2008 Mazda MX5

I had BOSE radio in my 2008 MX5, and was not too happy with the sound. It is a noisy convertible, but sometimes I want to enjoy music. BOSE is OK with a bit of cloudy, muddy, muffled sound and it was hard to hear anything when the top is closed and open. I took careful time to install this unit, and it is amazing. There is a clarity and details in the sound, plus you can tweak it with enhancer. Now, I don't have to turn the volume all the way up to enjoy music. Carplay works flawlessly. I also added KENWOOD CMOS-740HD backup camera (routed wire under side shill, under trim panels, to the trunk through between trim panels in the back, through behind panels in the trunk, then through the rear light), and the image is great. I had to figure out how to get the image on backup camera, because it showed just black screen after the install, then went into the unit's setting to choose camera options. I tapped the Reverse Wire to the location Crutchfield specified with some effort (you need to unwrap the tape on the wire bundle), Speed Sensor wire is left unconnected since NC Miata has NO speed sensor. I Can now check the on coming traffic when pulling out of parking between big suvs. I did pay for the wire help, so all the connectors were attached and ready to install. There is a YouTube video of someone comparing this unit and another Kenwood unit, and she talks about the sound setting tips. I am very happy that I chose this unit, and glad that I bought from Crutchfield.

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Nice unit with good bass and adjustable features.

So far, so good! Better sound through factory speakers. Setup was fairly easy although I have done this a few times before, but never with maestro. Did have a hiccup getting satellite to work until I realized u can't use the default icon on screen. Need to grab the satellite radio icon from menu and put it in speed rail for easy access. Issue with an old backup cam(that I never used with factory navigation unit cuz my dealer is a turd and would refresh head). Going to try a cheap trick setup and if it work, I will shop some hi grade ticket cams. Metra kit adds factory finish to dash, wife approved. Looking forward to miles of learning what this unit has to offer. Loving Waze in dash now instead of fumbling for phone!

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2014 f150 STX

I have only had it installed for a week so I'm still learning, but so far it's been a nice improvement. The sound is light years ahead of the stock unit. Very pleased overall.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Great unit...tremendous sound quality, impressive UI, can tailor the sound in many ways, easy connect to Apple Carplay.

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Kenwood DMX958XR

Crutchfield sent instructions in an email before my shipment arrived. The 535 page document for the Maestro RR had two six page sections (pages 100-106 and 374-379) for my 2017 Highlander without JBL. I think 100-106 is for a radio without idatalink input. My Kenwood radio does have idatalink port, so I should have used the wire diagram on pages 374-379 so with help of Crutchfield tec support I did the install 2x. After flashing the Maestro, idatalink did provide the correct wire diagram but I assumed it was what I had already printed and didn't print again. The trim fit well but the hold in tab on the top right is slightly narrower than the factory radio trim tab so the tab didn't set. The AC vent goes over this and holds it, but I added a little tape before reinstalling the AC vent. I used the factory GPS antenna with iDatalink's ACC-SAT-TO2 adapter and seems to work ok. Not sure what all the GPS antenna is used for since NAV now comes from the cell phone GPS. Kenwood specs said factory mic wouldn't work so I installed the Kenwood MIC in the new radio trim and voice picks up great there.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Everything and more that I wanted for the upgrade in my sprinter van. Easy to install and a huge plus for the amount of cams I can utilize.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Very pleased with the Kenwood DMX958XR, upgrading my factory stereo on a 2013 Silverado! Do yourself a favor an get the custom wire harness for $25...money well spent!!!

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Perfect

Very intuitive U.I. Just what I was looking for!

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Kenwood reciever

Best available receiver. Music improved my system 5x. High definition camera's are unmatched. Bluetooth connection is easy and quick.

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Nice!

Awesome product in a compact frame!

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No regrets

Good so far. Sound quality is superb. Screen is high resolution. Simple to use. Boots up and connects to phone quickly, around the same amount of time it takes to back out of driveway.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Lo monte en mi corvett c6 2007 y quedo como de fábrica me encanta este Radio, buena compra.??

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Exceptional audio

I've had it installed for a week now and so far I have no regrets whatsoever. The wireless Apple CarPlay has been working flawlessly, which is what I bought the stereo for.

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Big upgrade from Stock Toyota Entune Unit

This unit is a very big step up from the stock unit in my 2017 Highlander. I used the rr2 to connect features in my car, most of which work. I did lose the compass screen on my main dashboard.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR Stereo

The install was pretty easy, the wiring guide Crutchfield included made it pretty easy. I did have difficulty with the steering wheel controls, but it was solved with a quick call to the Technical support line. Great tech support from Bradley. This stereo sounds so much better than my factory stereo, even with the old speakers, my Bose speakers were being sandbagged by the cheap factory radio. The wireless Android Auto is awesome; hands free phone, google maps, voice control, voice to text is near flawless for hands free text message replies, steering wheel controls work like factory, Pandora integration is great. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Metra finishing panel/bezel that fits perfectly and blends well with the factory finish. And now I have my first backup camera with adaptive lines. I'm happy with the results. My old Mazda feels almost new. I just purchased a dash cam as well. One irritation, they indicate the factory LCD no longer functions. More accurately the vehicle clock will forever be wrong, unless I put the factory radio back in twice a year to reset the clock. The stereos built in clock is great though.

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This thing rocks!

