Kenwood DNX9960 vs. Pioneer AVIC-Z120BT
 

Ok guys so I am planning my headunit install and have narrowed it down to these two. The Kenwood has a better voice recognition system and garmin maps, and the pioneer a better user interface and it's pandora and iPhone friendly. Both have voice recognition and 3d maps. Can anyone chime in on their suggestions. The price difference is around $200+ for the Kenwood.

From what I have been told the Pieoneer takes longer to start up, especially with an ipod. There is a very long delay while it loads all your music, but then it responds probably even faster then the ipod alone.

The kenwood starts faster (probably about the same as my OEM radio was) but there is a delay every time you tell it to do something, so the overall operation is slow. You just need to be patient but if your in a hurry you will get fed up quick. If your paying more attention to the road then the radio you don't really notice.
I'm not sure how the pioneer compares.

If I had to do it again... I wouldn't. :rofl2: The whole ordeal was pretty aggravating and the backup cam doesn't work or the steering wheel controls but that's beside the point right now. The sound is most definitely changed though. All I did was change the head unit but it's so much louder now and sounds so much better, you can actually hear there are subs now (the factory ones)

Kenwood by a landslide. Better reliability, faster boot time, more flexible audio wise, the list can go on. Did I mentioned better reliability ?

my pioneer loads up in about 10 seconds.. and has no delay what so ever.. if you are playing the radio or a cd the music starts the second you power on.
I have had absolutely no problems and its been a joy to own.

The interface looks like it was made in the 2000's too , not the 90's like the kenwood..

people on this site are in love with kenwood and it seems like its the only deck anyone ever installs..

My avic x920 has been phenomanal to own.. everything is easy and pandora interface is really cool and has gotten much better with the newer iphone updates..

I would buy mine over in a heart beat without thinking twice.

looks factory, everyone that sees it compliments it in ways such as " wow that looks factory, looks much newer than other ones I have seen, etc "

http://www.the370z.com/members/chuck...3-img-0139.jpg

Your kind of in the same boat as i am... I wanted a head unit that is very friendly with iphone so that i can listen to music on my iphone... so i ended up buyin pioneer avic-x920bt... with an ipod adapter... but heres the catch... i've had the head unit for like couple months... and guess what... i have never used the iphone... why? because it comes with an micro sd slot and you can put movies and music... and its so convenient... so i regret buying a $50 ipod cable... and your not even gonna need an iphone... and as far as voice recognition... u will never use it... and its a pain in the @$$ to get in the car and plug ur phone in... lol... hope this help... imo pioneer vs kenwood... i think they are both pretty good... i would go with better price...

http://mail.unitedlegends.com/g6proj...VIC-Z120BT.jpg

vs

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3995/img3131a.jpg

kenwood just looks "old" to me but thats just me

Jay yoon my old gripe with the sd card is that atleast with my car. I can not go back tracks, only fowards...

it that the case with you ? And on other decks ? Or is it my card?

I can't speak to the Pioneer, but I really like my 9960. Does what I ask it to do. I mostly listen to my iPod (160GB) and I've got the steering wheel controls set up so changing tracks is pretty quick. I've never timed it, but I think it changed quicker that using the touchscreen.

Link to my pics:
http://www.the370z.com/audio-video/1...tml#post584394

I would agree, if you had hard buttons for the common features that would speed it up tremendously.

(I try again to get that **** working next week end or something)

I would take the kenwood over the pioneer any day.

I am having hard time understanding you. Are you saying you cant go back like as in your previous songs?

Well as for me, I can go forward backward and can change folders in between and also play videos.

By the way, if your song orders are set in random, you cannot go backward. Only forward when set to random. Hope this helps.

That was it, I was on random.

Thanks

lol nice! now u fixed it!

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm still kind of on the fence. I really want the kenwood but I've read some really bad reviews about constant memory resets, and inconsistent startup times. Guess the search continues.

just lettin you kno... which ever one you pick, ur gonna love it... and your never gonna fine about the other product... lol... unless u buy both?!?!

It hasn't really even been out very long and your average interwebs reviewer isn't all that bright so don't weigh it to heavily.

If the startup times vary is has not been enough for me to notice. I don't know what their talking about in regards to the memory, they probably hooked it up wrong :rofl2:
If that's the one you want then just buy it, you will never be happy otherwise. You can always return it if you find out you don't like it after all.

9960 has free traffic updates, check the coverage in your area... works great for me most of the time...and comes in handy frequently! however there are times when it isnt the most accurate...

i have 3- 9960's in the family now...all work great. All 3 units we play music mainly from a flash drive ... sometimes form wife's iphone on her unit.

the 9960 comes with the cable for iphone etc...

I had updated the firmware on mine so volume up / down is a pain i cant hold it up/down to in/dcrease it have to keep clicking.

however the other 2 units are running older firmware so the volume controls dont have that issue.

I got my unit from WickedCAS... (1250), and the other 2 units from crutchfield for 950 (refurb).

I really like the customization options on the 9960..sorry the pic isnt the best but its basically Nissan logo in the exact orange as the inside of the Z.

If they used to come with the iPod cable I don't think they do any more, at least mine didn't. I don't have the newest firmware but I can't hole the volume buttons either, I can on the steering wheel though and their easier to use anyway, for many reasons.

I just bought my DNX9960 from a place called audio dreams in orange, ca. They are an authorized kenwood dealer but I don't recommend anyone going there.They charged me $1215 otd without install. All their reviews online were **** and their salesmen were all totally from the movie Zohan (Sony guts). After realizing that they overcharged me for a viper alarm I asked the guy for my money back and he said read your receipt no returns. smh.. I became angry and told him to go F&$% himself and walked out. The guy almost chases me out of the store as he is enraged and yelling obscenities like he wants to fight me. Pretty funny actually. I threw up my fists and said what's up are we doing this? He walks back into the store quietly hahah.

iPod cable is extra. The volume up down was changed with a firmware update. Sometimes it can be a pain, but being one that cranked thevolume up too high a few times, it's probably a whole lot better for my ears.

you are correct... when i said ipod cable... i was thinking the usb extension for the ipod connector... since we have always used the cable form the charger of the phone I never thought we got anything additional...

That's what I figured you meant I just wanted to be clear, they do have their own cable that plugs into the USB on the radio as well as a video connection and something else, I forget what