I installed a Kenwood 7100 for a neighbor recently. That is an awesome unit & it works very well indeed. What you read is true, but who cares??

Once you get the hang of it & read the manual a few times it is as easy as any other unit to operate.

I now have two NAV/GPS units in my FEH. My in-dash dbl DIN Eclipse is awesome, but it also shows DVD movies & on long trips my wife likes to watch movies so that cancels out the NAV function. For those times, I bought a Garmin 7200 & installed it in my driver side sunvisor (with an external antenna). This is the same GPS unit that is integrated into the Kenwood & works super.

~John

 

I like the Eclipse units...however love my XM :-)


I agree with you on anything takes some getting used to, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a complete bear. I am trying to find somewhere that has one in stock hooked up in a display that I can play around with, as I love the Garmin interfaces for nav.

 

Me too, that's why I have both XM & Sirius in my truck.

I have Sirius through the Eclipse, & XM radio & XM traffic/weather through my Garmin 7200 that also plays through the truck sound system with a hard wired FM modulator.......

~John

 

Nice...I just use my RoadyXT run through my Harmon Kardon Drive+Play that has a hardwired FM modulator...really wanting to kick it all aside for an all in one option :-)

 

I just had a Kenwood DNX7100 headunit installed wth a Kenwood backup camera. I replaced the stock speakers (25 watt) with two way Polk speakers rated at 60 watt and have done the same with one of the speakers in the sail panel. I had the headunit and backup camera professionally installed and they took their time in doing so with a nearly 3 hour and 40 minute install.

First impressions: The GPS navigation is even superior to my Garmin 250W as it announces street names at turn locations and can quickly recalculate directions when I intentionally went off course. The music is significantly improved in quality (I did use dynamat around the speaker location). The backup camera solves the low blind spot one experiences when backing. I need to read the manual and practice using this unit before it becomes simple to operate. The headunit sticks out a small amount from the center console radio bezel. The silver colored radio bezel dash does disservice to this unit and I need to explore options to enhance the look of this unit.

I debated for several months on whether it would be worthwhile to do this. I finally concluded it would be since I have a history of driving Ford automobiles over 130,000 miles. (I acutally drove a 1989 Taurus wagon to 238,000 miles before selling it.)

 

Looks like a sharp install.

did you do it yourself, or have it installed somewhere? I am wondering what modifications need to be made in order to have it fit.

 

I had a shop do it for me. I also had a Kenwood backup camera installed. It took around 3 hours and 40 mintues. I am happy with the installation. I did put dynamat (around the speakers), 1/4 inch dynaliner (covering the inner door panel) and new Polk DB speakers in the vehicle. There is a significant improvement in sound/music quality. However, I do have a "pop" when the radio is turned on and I believe this is from the subwoofer. I previously read Ford's speakers are rated 6V(? )instead of 12V and this difference causes the pop. I do know when I took my Ford "Mach system" speakers out, there was a 25W rating printed on the rear of this. They were also stamped "Made in China"!

 

Ahh everything comes from China in some shape or form these days.

The pop may be able to be solved by installing a pop-stopper in-line between the headunit and the subwoofer amp.

http://www.sfxaudio.com/products/dis...p?ProdId=63361

 

Thanks for the tip Eric. I will have to try this.

 

That will fix the pop although it doesn't really hurt anything.

I bought that resistor kit for my last Escape but never got around to installing it. 60,000 miles later, the stereo was still working fine (pop & all)

~John