Customer Reviews

Kenwood KDC-138 CD receiver

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

 

 

Pretty good product, VERY good sound quality, amp can push 6.5" w/ components with tweeters very well. The controls are very confusing though, better keep the manual in the car. The rotary knob isnt the best idea, its easily pushed in while driving -which opens the sound controls- and all of a sudden youre turning up the bass instead of the volume... Other than that it doesnt skip on cd's and has a few rca outputs which are handy.
I like it.. Salectronics has them for $69 with free shipping also.

Over all it is a good radio. My antenna wire was cut when my other radio was stolen, so I am not sure if the staticy receprion is because of a poor splice or the actual radio (probably my splice). The aux jack is nice, but some of the buttons and functions are counter-intuitive. Overall it works great for the price.

I picked up and got this player installed at a local shop. The display is nice, though the clock/track time is small in comparison to what else is displayed. The sound quality from the stock deck is greatly improved, and adjusting sound controls is relatively smooth with preset options available. Some of the specialty controls are more tricky to decipher from the manual, even setting the clock (the install guy said it took him 10 minutes to figure it out)!

Apart from the little details, this is a quality product for the price. For the more technical hardcore car audio buffs, I would suggest a higher-end deck.

This is by far the worst player i have ever bought. The sound quality sucks. The screen is too small and the menus are hard to find. This player is not very user friendly. I would not recommend this player. I was expecting more from Kenwood but was deeply shocked. If you are into good sound and quality this player is not for you.....

The sound quality is very good for such a low price. And this unit will do everything you want as far as playing your CD's, listening to the radio, or using the auxiliary jack. It's real downfall comes in the ease of use category. At first you will expect to be able to press down on the tuning know to shut it off, or turn the volume all the way down. This won't happen, you have to press the mode select button and put it into standby. Also things that should be very easy like setting the clock will make you want to pull your hair out. The menu's are not only hard to get into but harder to use once you do. Normally setting the clock is a one button function, on this unit it is like reading a technical manual or figuring out wiring diagrams. Not very user friendly.

This stereo sounds great but, like other reviewers said, it uses a knob to turn up the volume that when pressed in opens the audio menu. What they fail to tell you is that unlike all other decks, it doesn't automatically exit the menu after a couple seconds. So what normally happens is I go to turn down the music and accidentally press the knob in when turning it. It goes from volume to SUB. Now I'm turning down my sub instead of the volume. I have to scroll through the ENTIRE menu of options by pressing the knob in eight more times to return to the volume setting and turn it down. Imagine how much this sucks when pulling up to a drive through to order or next to a cop car at a red light. If it could just exit the settings menu by itself then I would have rated it five stars.

I found the KDC-138 very easy to install. The instruction manual has a very good one-page wiring diagram for the attachment harness. Suggest you unhook the car battery before installation so as not to get a spark as I did! Anyway, the sound quality is, to my ears, very good. Like another reviewer, I think the controls are not as well laid out as they could be, but I'm still giving it five stars, especially given the low price. This stereo boasts 200 watts, which really rocks my little Mitsubishi Gallant!

This is a very nice radio for the money, the clock display is a little small, but everything works very well. This radio I am happy to recommend to anyone.

Ok sound. Cd player stopped working in first 6 months. Find another unit. Dont buy this one. Its been a yr now and the sound is still ok.

I bought this stereo for my uncle and installed it for him. It came in the original box unopened just as described. The install was extremely easy once we bought two harnesses in pep boys. The sound is great with se pioneer speakers he bought, it picks them up pretty well. The 3.5mm auxiliary input is sweet. Overall ist a very good product at a very good price.