This is the one. After tangling with the Excelon DMX809S for about a week, it had some niggles that I just couldn't get past. Crutchfield took care of me, sent me a replacement unit (which had the same problems). I finally decided to bite the bullet and move up the product stack to the Excelon DMX958XR. Thank goodness I did! Sure, it's more expensive by a wide margin, but the enhancements are worth the price tag to me. Great screen, good sound, and I prefer the software on the DMX958XR over the DMX809S despite it being a bit older and flashier. The DMX958XR has a wider soundstage and more presence in the upper-mids compared to its little brother. Low-bass seems tighter as well. Currently driving the KFC710PS speakers with this unit.

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Great unit

beautiful unit, it fits perfect in my Mecedes CLK and works well with all the steering wheel controls. it's easy to use the various functions but the radio controls are a bit cluttered on the screen. I highly recommend it.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

The Bluetooth doesn't stay connected on Android wireless. My pioneer seem louder also Another thing Crutchfield is no help I wanted to get another radio . They don't even return your phone calls I shouldn't have to chase them all day and talk to them then lose the call and they don't call back they sure have change over the years I been a customer for 15 yrs

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Great head unit and Wireless CarPlay is awesome

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Great for Android Auto features

I am really impressed with how well this unit integrates with my car's existing electronics. I have a 2017 Nissan Altima SV (7" display with nav, but not the Bose system). The gauges dashboard in my car has a small screen for displaying information about the car like TPMS pressures and such. It also displays the current radio station/song information. That radio/song information was retained with this unit combined with the Maestro RR. The small screen also would display turn instructions from my navigation, but that was not retained and I did not expect it to be. I believe if I'd gotten a unit with built in navigation it probably would have been retained. The surprise to me was last night I received a warning about a tire with low pressure. When the alert sounded, the head unit automatically switched to a view of the car status with the TPMS showing and the low one in red. I had seen TPMS information by going through various displays, but the fact that it automatically showed when my car alerted was nice surprise. I paid for professional installation and the installers were asking me about my Crutchfield purchase. They were impressed at how complete the installation kit was. They even said it was the first installation they didn't need wire cutters for. I've done self installs with Crutchfield kits before and I love how well thought out they are.

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Nice upgrade from my stock Toyota Tacoma 2016 radio. Great support from Crutchfield, Android Auto is a superior sound to bluetooth. Very happy

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Fantastic Top of the Line Radio

Initial impressions of this radio in my 2009 FA5 Civic Si are fantastic Android auto works wirelessly every time and connects super quickly to my Samsung A52 I would say just as fast as the bluetooth connects in the old single din JVC radio I have in my NA Miata which completely surpassed my expectations, the sound quality from the radio is excellent and you can tune it very easily to your liking once you dive in and understand what all the settings do, the screen is absolutely stunning and is pretty responsive, and to top it all off the short chassis made the install with all the idatalink stuff super easy. If budget is not an issue this radio is a great choice I also want to say that I was probably not an easy customer (changed out stuff and found defects in equipment etc) and despite that the Crutchfield customer service was simply the best customer service I have ever dealt with and I want to just say Thank You so much to the Crutchfield team you have a lifetime customer

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Kenwood Excelon DMX958XR

Overall I like the feature set of this unit, but wish it was implemented just a little better. Features that need to be improved or added: brighter screen, option to switch screen to full brightness when panel light dimmer is set to full brightness and headlights are on (oem head unit works this way), faster processor (boot and camera switch times are long), cleaner internal amp (there is audible background hiss through the speakers which can be heard when engine is off), faster acquisition of HD FM stations, better quality companion apps and widgets (screen mirroring in particular doesn't actually work on Apple devices), usb hub and SD card support for cars with those as factory ports, built in recorder to record video inputs (ie rear camera), and speed sensitive volume control. For a brand new model of a premium product, this unit just feels a little dated out of the box. It doesn't really wow you, merely gets the job done. I'd expect the eXcelon Reference series to feel a little more top of the line, the DMX958XR is merely what average should be for 2023.

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Magnolia

4 our of 5 stars...Why? -Overall a great unit with a large array of options and impressive audio customization. Integration with the Maestro RR is great. Unfortunately the Play store apps that are supposed to integrate with this unit are horrible. Constant crashes (thus the 1 star ratings for the apps) The Weather, gas price, and traffic app just removed the gas and weather functionality as of January 1st, making the weather widget useless. Overall the amount of widget for the main screen is severely lacking. That being said, the primary draw of the unit is the sheer amount of audio customization you can do, thus why it still receives 4 stars.

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VERY COOL!

Very cool head unit! Wireless carplay and Bluetooth work flawlessly, the display looks amazing, it sounds great, tons of options. Crutchfield support was very helpful

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Great deck! Great sound! Great features!

This deck sounds great! The touchscreen is very responsive, as is the eq. I am very pleased with all the features. This is replacing a failed 4 year old Pioneer AVH-W4400NEX, which caused me several problemsover its lifetime. Depending on the longevity of this Kenwood, I may never return to Pioneer.

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Great, but not an improvement.

Great radio, but not an update over the 2018 cheaper version. I intended to upgrade from my Kenwood Excelon DMX905S to this 958XR. But there is no upgrade. The new 958 cost twice as much and has an HD screen, but you can't tell the difference between the two once installed. Kenwood did not change the UI to utilize the additional pixels. They didn't actually change an single button, graphic, background, speed, function, or anything else. From startup to shut down, its identical. Maybe if you watch movies in your car you could see some difference, but for normal use - i.e., sound, and android auto - it is impossible to see where the extra $400 in price went. If you need a new radio, this is a great one. The shorter depth is much easier for install. If you want to upgrade, wait for Kenwood to invest in a new system that modernizes its UI and takes advantage of the HD screen. Alpine and Sony seems to have gotten the message but i have never found their sound to match their snazzy packaging.

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