What’s the best head unit available?

I've not seen it with Pioneer units. But they're correct with COVID, a Major Chinese factory catching fire and Russia/Ukraine going to rat shit alot of key players have had to source parts elsewhere
Pioneer AVIC range suffered terribly with this , inc dust particles when they brought the AVIC F88, F80,range out , plus nav issues , it was so bad we stopped supplying them …
 
Would
This’ll shake things up no end:


Maybe the days of aftermarket user interfaces are limited, largely relying on the UI specialists who already provide your mobile UI.
Not surprising. To be honest the more things get build in to the OEM headunit the harder it will be for manufacturers make aftermarket stuff.

I'm finding more and more customers (mainly T6.1) leaving the standard unit in and adding a DSP amplifier to improve their sound experience as that's what most of my customers are after.

That said makes you wonder what they'll come up with next as it's not like manufacturers will just give in to the car manufacturers
 
Would

Not surprising. To be honest the more things get build in to the OEM headunit the harder it will be for manufacturers make aftermarket stuff.

I'm finding more and more customers (mainly T6.1) leaving the standard unit in and adding a DSP amplifier to improve their sound experience as that's what most of my customers are after.

That said makes you wonder what they'll come up with next as it's not like manufacturers will just give in to the car manufacturers
If it follows what’s happened in the home automation market where Apple introduced HomeKit (and are collaborating in Matter, the new interoperability standard), then the aftermarket companies will choose to invest in providing better and better hardware - amps and DSPs being a great example of that, as you say.

In home automation the vendor UIs have gone from over-fancy UIs to stripped-back and minimal (and far better for it in my opinion) since Apple / Google do such a good job of integrating multiple systems and the rest of your digital life into one unified UI that is genuinely helpful to customers.
 
Looking for some advice as picking up my T6 highline next week and want to upgrade the head unit to incorporate a rear view camera which will need to be fitted. Looking for android play, wireless, dab, maintain the functions from the MFSW and rear parking sensors. Any suggestions of suitable kits and prices appreciated, Cheers Plastic
 
Looking for some advice as picking up my T6 highline next week and want to upgrade the head unit to incorporate a rear view camera which will need to be fitted. Looking for android play, wireless, dab, maintain the functions from the MFSW and rear parking sensors. Any suggestions of suitable kits and prices appreciated, Cheers Plastic
The Kenwood dmx8020dabs will do all that you ask, drop us a pm or call us on 01980 624740 for further info..
 
My Kenwood DMX8020DABS was bought and fitted in August last year so is still well in warranty. I went out in the van yesterday for the first time since last October and when I started up the screen had a big 'blob' on it which is almost certainly the condensation issue raised by @SAF1981 above - see posts 252, 253, 254, 258 and 259. As I mentioned above, the same issue cropped up last year but it was a fairly small 'blob' which disappeared after about 10 minutes and I then forgot about it. However, this was the screen when I switched it on yesterday and which stayed the same for the whole the hour long drive (but had gone by the time we got back to the van a couple of hours later). I've done a bit of research here on T6F and elsewhere and I know I'm not alone with this problem but I just wanted to ask for any other views / experiences from our community before I contacted the vendor (also fitters) to talk about the way ahead (which I'm convinced means a swap under warranty).
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Now that's a sad coincidence - my Alpine headunit has the same issue. I first noticed it a few days back, but I took the van out this morning and the problem was very obvious. Have you any ideas @Absolut5

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@Ayjay. It probably doesn't count for much but in my opinion that's not acceptable. I'm sure that I have seen people writing (typing) about similar problems on this forum. They might not all have been the same make but at least one of them was talking about a Kenwood product recall as it was a recognised problem. Hopefully @Absolut5 or @Dav-Tec will be along with some advice soon but I think you ought to be getting a replacement without any problem from wherever you got it. Where did you buy it?
 
