# searching for a new single din deck that has rear usb, rear aux and bluetooth



## oggie (Apr 30, 2011)

So I need:
rear usb and rear aux
bluetooth
built in amp
preouts and sub out
mp3 of course

It doesn't have to be a cd receiver, it could be a media player only. 

I've only found that kenwood is the only ones to have these features.
KDC-X995
KDC-BT948HD
and the discontinued Kenwood KDC-BT945U

I have 2 other kenwood decks which neither lasted that long. Is there anyone else besides them with the rear inputs?

There's also the parrot asteroid, but who knows when that'll actually get released.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

crutchfield.com... great search tool..


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## oggie (Apr 30, 2011)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> crutchfield.com... great search tool..


Thanks. Already did that. 

That's where I got the discontinued kenwood that had some bad reviews.

Any other genius suggestions?

I searched a lot of manufacturers : jvc, clarion, alpine, kenwood and pioneer as well.

I was hoping someone would respond with something useful instead of assuming every newbie didn't already do their own searching.


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## shnitz (Jun 13, 2011)

I agree that there's not much. Luckily I came across a Kenwood BT945u, so I went with that. It's not as bad as people say. Overall, they just don't like what they consider to be confusing menus, but it really has a lot going for it. Great options: time alignment, A2DP Bluetooth, etc. For some reason, the newer Kenwoods that you mentioned don't have A2DP Bluetooth, which is a stupid thing to regress on for a newer year's model. You can supposedly buy a $120 adapter to add this, but that starts to get ridiculous in price, and I'm not positive on that.

Last year's Clarion FZ409 (with $40 USB dongle) and FZ709 have rear inputs. Again, for some STUPID reason, they moved this year's inputs (FZ501, CZ501) to the front.

I am reticent to recommend Alpine, because on paper it looks like you have to pay a lot more to get the same thing, but it's starting to seem that is because they spend the money to hire a human factors engineer to do a "stupid check" on the design before it goes out. Companies forget that, at the end of the day, a human is going to be using this device, and if it just stresses you out trying to use it, it's not worth buying. I want my stereo to help me relax in the car, not distract me and cause me anguish.

Take Alpine's ida-x305s or cda-117 for example. They are both $350. To add Bluetooth, you have to buy the KCE-400BT for $150. If you want to add decent EQ options, you have to shell out another chunk of cash for the Imprint module. By this time, you're stepping into double-DIN touchscreen territory. At $350, I'd expect it to have at least mid-level EQ options such as time alignment and 3 or 5-band equalizer, but it seems that they intentionally retard its capabilities to force you to buy so many add-ons. But, at least there is a universal plug in the back that you can buy a $20 adapter cable to convert it to AUX.

Crutchfield has a ida-x305s with Bluetooth package for $400, but I set that aside, since it includes the KCE-305BT receiver, which is unlisted at Alpine. If it provides everything that the 400BT provides, then go ahead and consider it, and it becomes more reasonable.

Those just happen to be the companies that I've researched so far. I would also consider JVC and Pioneer (I currently have a Pioneer Premier in my car), but as you can tell from my join date, I've only recently started to become actively interested in car audio. The Pioneer Premier was just bought when Car Toys was having a sale, and I was with someone that was already there buying a ton of stuff.


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## oggie (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks for taking the time to write that up.

I finally decided on the kenwood bt948hd and I'm quite happy with it. The lack of bluetooth a2dp didn't bother me that much. And the menu system is a bit weird, but nothing that didn't take long to understand.

I will probably get the parrott asteroid once it's finally released.


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