JVC KD-LHX505
rrp: $699 (2004)
After owning several entry-level vdo units and being ultimately disappointed with their reliability, i had decided it was time to spend that little extra and get myself a new deck, one with mp3 capability and some tuning features, rather than a simple set of preset eq's which never quite manage to sound good. Having done a little bit of research, and having a wad of cash in my pocket from selling my old car i finally decided on the JVC KD-LHX505 mp3/cd, single-din headunit.
The first thing i have to say about this deck is that although it has a brushed aluminium finish, and the ability to change display colours (over 1700 colours to choose from) it is far from being all about 'bling'. In fact, with only six buttons on the face, this unit is quite understated and elegant.
The general features list reads pretty much like normal for a relatively high-end head unit back when it was released in 2004 – there’s CD/CD-R/CD-RW and MP3/WMA playback compatibility, a digital 7-Band graphic EQ with 9 presets and 3 user memory slots, advanced multi-bit DAC, 18 FM and six AM preset tuner section, motorised slide-out face with three angle settings, two pairs of gold-plated line outputs as well as a dedicated sub out (with level/frequency control), detachable face and a 5V line output level. Oh, of course there’s the 1,728-colour LCD display, offering 12 different preset colours to choose from which can be assigned independently to source (FM, AM, CD, changer), while there are three empty memory slots for the user to create their own colour of choice.
Novelties include PICT (Personalised Image Capture Technology), which allows you to create graphics you can then upload onto the unit (with the bundled Image Converter WIDE application software). You could have endless hours of fun with this feature, although it is not one i ever used.
Other distinguishing features? The DiAS (Digital Intelligent Advanced Sensing) tuner, which is an all-digital unit with everything, from MPX to IF filtering, riding on a unified DSP chip (which also houses the digital EQ and DAC sections), offering higher sensitivity and selectivity than on analogue-based tuners. The powerful MOSFET amp produces 4x50w max and about 4x21wrms.
Of course, what really sets the unit apart from almost all the competition is its touch screen control. The large LCD display plays host to all the command/selection functions – with the exception of power on/off, volume, menu entry, disc eject, display mode and faceplate angle – to work the unit. There’s even multilingual voice support (in English/French/ Spanish), where a voice tells you what function you’re engaging (source, menu and sub-menu, disc eject). It was fun at first and impressed a few people, but lost its appeal soon enough.
Installation was simple enough, just like installing any other standard after-market deck.
As far as performance is concerned, I have nothing to complain about with the JVC. Only recently, after having this deck for 2 years, have i been wanting to upgrade to a high-end unit such as Alpine's 9835.
As for user-friendliness, the touch screen control system works very well; once you get used to the orientation of the display and where things are respectively within the field, it’s a breeze to operate. The manual is well written and after two reads i was able to navigate my way through the menu systems without trouble. I do think that the volume control button could have been made larger, and i think we all agree that rotary volume controls are the bee's knees. My only other complaint with the unit is that even if you change the display colour, the colour of the volume button remains lightish blue - this has been changed with the '555 model so that the volume button colour matches the lcd display colour.
Still, it’s a small niggle, for everything else about the JVC KD-LHX505 has been top drawer, and I can say it’s been possibly the best money I’ve spent on my car (so far).
For: Classy looks, and sounds the business to boot; touch control screen is way cool and makes navigation a breeze.
Against: Volume control button could have been bigger.
. OMFG, when I upgraded I wondered why I ever got that thing, the JVC was pretty much all bling and you can find a better headunit with more SQ features for the same price if not cheaper. 
but when I got my 9835 you find yourself that SQ is way more important then bling and you can find all the same JVC SQ features on other headunits for cheaper price.
