Radio upgrade to Kenwood Nav unit
 

Getting to upgrade my stock radio (the basic radio) to the Kenwood DNX-570HD. I had went into the stereo shop to buy some odds and ends to hardwire the Garmin Nav unit on my dash. I HATE the look and hassle of having cables all over my dash. As it is now i have the GPS power cord, the Ipod charger, Ipod cable to to the Aux input on the radio plus a phone charger.

He then showed me this Kenwood unit and the fact it has a Garmin unit built in, an Ipod connection built in (with Ipod controls on the screen) and Blue Tooth connection to the phone making it hands free. Satellite radio and HD radio too. It retains the factory steering wheel controls too. A really slick unit. I was surprised it was only $769. (Plus the Wiring harness kit, CANBUS adapter and Satellite decoder)

The final selling point for me was the fact he can add the factory tailgate handle camera wired to this unit. That was a huge plus because i would not need to add a monitor somewhere on the dash. He recommended adding a 40 watt Alpine amp to boost the power even though i'm using the stock speakers. He insists their is no real need to upgrade the speakers unless i was trying to make it super loud which i'm not.

All told it will cost me just over $1,500. Tax free NH. In any event, has anybody done such an upgrade? I had contemplated getting a Mopar GPS unit but based on everything i have read online this is a superior unit. Primarily because of the Garmin integration. No annoying DVD based nav.

I put a Kenwood DNX-6140 in my C5 Corvette, and a Kenwood DNX-6190 in my old 2008 Ram 3500. Both had iPod cables to control my iPod through the head unit, and the Ram install included the adapter to use the steering wheel controls.

I installed both systems myself, to include the double din dash kits & head unit adapter harnesses. The install wasn't too difficult.

I loved the Kenwood NAV functions and the iPod control. The Kenwood bluetooth worked well with my phones. They were great mods and the systems both were worthwhile upgrades.

I had the harness and dash kit to put a Kenwood DNX-690HD in my 2013 RAM 1500 to replace the RA1 (UConnect 3.0) radio.

I ended up trading the '13 1500 for a '14 2500 diesel with the better OEM radio, or I'd have a Kenwood in my current RAM truck too...

I think you'll like the new stereo...

Please find out what piece(s) were needed to connect the factory back-up camera. This is exactly what I want to do and the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger is because I can't find any info about how to connect the factory camera and I don't want to ditch that and pay for an aftermarket one.

Thanks!!
Rob

Thanks for review Hattitude. My install is scheduled for two weeks from now so at least i have some time to think it over. The one thing that is on my mind now is the stock speakers. I honestly think they sound fine for my taste. But the more i read up on them everybody seems to think they are terrible.

Based on what i can tell, the 11' has 7 speakers. One in each door and three in the dash. I am going to go back to the stereo place today and see what his thoughts (and prices) are on an upgrade. I really don't have a ton of cash to spend on this stuff right now but ill dig into savings if it will truly make a difference.

Big Blue, i will find out how he is doing the camera and report back to you.

Thanks!!

If you think the speakers sound fine, then leave them........ You are the one who's going to be listening to them. Don't spend a bunch of money because someone else may not like your speakers...

I worked in a stereo shop in the late 70's. The basic stereo component system we sold was $330. We had mid line systems around $500-700. and of course we had one component package that was $1800. During a blind sound test, it was amazing how many people would pick the $330 system over the $1800 system.

My point? Everyone listens to different music in different ways. Do what pleases your ear....

Good luck with the install......

I actually called the guy today and asked if it made sense to upgrade the speakers from stock to something better considering i'm adding a new head unit and amp. He asked me point blank "Are you happy with the way it sounds now?" And when i told him "yes" he said to save my money and drive the truck for a few weeks after the head unit and amp is in. I even said "Well wouldn't it just make sense to upgrade everything?" and he said it would be a waste of money and is not necessary.

The fact that a stereo shop owner is telling me to hold off on changing my stock speakers (And is basically losing money by doing so) because i might be happy with the way they sound speaks volumes (no pun intended) as to the character of this shop owner. Even the itemized estimate he gave me for the whole job turned out to be priced the same as almost every online dealer for the items. So he is not even charging me inflated prices.

I plan on posting before/during/after pics of the whole install even though the shop is doing it.

I'm just gonna chime in on this and add my opinion as I recently installed the kenwood dnx890hd nav unit.

The main reason i chose kenwood over others was because of the Garmin nav unit, I'm a Garmin guy when using gps i love them, so choosing this head unit was easy. I've read mixed reviews prior to buying the dnx890hd, but I was still looking around for it. I went into a small town audio shop and sure enough they had one for 1000$ "on sale", for a small Canadian town that was a good price. I only had that day off, and it was already afternoon, I told him I'd buy it if he can install it before closing time, he could not resist. Dropped him the truck and about 3 hours later picked it up with the new unit. I still have the steering controls, bluetooth (not uconnect, they setup another mic).

He didn't have the adapter for the backup camera, he ordered it and got it install last night. The install seem to be a bit painful, he was looking for one wire (I suspect backup wire to tap into) Long story short he got it working and it's beautiful.

Back to the kenwood unit, all in all i love it so far, when i first drove it from the shop, I couldn't stop playing with the features. I did notice the lag some people were describing, i was a bit disappointed. First thing i did when i got home was install the software upgrade on it, once that was done there was a huge difference in speed. The unit was fast and smooth, lag basically gone.

The speakers sound alot better than the stock stereo, the bass is really impressive, and i don't have the alpine sub upgrade, just stock 6 speakers. I still plan on changing the 4 6x9 speakers with probably kenwood speakers. Haven't found any yet.

To get this unit installed there were quite a few adapters that had to be installed, and they aren't cheap, i will try and find the receipts to see the part #. I know the camera adapter was 30$

Thanks for the insight Interpunx. I too was sold on Kenwood over the Alpine unit they had because of the Garmin integration. He (the stereo dealer) said he sells far more Kenwood units over Alpine for that very reason.

I actually just swapped all my stock speakers for the Kicker upgrade's from Mopar. I bought the 2 way 6x9 Rear upgrades and the 6x9/Tweeter dash speaker upgrade kit. I went with the Mopar kit because it was a direct plug in. The entire install took 56 minutes to change all 6 speakers. Not a single wire to cut. The difference is incredible and i have not even installed the Kenwood unit yet. The bass increase alone required me to turn the volume down compared to what setting i used to use. And the dash tweeters really open up the sound. They have the crossovers mounted to the mounting plate.

My logic for buying the Mopar/Kicker kit was the fact that i was fairly content with the stock speakers (way better then my 06' factory stereo) so i really could not justify the idea of spending upwards of $400 for high end aftermarket speakers. I just wanted something better suited to handle the added wattage of the new stereo and amp. I also did not want to start cutting wires or buying adapters or running into depth issues with the front doors. The Mopar kit made the whole process simple.

The Kenwood and camera install is this monday. Ill post updates.