Customer Reviews

JVC KW-XC410 Double DIN In-Dash CD/Cassette Receiver with J-Bus Expandable (Black)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a 1995 Buick (real sharp, eh? But no monthly payments!) and the tape deck died. I also have a huge collection of cassette tapes, so I wanted a unit that would play them as well as CDs. My research didn't come up with a lot of choices, but JVC has a good rep. First of all, I ordered from this Amazon reseller late Tuesday night, standard shipping, and the package was in my office on Friday afternoon - so cool. I hired a guy to install this as I am too old and awkward to get under a dashboard these days. He had to order a wiring harness and an additional connector for my antenna, but it only took him about a half hour to switch in the new unit (He charged me $110 total, including the parts). It fits great in the dash and I think it operates pretty easily, though I have yet to figure out how to set the #%*@! clock (there has got to be something missing in the instructions). I've always thought a remote control on a car stereo was ridiculous, but I must admit this one is handy for setting the volume and hitting the mute. I'm not overly disciminating when it comes to sound I suppose, and I've always liked the speaker system in my car, but I think this sounds better than the original unit, certainly has more volume. I would certainly have gone for four and a half stars; the only reason I didn't go for five was because of that durn clock. When I'm cruising with the Grateful Dead cranked up and a big smile on my face, you have to call that a good value.

My wife has a 2002 Civic EX sedan, which came with a CD and a cassette unit. For the past couple of years she has struggled with both CD and Cassette, especially ejecting them. She mostly uses each for "books on tape". Lots of good deals around on cassette books on tape! Anyway, when we came around to replacing the unit, we found this JVC model.

Pro:
- Nice looking unit. The exterior is shiny black; I would have preferred matte black, but this is OK.

- Excellent sounds from the stock speakers. It was easily twice as good as the Honda radio.

- Very nice equalizer, with several built in profiles and three custom profiles. You can pretty much change the sound any way you like.

- We don't use these features, but the unit will connect to a CD Changer or a satellite radio. Note that there is no Satellite radio in the unit itself; your vehicle must have a separate satellite radio for this feature to work.

- Aux input can be connected to an MP3 player, and the unit fully supports folder operations & etc for those external inputs.

- The unit can be connected to steering wheel audio controls on some vehicles.

- There are a lot of customizations possible using the built in menus.

- Pressing the ON button when the radio is already on will "subdue" the sound, so you can answer a phone or whatever. However it does not stop tape or CD playback.

Con:

- OK, what were they thinking - the volume control on the RIGHT side of the unit? The driver is generally the one changing volume!

- The controls are a bit unusual. The On switch is a small button on the upper left. You have to hold it to turn the unit off. Also, all those nice customizations are controlled by a small button the left, a small button on the right, and the tape/cd FF/REWIND button. It takes some study of the small manual before you get the hang of how to use the system. Also, the manual has several menu options listed that are actually optional (like satellite radio menus) - it is noted below the diagrams, but it really should be documented more plainly. In other words, the actual unit will only present menus for items that are connected (like the Satellite radio), but the manual has the full set of menus displayed. It left me looking for menus that did not show up on the radio setup screens!

- We had to buy a separate "Civic mounting kit", and some cables. I had it professionally installed, and the shop had both items in stock. It added about 30 dollars to the cost.

- The clock is too small. In the daylight it is a bit hard to read the time, even when the contrast is set to it's maximum setting.

- OK, it's not really a fault, but the unit has some "hip" features that didn't really interest me. For one thing it says "Welcome" and "See You" when powering off and on. For another, most of the audio graphs that are displayed are just plain strange; long streams of dashes, for example.

Conclusion:
Cassettes are going the way of the dinosaur. If you want a replacement unit, you might want to act soon. Despite the list of "cons" above, I highly recommend this unit for it's sound output and basic functionality.

