Alpine Halo 9 vs Kenwood DMX8019
- Thread starter OllieGBR
- Start date
Thanks - for the feedback and adding another option for me to consider
I've got the halo 9 , never had a vibration issue , i love mine
Cheers! Looking forward to hearing from you when fitted. Are you upgrading the speakers too? Does the Halo offer wireless Apple CarPlay functionality?
Does it support wireless apple CarPlay? How do you connect your phone? Any pictures available of your setup?
I did the door speakers. Fitted MTX RTX84 8” speakers. Massive improvement.
It doesn’t offer wireless. But the vast majority of the time - as it’s a camper - it’s not just me in the van and the ‘family’ hotspot off of my iPhone. But with wireless CarPlay you can’t utilise the phones’ hotspot at the same time if it’s wirelessly connected to the head unit. If your phone is plugged in to the head unit then you can. So being wireless for me wasn’t a great necessity as I need to keep the hotspot function on my phone.
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Great explanation Donk - That makes for an easier decision. Is there a usb socket under the floating screen then?
I’m not 100% sure. If your dash has a USB socket in the front already there then my Halo kit utilises that socket. But I think it comes with a cable etc if not. In my last van I fitted a tiny USB socket into a switch blank which I’d connected the head unit up to to keep it all neat.
They don’t suffer from vibrations, but does not support Wireless CarPlay
Very good. It’s nice having the bigger screen. It’s rock solid and there’s no wobble or bouncing around at all over bumps etc. It’s got a good amount of adjustability to fit the screen where it suits you. It was a bit more fiddly to install than just popping in a regular head unit ‘box’ though.
I like the sound it produces and it’s easy no navigate through the different screens. I prefer to keep the colour scene fixed on dark rather than it adjusting according to the light conditions as I just prefer the colour scheme.
Would I buy another one ... yes I certainly would.
I like the sound it produces and it’s easy no navigate through the different screens. I prefer to keep the colour scene fixed on dark rather than it adjusting according to the light conditions as I just prefer the colour scheme.
Would I buy another one ... yes I certainly would.
Thanks again for the information!
Did you need to order it with a T6 specific fitting kit?
I deliberated for many weeks over the merits of these two units, opting for the Kenwood unit.
Now I've had it for a few weeks, I thought I'd share my experience.
The unit itself was easy to fit. I also opted for the reversing camera as I'm still in the middle of my build and this was relatively easy to run the cabling through the cabin.
The reversing camera for the Kenwood is around £75, this was on the the plus points as the equivalent Apline version was in the hundreds.
I also replaced the standard speakers and tweeters with Blam versions.
You have to purchase an interface kit & mounting kit along with additional cables for radio, steering wheel functions, DAB etc.. This is bloody expensive!!
The unit itself looks good and neat in the original location.
The sound is just 'ok', although I think it would benefit from a sub under the drivers seat and some fettling with the equaliser.
You have to use the supplied crappy mic cable for your phone microphone, this I would have thought should have been supplied with the interface cable, but apparently that's not available. This you need to route this up the A pillar and across the roof trim and as I hate these things looks terrible.
It's a touch screen unit and works really well with Apple Car play. This is a wireless version and one of the many plus points for the Kenwood.
However, because it's touch screen and the orientation of the unit means when light hits the screen all you can see are dirty finger marks, it also makes viewing of the screen difficult.
I've tried cleaning with a lint free cloth, but looks like I'll need some cleaning fluid to remove the marks, (need to check in the manual).
I have no experience of the Halo unit, however it's more expensive as is the reversing camera. (That said I would seriously consider it now I've had the Kenwood!!)
The ability to adjust the orientation of the larger screen is a big plus point though. I don't know if and how much the interface cable would be either.
Cheers
Ollie.
Now I've had it for a few weeks, I thought I'd share my experience.
The unit itself was easy to fit. I also opted for the reversing camera as I'm still in the middle of my build and this was relatively easy to run the cabling through the cabin.
The reversing camera for the Kenwood is around £75, this was on the the plus points as the equivalent Apline version was in the hundreds.
I also replaced the standard speakers and tweeters with Blam versions.
You have to purchase an interface kit & mounting kit along with additional cables for radio, steering wheel functions, DAB etc.. This is bloody expensive!!
The unit itself looks good and neat in the original location.
The sound is just 'ok', although I think it would benefit from a sub under the drivers seat and some fettling with the equaliser.
You have to use the supplied crappy mic cable for your phone microphone, this I would have thought should have been supplied with the interface cable, but apparently that's not available. This you need to route this up the A pillar and across the roof trim and as I hate these things looks terrible.
It's a touch screen unit and works really well with Apple Car play. This is a wireless version and one of the many plus points for the Kenwood.
However, because it's touch screen and the orientation of the unit means when light hits the screen all you can see are dirty finger marks, it also makes viewing of the screen difficult.
I've tried cleaning with a lint free cloth, but looks like I'll need some cleaning fluid to remove the marks, (need to check in the manual).
I have no experience of the Halo unit, however it's more expensive as is the reversing camera. (That said I would seriously consider it now I've had the Kenwood!!)
The ability to adjust the orientation of the larger screen is a big plus point though. I don't know if and how much the interface cable would be either.
Cheers
Ollie.
nickwt6
♂
Debated the same and ended up fitting the DMX8019 myself a couple of months back, and as you say soon adds up with all the trim & adapters!
Really happy with it so far & loving android auto, but know what you mean about the finger prints... I've got a microfibre cloth & bottle of glass cleaner permanently in the door! I went with a connects2 reversing camera, again massive pain to fit in the tailgate, but well worth it, image is so clear.
That microphone was a bugger to get in the factory position!
Yet to upgrade the factory speakers, but have been looking at Blam 8" components set and mini amp, as dont think the Kenwood output is much greater than factory?
Really happy with it so far & loving android auto, but know what you mean about the finger prints... I've got a microfibre cloth & bottle of glass cleaner permanently in the door! I went with a connects2 reversing camera, again massive pain to fit in the tailgate, but well worth it, image is so clear.
That microphone was a bugger to get in the factory position!
Yet to upgrade the factory speakers, but have been looking at Blam 8" components set and mini amp, as dont think the Kenwood output is much greater than factory?
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