Head: Kenwood DDX-7019

The H/U install included the Garmin nav, bluetooth, onstar and iPod interfaces. Steering wheel controls work also.

Amp: Alpine PDX-4.150

The amp and crossovers are mounted in the driver side cubby in the trunk. I have 150W running to each door with 300W bridged to the two subs.

Door Speakers:
MB Quart PVF 216

These are a new speaker that use an inverted dome tweeter similar to their top-of-the-line tweeters.

Subs: JL Stealthboxes

Review:

H/U: I like the Kenwood system a lot.





The unit works on a two-tier system where you can select an audio source, and the while it is playing, select a video source (including nav). It is very easy to toggle back and forth.

The nav system works quite well. Inputing addresses and finding POIs seemed rather straitforward. I didn't have as much luck trying force alternate paths or inserting midway points, but I'm still learning the system. For the most part it is very intuitive. The 3D views aren't as spectacular as what the Avic-Z2 offers, but the functionality is great.

One thing I found most useful was the -1 tilt. This effectively puts the screen perpendicluar to the ground. It doesn't eliminate top down glare, but the unit is very useable in this position.

The iPod interface was very important to me and this one runs with no discernable delay. I can access all the categories on my iPod and scrolling seems as quick as I can work it while driving. The only think I don't like at this point is that you can apparantly only shuffle on album play, and cannot shuffle on playlists. I mostly listen to shuffled playlists, so this is a little bit of a bother, but not a huge deal.

My first DVD I tried couldn't get past the first menu (no way to play the movie), but it was a somewhat obscure concert video. I then put in a David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) concert video and it worked great. This is what I mainly wanted the DVD ability for.

The unit can play iPod video, but I don't have any yet so couldn't test it.

I have not set up the bluetooth yet, so I will wait on that one.

Steering controls work well also.

Amp/Speakers/Sound: I am quite happy with the result of this combination. I was a little concerned about the MB Quart speakers because of some reviews of them being harsh. My installer swore that most of those cases was because they weren't attenuated correctly by the installer. He was very experienced, so I trusted him.

The overall sound completely changes with the top up or down. I have my top down most of the time, so that was my primary concern.

Top Up Sound: Without changing the EQ, it seemed like there were two resonance peaks that stood out in the subs (or subs + door woofers) and the bass was moderately boomy. The high end was not bad, but it was a little (very little) on the edgy side. I'm quite sure that I could EQ this to improve the sound, but the top down sound is more important to me.

Top Down Sound: The resonances in the subs was no longer evident and any harshness from the tweets was gone. The subs with 300W are as punchy as you could want and I did not notice any sound stage problems with them behind the seats. I can't imagine being without subs now that I've heard them. I'm not sure there are any better options out there for the vert. The overall sound is balanced and punchy with no distoration at any level I could get to without thinking the car was going to explode. While driving at speed with the sound way up you can hear very nice detail with no ear pain.

 

I totally agree with the -1 position. On my coupe that made it usable vs glare! What was even cooler is the fact it will go back to normal (standard tilt) when you shut it off...



The iPod video works well BTW...

 

Congrats on the car and the system, looks great!

 

Looks great! Can you possibly show us a real good close up photo of the unit installed. It looks almost OEM in your photo now, would like to see it really close, because that has been the big deal breaker for me on going aftermarket. Most of the C6's I have sat it with aftermarket Nav just scream to you that its aftermarket, and I really like it to look OEM.Some of them the plates don't match the seams and the textures of the plates are way off.

 

To be honest, this is no reason to not go aftermarket. Things can be sanded, painted, adjusted etc to *look* right, but the factory system will NEVER sound as good or work as well as an aftermarket system. Check out this thread by Flareside:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1682196

He did some great work on the Metra kit he used to bead blast and sand it to match the factory dash. Even if you don't have the skills yourself to do something like that, I'd bet it wouldn't be difficult, nor cost a ton to have a local paint shop do that kind of work for you.

 

Sure, I'll try and get a high res photo to post in the next day or so.

 

Looks great! I really like the look of the new dash... just ordered the carbon look replacement for mine, but if that doesn't look right, I may have to rethink it.

I had problems with my 7017 getting past the main menu on DVDs too. Of course this happenned on a long roadtrip, and I had left the manual at home. There is a specific 'trick' to it... I can't remember what it is right now, but if you don't see it in the manual, I'll look it up tonight if I get the chance. It's really non-intuitive...

I think that's the one feature from the 7017 to 7019 that I wish I had. The angle's okay for viewing without the -1 setting, but I hadn't counted on the glare! Oh well - tinted windows should help resolve some of that!

 

Looking good. Very similar to the setup I'm going for.....

 

Did the volume of your chimes increase significantly with the upgrade?

 

My installer is using the Metra wiring harness and after reading the instructions the chime speaker volume can be adjusted......

 

Right now I think I have no chimes, but I need to get into the unit and see what it is set at.