Customer Reviews

Kenwood KDC-MP242 WMA/MP3 CD Receiver with Satellite/HD Radio/Bluetooth Ready Front Panel AUX Input

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

 

 

I replaced the dying, lackluster factory radio in my 2005 Hyundai Elantra with this Kenwood. For the less than $100 price, I am duly impressed. The unit sounds as good as it looks. Even with the factory speakers, the improvement is amazing over the factory radio. It has plenty of power and with dual pre-amp outputs (rare on lower priced radios), it is ready for an amp and sub, not that I see myself adding one, but it's there.

It plays your MP3 and WMA CD's with ease. Loading time is quick, and it also has a feature which will improve frequency response on low bit-rate MP3 files. The remote control is a nice touch, again- not too common on lower end radios. What I really like is the VFD display. You can read this BRIGHT and CLEAR text in any light, and unlike LCD's, VFD's don't "dark out" in extreme heat, nor "lag" in extreme cold. I love the retro look of VFD, but really appreciate the clear bold text which makes reading it easy. The front mounted 1/8 line in is a plus, and the blue backlight makes it easy to spot at night for plugging in my MD walkman.

What really impressed me is the quality of the tuner. FM front end is one of the best I've ever used. I can hear stations the factory radio was deaf to, excellent selectivity. Even driving in downtown Atlanta amongst the dozen nearby 100Kw FM's, this Kenwood never gets overloaded. I was listening to a station from Macon over 70 miles away with ease, the factory radio couldn't handle this and would get overloaded from the nearby transmitters. The quality of the FM is superb, excellent frequency response and S/N ratio. AM is pretty hot as well. This is a good choice for FM DX'ing.

The built-in MOSFET amplifier has plenty of power at 22w x 4, and will drive most speakers with ease though you should be careful if using factory speakers as this amount of power could easily overload them. Installation is easy as is with any 1/2 DIN radio. In my Hyundai I did have to use a simple kit so there wasn't any gap in the dash fascia. Most Toyota, Nissan, and Honda installs should take less than 30 minutes if you have the correct wiring harness adapter.

Hats off to Kenwood, for the price I am more than satisfied. Bring back more VFD's!

The Kenwood MP-242 is simply fantastic! Real clean, crystal clear sound and bass boost plus proper EQ will make any existing stereo speakers sound great. Easy to navigate controls, looks real nice with the blue backlighting. Perfect for an iPod and a really decent price for such high quality. You can dim the display for night driving and there's no annoying beeping like so many other modern car stereos. I love it!

I was looking for a basic CD player to replace an old Blaupunkt cassette player that had lasted an incredible 14 years. This unit has features I'll never use, but the high output amp was the best feature. As with most modern electronics, the controls are far from intuitive, but I figured it out eventually and it works great.

the player is perfect for the price and i installed the hd radio to it and it works just fine, and sounds great!!!

The stereo is good for the price but it has nothing out of the ordinary. It is nice and user friendly, it has good functionality and the sound is good.