounting options for different cars.
Operation – Manual
The supplied manual is quite detailed with the operations and functions of the unit but does need to be read quite well to understand how everything works, for the first few days it took me a little while to get used to all the menu options but now is quite easy to navigate. I think the manual needs to be a little bit more detailed on the DSP functions and what they do.
There are two main menus in the system, one controls the sound functions including the DSP and the display, and the other does other less important functions.
Listening and Set Up
Straight away without touching the XXV-01D the sound was improved over my old unit. One of the main difference’s I noticed with this unit compared to my old one is the EQ, the old Head unit I had to do a lot of work on the inbuilt EQ to get the sound just right, with the Kenwood all I needed was a –2db at 16khz to take the edge of the tweeters and that was all.
The DSP has a multitude of functions; some I still don’t understand how they work (as I said the manual needs a little more detailed information) there is a basic time alignment included.
The DSP can be disabled if you want but is sounded so much better with it activated.
General use while driving is good with such a little amount of buttons on the faceplate, everything is in easy reach.
Also supplied is a remote control, all the basic functions are laid out at the top and some of the menus are accessible for it also.
Conclusion
The Kenwood XXV-01D is very stylish and would look good in almost any car, it has enough features to keep any tech head occupied for quite some time. The sound quality is awesome and I would recommend the unit to anyone who is building a hi-end SQ system.
The XXV-01D is not in everyone’s price range but you get quite a lot for the money,
Personally I think every dollar is worth it for the sound itself.
Definitely a good way for Kenwood to celebrate their 25th anniversary!