Customer Reviews

Kenwood System-H2EC Sirius Here2Everywhere Satellite Radio Tuner with Car Docking Kit

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

 

 

I chose the Kenwood because of the look (sleek, blue screen) and reputation of their other products. This product does not live up to their standards. I was really disappointed, and here's why:
When I received the unit, I started with the in-home docking station. I hooked it up right away and basic set-up was easy. You'll know right away whether you can get a signal from the satellite on channel 184 before you subscribe. The instructions about antenna placement was clear... it needs a clear view toward the midwest. That was a problem in my house because of its layout, orientation, and trees on the property. The signal from the satellite was weak and cut out from time to time. The antenna wire was not long enough for my home layout--windows provided too weak a signal, and the roof was out of the question. Eventually, I moved everything around the house until I found a sweet spot. What an ordeal, already.
Second, the FM modulator was very weak. I tried to tune in my home stereo to the freq on the sirius and found that the sirius tuner had to be within one foot of my receiver to get any signal, and then it was weak. With the hard wires--the RCA plugs into AUX on the home stereo--sound was clear and loud. Music at last!
I tried the car kit, and found that the satellite reception was weak there too (here a signal, there a signal and in between... silence). It changed dramatically as I drove across town. The placement of the sirius unit in the car was critical. I tried it on the front of the dash, on the console, in the passenger seat, and all over the windshield. There was only one position in the car where the sirius could talk to the receiver, and that was low-center of the wind shield. Everywhere else was nothing but static. Even in this "sweet spot" I got a poor, static filled signal. Changing freq was easy, but didn't help. No problems with interference from other stations, since there are few in my area.
I was even disappointed with the display. The blue was nice, but the station info was more than could fit and the scrolling was distracting. Changing the setting for display size didn't help: there are two settings for the screen: big and really big. (Audiovox screen for example shows more info on one screen without the need to scroll).
My wife experienced how wonderful and trouble-free Sirius can be with an "older" Streamer, so I'm going to stick with this service and try a different tuner.
The Kenwood is going back.

Nice setup for the sale price. At full price I'd try something else first. I have the home kit as well as the car kit.

The good:
The unit itself is a nice piece of hardware and the suction cup for car mounting is excellent. The extra 12VDC power cord to hard wire into your car is a nice touch as well. I have had no reception problems at all and the receiver stays relatively cool compared to others.

The bad:
I have a hard time reading the display due to the blue light. I thought it would be easy to see but I cannot see it well, there is just not enough contrast. ( Yes, I have 20/20 vision) The scrolling display is also not easy to read in either size. I would prefer good old amber or green.
More importantly the FM transmitter is weak as a kitten. I literally have to have the sirius unit on top of the radio to work. That goes for my real stereo and for boomboxes I have tried. This is a big weakness for me as it is supposed to be a "here to everywhere" unit, but only if it sits on top of your current stereo, and that stereo is within sattelite antenna distance to a window. I borrowed an older audiovox and tried it in the same place and the FM transmitter worked across the whole room and into the next.

Overall a nice unit, but the weak FM transmitter kills it for me.

I love my sirius radio, i really really do. I do not listen to regular radio anymore. The setup of this radio was simple, and works well in my Tahoe. The only issue i have is the car kit has broken and i've had it less than a year. I need to replace it but i cannot locate a place to buy just the mounting kit sans radio. I had it professionally installed into my SUV so that i don't have the wires all over the place, and it looks great, and i don't experience the sound issues the others that posted here did.

The Kenwood System-H2EC is a nice little unit however I've experienced plenty of short comings.

1) The FM modulator can't even broadcast it's way out of a paper bag. I pick up so many SIRIUS signals around me now on FM (thank-you Mr Stern) I don't even think I need a unit in the car.
2) The cigarette lighter plug is too big for the socket and pops out constantly.
3) The unit throws out so much heat you have to leave it out in the open or use it as a handwarmer.
4) The buttons are so touchy, the slightest touch will activate one.
5) Programming with the scrolling is a pain in the ....
6) The window mount is so big, I'd swear you could crack the windshield if you don't release the suction cup properly.