I purchased this JVC unit in November 2008. Istallation required a wiring harness that was not supplied for my vehicle so had to spend another $15.00 which was not really a big deal. As far as performance goes it sounds good. It does look like an aftermarket radio not like an oem replacement.Wish it was a little more flush with the dash. The volume know is in a goofy position...passenger side. I bought it because is one of the few units that play both cd's and cassettes which is nice for a books on tape listener.

I have a '93 Toyota Celica convertible and the amp died. So because the factory radio was missing some knobs and the cd player and cassette were on their last legs, I decided to go ahead and replace it. I bought this JVC unit because it fit the car and had all the features of the original unit (and then some)with the exception of an external amp. I also bought 2 new rear speakers because the old ones were pretty shot. The unit was installed in August.
We only drive the car in the summer so we didn't get a chance to use the new stereo very long. But now we are back to driving the car and I'm just getting used to the stereo again. I had set the equalizer so that I could have a custom sound with more bass. Without the external amp, the stereo is not as rich as it could be. It was a necessity with the factory stereo, but with the JVC, my custom setting works pretty well unless I turn the sound up too loud, in which case the speakers distort.
What I really like about the JVC is the external plug in which I can plug in an MP3 player and even my phone, which can store and play music. I also have an XM radio which is powered by plugging into the cig lighter and the sound is produced out of the stereo by using a cassette adapter. Although the JVC has an optional satellite radio adapter, I just use the aforementioned method thru the cassette player which works just fine. (Besides, we can take the XM radio out of the convertible and use it in our other cars with cassette players.)
The unit sticks out a little bit from the dash but it appears to be designed that way. The unit includes a cutout piece of plastic that fits around the outside perimeter of the unit to give it a finished, built-in look. I think it looks good in my car. It has quite a few features so it does take some learning time to get comfortable with it. For a replacement stereo, I'm very happy with it.

I BOUGHT THIS CAR RADIO TO HAVE INSTALLED IN MY TRUCK. IT'S A CD PALYER & CASSETTE PLAYER W/ RADIO.
I RECEIVED IT IN A TIMELY FASHION WITH NO PROBLEM. I BROUGHT IT TO MY INSTALLER. HE CALLED ME LATER
THAT DAY AND ASKED ME TO PLEASE COME TO THE SHOP. HE SHOWED ME THAT 1.) IT HAD A CRACK ON THE FRONT
AS THO IT HAD BEEN DROPPED 2.) THE SMALL CONTACTS INSIDE THE RADIO WERE NOT GLUED ON PROPERLY AS THO
THEY HAD BEEN TOUCHED OR SHIFTED AROUND OR JUST PLAIN BENT & BROKEN AND 3.) THE SAMPLE CD INSERTED
INSIDE TO MAKE SURE THE CD PLAYED WAS STUCK. IT JUST WOULD NOT WORK; NO HOW, NO WAY *
IT, APPARENTLY, WAS NEVER REFURBISHED ... JUST THROWN BACK IN A PLASTIC WRAP AND PLACED IN A BOX AND
MAILED TO THE NEXT CUSTOMER AS "FACTORY REFURBISHED". A DISGRACE *
I CONTACTED THE SELLER WHO STATED THAT THAT IS HOW THEY RECEIVED IT AND THEY DO NOT OPEN BOXES THEY
RECEIVE FROM THEIR GUY.
I ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED A FULL REFUND AS SOON AS THEY RECEIVED THIS UNIT. NO PROBLEM. THAT WAS GOOD.

EITHER 1. DON'T BUY FROM THIS COMPANY OR ...
2. DON'T BUY ANY ELECTRONICS THAT HAVE BEEN REFURBUSHED !

Never used this because it did not fit space for radio and van. It would have been helpful to know measurements of radio before purchase. I put 3 stars because I had to give it a rating.

Bought this for my boat and it is a great unit.The only problem is I have not found a way to pause either the cd or tape.You have to stop both no pause .Other wise I do like the unit.

Looks great, fairly simple to install, easy to operate. So glad I made this purchase!