@Ayjay. It probably doesn't count for much but in my opinion that's not acceptable. I'm sure that I have seen people writing (typing) about similar problems on this forum. They might not all have been the same make but at least one of them was talking about a Kenwood product recall as it was a recognised problem. Hopefully @Absolut5 or @Dav-Tec will be along with some advice soon but I think you ought to be getting a replacement without any problem from wherever you got it. Where did you buy it?
@Bluesman. Cheers for that. It was @SAF1981 who talked about the product recall on the same model as mine but I'm not clear whether that by JVC Kenwood themselves or his supplier doing the right thing. As to where I bought it, suffice to say that I don't really want to mention them at the moment but will definitely be doing it if I don't get the thing sorted out to my satisfaction (or if I do and they want me to give a thumbs up for customer service). At the end of the day, I paid over £1K for what's turning out to be a sub-par bit of kit. Watch this space.
 
We have seen this on many units, from pioneer , and even factory headunits from other manufactures, it is condensation due to the weather lately , and many have damp vehicles even though you do not notice as it’s under the floor mats/carpet..

Fullers Technical Centre Home are the official Kenwood service centre, worth giving them a call and if they feel it needs replacing they can authorise it
 
@davecdjt. How old is it? What are you intending on doing about it?
I bought it April last year. I’m not sure what I’ll do about it. I tagged Absolut5 as I’d bought it from them, they’re the specialists. They’d know if it was a unit failure or something else.
 
@davecdjt @Ayjay. From what you've said, both units are still well in warranty. Never lose sight of the fact that in law, the full responsibility for sorting any issue out within the warranty period rests with the seller alone and you should NOT be having to deal with the company referred to by @Absolut5 above. In addition, it would seem that Ayjay bought his less than 6 months ago and on that basis, consumer law is very much on his side here - the photographs would seem to be evidence that there is a clear fault (and there is also evidence that others suffer from the same fault). Here is a cut and paste that I did from the Which.co.uk page on consumer rights:

'If you discover the fault within the first six months from delivery, it's presumed to have been there from the time you received it - unless the retailer can prove otherwise.

During this time, it's up to the retailer to prove that the fault wasn't there at the time of delivery - it's not up to you to prove that it was.

If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund, or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product.

The retailer can't make any deductions from a refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement.'


I suggest Dave should contact @Absolut5 and Ayjay whoever he bought from. Having done a lot of business with forum members @Absolut5 in particular have a very good reputation on here and I have no doubt will do the right thing by both of you
 
Hi, I wonder if anybody can tell if help me.
I have a Pioneer Sph-da230 that i'm taking out of my Caddy and hoping to refit into my new to me T6.
The T6 has rear parking sensors and steering wheel controls and was hoping the Pioneer could integrate with these.
Can anybody tell what wiring kit i will need to make these work?

Thanks
 
Guys I’ve got the same issue with my Kenwood 8020 literally just noticed it, @davecdjt was yours still in warranty? What’s happened with yours? I’m fuming
 
Car Audio sent a pre paid link to send it back to them to forward on to Kenwood to assess. They said It'll be either some sort of fix or replacement but there's a chance the replacement will do the same if 4 others have posted the same issue. Basically Car Audio said it's a known issue and due to inferior or alternative screens / parts available over last 2yrs supply drought.
I haven't sent mine back as I'm not convinced it'll not happen with replacement. The blob goes after 30mins
 
Don’t worry about it, my Kenwood does it occasionally, it was worse when one of my sliding windows had a slight leak.

Since I’ve fixed the slider leak and there’s less moisture in the van it hasn’t misted up at all.

Moisture will always get attracted to a cold surface, changing headunit will unlikely stop the issue from happening again.

Might be worth sticking a moisture trap or similar to see if that prevents it from happening.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the Alpine units? I enquired with a dealer I found on the Alpine website, who told me they no longer deal with Alpine as their reputation for warranty isn't great.

Now I'm wondering if I should be looking at another brand instead.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the Alpine units? I enquired with a dealer I found on the Alpine website, who told me they no longer deal with Alpine as their reputation for warranty isn't great.

Now I'm wondering if I should be looking at another brand instead.
Never had a warranty issue with Alpine.. we Do prefer Kenwood but all top 3 brands are reliable..

Alpine Uk is going through a change so hopefully all will still be ok
 
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