After having been a subscriber to Sirius for 3 years and having used 3 different tuners in my cars, this one is the best I've used. I live in the West and sometimes travel 10 to 15 hours at a time, through cities and remote areas. I've had zero trouble with reception in all areas, even with a luggage carrier on the car. The receiver is mounted on the windshield at eye level and is easy to read, compared to the others I've had (my Audiovox lasted 12 months and 1 day - just in time for no warranty coverage). The FM modulator works fine in the car but I've always used my iRock FM modulator in the house which broadcasts just great. I also have the other Kenwood "Here2Anywhere" plug and play and, while it works fine, it does not have the FM modulator and the screen is very small, the latter making it harder to glance at the screen and read what it says while you're on the road. That and the fact that it isn't as easy to mount in the car causes me to rate the H2EC much higher.

I'm a little late writing this one but I've had several Sirius units and have an in dash in both cars but I've had this head unit since it came out. Don't do FM transmittal. I don't care what it is, FM Transmittal sucks. Hard jack it in. That's the Bottom line, its well worth it.

In the car use the antenna and mount it on the roof our trunk. I've not had any issue with signal across the US and in Canada. Since I have both in dash and portable. I've not noticed a big difference in signal or sound quality between removable or in dash.

It is a bit of a pain when using it in the house if you don't have proper exposure for the antenna and you might have to be a bit creative with mounting it outside and running it into your unit base. Then again you don't have your satellite dish in the house do you so it's the same concept :).

When your using the boombox its a sweet deal. I appreciate the full read out display it offers as well.

All in all, you pay for what you get and its worth the money.

Get Physically Fit gives this his approval.

My unit functioned for about a week. After that all I could get was static and garbled voices. This occurred via the RCA hookup and the FM frequency broadcast, at home and in the car, one bar signal or ten. So my assumption is that the tuner is broken. So now I have to take it somewhere to get fixed. This is not a reliable product from my experience.

I have had this receiver for almost two years now. I live in Chicago and never connect it to the external antenna, this is a huge plus for me. It is able to pull in the signal from the ground repeaters around the area. I have friends who have different brands that will not work unless the antenna is connected to the radio. The only thing that would make this radio better would be if it had recording ability.

I noticed the Kenwood H2E satellite radio has received nothing but bad reviews thus far. My experience with the product is a bit more positive. I've always been a loyal Kenwood customer as far as my audio needs, in fact my old stereo from the mid 80s is still in use, I've had nothing but positive experiences with Kenwood products. As far as my H2E it could be better but overall I'm very satisfied. The FM modulator as everyone stated is very weak, not worth the trouble...don't even bother. However as I use my satellite radio primarily at home, this isn't an issue for me since I simply hook the radio to my stereo using the RCA cable that comes with the product. Reception and sound is perfect, crystal clear...plus Sirius has improved ten-fold with their reception issues over the last couple of months...I used to have frequent drop-outs in signal strength, I haven't had single drop-out in months. The blue display is nice but hard to read if you're more than 10 feet away...I have my radio in the bedroom so this isn't an issue. The hardware itself is good, easy to learn the functions, the remote control is kind of small and has a cramped feel but it's easily learnable. The radio after prolonged use does get warm as others said but it's no different than any other electronic device, in fact much less than most...I haven't experienced no excessive heat or humming sound. Note I bought mine later than the rest of the reviews so it's possible Kenwood has improved the product. Unfortunately I am not able to use my Kenwood H2E in my car because of previous electrical problems in my car unrelated to my satellite radio so I have no clue how it works using the car kit. For primary home use I highly recommened the Kenwood H2E if you have good audio equipment but if you need to use the FM modulator (ie: boombox, alarm clock radio, etc.) I'd find another product.

The unit itself is very nice looking with good features and easy use. In theory, the FM transmitter would make it handy to install in any car, since you don't have to wire it directly into the car radio.
However, even though I found an empty FM frequency for the Kenwood unit to broadcast Sirius to, it sounds awful, about as good as an AM radio -- there is static, I'm assuming from interference from broadcasts on "nearby" FM frequencies. I assume the weak signal from the Kenwood to my FM car radio is because my car's antenna is outside the car in the back -- so the Kenwood unit is broadcasting 12 feet and through metal -- no wonder it sounds fuzzy!
Also, one of the power cords to the unit works fine. The other cord, a fused wire made to "hard wire" the unit to your fuse box, doesn't work. Even though it has power to to the plug, the plug doesn't seem to seat nicely in the docking cradle socket, so it doesn't power the unit.
Not sure what I'll do now ... Hopefully Kenwood support can help.