Team-BHP - 10K Bluetooth Headunit - Pioneer vs Blaupunkt vs Kenwood

I am looking for an excellent HU with BT that supports an external microphone for the BT. Towards this I find these available

- Pioneer DEH-X8650BT
- Kenwood X700BT
- Blaupunkt toronto 420

All 3 support external mic (and generally come with the external mic in the package) and also have 3 pre outs (2 channels and 1 sub)

Kenwood has and advantage that it support 2 phone connections simultaneously (i.e both phones are actively connected to BT) Surprisingly, I have seen this only in Kenwood. I dont know how it will perform though.

Not very keen on additional features like Internet or satellite radio or DJ mix or features like that. This will be connected to an amp so power of the HU also not a big concern

Blaupunkt is the cheapest of the lot at about Rs 6.5k and Pio is the most expensive at about 10.5k

Any suggestions between the 3

Hi Folks

Found one more product very similar to the Kenwood X700BT

- JVC KD-R90BT

This also has ability to have 2 Live phone connections via BT. It has 3 pre outs (Front, Back and Sub). But this costs about 12-13K. Unfortunately the USB port is in the rear. It has a SDHC port in the front.

Any views/comments on which i should go for ?

In my opinion, the best HU would be in following sequence

1. Pioneer

2. Blaupaunkt

3. Kenwood ( They are good only for those large double dins and same goes for JVC too, their single dins dont even bother)

If budget is not a problem, my preference would be the following

1. Alpine
2. Clarion
3. Pioneer

Hope this helps

Cheers
Mobike008

I recently installed the Kenwood DPX 5130 BT as I wanted a Head Unit that supports Bluetooth Handsfree for my Phone.

I paid 11,305/- for a 2 DIN Kenwood DPX 5130 BT on Snapdeal after a 15% cash back.

Its been 2 weeks since I am using now and I am definitely happy about this product: Clear Voice from the caller & clarity in terms of reception via Microphone for the caller and Echo cancellation have been working fantastically.

In fact, with the car in motion, and the microphone placed on the driver side sun visor, the recipient gave good feedback on voice clarity even when the co-passenger was talking.

In terms of Audio Clarity, I am yet to experiment with various settings but there hasn't been a significant difference so far except that the high volumes are more crisp (with stock speakers) than the OE head unit.

I am expecting betterment as I installed Components sometime over the weekend.

I wasn't very particular but was surely going to pick up between Pioneer, JVC and Kenwood based on what offered me the best and ultimately settled for the Kenwood.

IMHO its not about the HU standalone but its more about the quality you prefer.

Pioneer is clearly far more oriented towards punjabi music / chan chan sounds (or was, in 2008) and pairs nicely with a JBL. Kenwood back then was much much more neutral.

of course in 2014 things may changed, or maybe not. but do audition them at length before deciding.

I've got the Pioneer X759BT 2-din HU for Rs.9800. Its comes with MIXTRAX, BT, dedicated mic and front USB. Pairs well with Android phones with music information, phonebook, call logs etc. Its only issue is because of its weird shape, it does not fit flush into the dash console of my Honda City ZX. Earlier, I had a Kenwood 1-din HU (from 2006 which doesn't have USB) and the difference is very noticeable.

Maybe you can check it out, if you need a good 2-din HU under 10K with BT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph (Post 3500355)

...
- Pioneer DEH-X8650BT
- Kenwood X700BT
- Blaupunkt toronto 420
...
- JVC KD-R90BT...

Go for the Kenwood - sweet sound. JVC and Blaupunkt follow. Nothing wrong with Pioneer, but sometimes it tends to be tinny with some amps & speakers. Audition them before taking a call. What may be good for others' ears, may not be good for you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 3500621)

... They are good only for those large double dins and same goes for JVC too, their single dins dont even bother ...

Actually Pio 2DINs sell more than Kenwood (cheaper, I guess). A couple of JVC 1DINs do sound really sweet, and have Time Alignment - big advantage.

Thank a lot folks for all your inputs. The general opinion seems to be to go with Pioneer. This is followed by Kenwood. JVC and Blaupunkt bring up the rear.

But one thing surprising in the views above, that i noticed, was that there are 2 dins available cheaper than the single din units that i chose. I need to do more r&d on that. The only reason i eliminated double dins was because of price.

The vehicle is an i10. It is already configured with component speakers (Front), amp and sub. The bluetooth in the current head-unit is not working which is a very important feature for me. Hence time for a change.

I wish i had a place for auditioning all these head units, but i dont have any such option where i stay and i dont have leave to go to places where there might be.

So I am continuing my search for the ultimate bluetooth head unit. For now it looks like I will go with the pioneer.

Also one more query. How do i know if the bluetooth head unit will display the name on the head unit display when receiving a call. What is this feature called.

My vote goes for the Blaupunkt Toronto 420BT head-unit :thumbs up Excellent sound quality; certainly made for far smoother and more clear sound from my friend's old Fiesta and even our trusted audio installer (used to work for DC) praised the buy (we bought it off of snapdeal) The classy looks are another plus.

Double-din units at the same price won't offer you the same sound quality. They'd probably compare to the SQ of a 5-6k single din deck :)

Hi Jinu.. coincidently I am sailing in the same boat. Me and my friend, we have been doing this research for last 2 weeks to short list a double din BT unit for my Hyundai Getz. We would be buying online, either form snapdeal or ebay. My budget is around 10K. i was able to shortlist these two and will make my decision after Gurus suggesions:

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/pion...eceiver/651215

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/sony...3#ReviewHeader

I know most of the people dont like sony but since this is a new series so thought of giving it a shot.

Apart from that, I have recently installed Sony Amp, JBL Bass tube and JBL rear speakers. I need a good loud sound + BT.

Help me out guys.. need to decide on something as soon as possible

Thanks
Shweta

I am not a big fan of Sony. The Pioneer one has only 2 pre-outs. So that is also off my list. I need a minimum of 3 pre-outs. I would still stay with a single din i see the single dins have a much bigger feature set than the double dins at the same price point.

No I have not bought it as yet. I am still thinking on this and split over which one to take. But i think it will be between the JVC and the kenwood as both of them support 2 phones simultaneously on bluetooth. The rest of the configuration seems to be same.

I currently have a Pioneer X759BT 2DIN unit running in the gypsy. It works perfectly with the JBL amp+Speaker combo - general nani-ma's gyaan around is that Pioneer HU's handle Indian music better which is what I listen to most of the time.

Most importantly it interacts seamlessly with my iPad Mini and my friends iPhone via the cable bought separately. The SR110 steering remote (bought separately) also works with the unit for added convenience.

I am putting it up for sale as I am going back to the stock dashboard which only allows a 1DIN unit - leaning towards the Pioneer 8650BT since the DEH-80PRS is proving to be elusive!