Kenwood DDX9906XR - Review

Being Toyota was so far behind on Android Auto when I got my 18 and me not wanting to trade in a new truck just for a radio upgrade, I've been shopping for an upgrade. I settled on the Kenwood DDX9906XR.

It doesn't have navigation but that's why I have Android Auto. Normally I go with Pioneer but this Kenwood has integrated dashcam capability and I really need that with all these crazy Orlando drivers.

Ordered from Crutchfield so I picked up their install kit and splurged on the extra $25 to have them connect the harnesses (worth it btw). Overall, it's a pretty solid head unit and I really like it.

Here it is installed:


Android auto fully working (and no, I'm not hanging out on gay street):



Here is the backup camera parking lines. The orange lines move with the steering wheel. Not really needed but neat I guess.


Dashcam is pretty good. It plugs into the dedicated dashcam port and is tapped into the harness (acc, always on, and ground). There is a parking sensor that always runs when off. If it detects a hit, it'll record and alert me when I turn on the truck. I can then immediately watch the video from the screen.


TPM Screen


I've installed radios before so I kinda knew what I was doing, but this install guide from Crutchfield was next to useless. It would have been great if they told me that I had to connect the RCA connectors or else the JBL amp wouldn't turn up. I didn't realize that so I wasted about 15 minutes troubleshooting connections. In fact, their guide doesn't tell you anything about plugging the harness in. It only covers dash removal which is like the easiest part of the whole process.

The iDatalink Maestro is pretty good with integration. The only piece I'm missing is nav data on the center console screen, but I never used that anyway. The best part is that I can reprogram the buttons. No more stupid left and right for volume. I fixed that in the programming. Now up is volume up. Down is volume down. Left and right are now skip back and forward. Sure the buttons don't say that, but it works correctly and I'm good with function over form.

One odd thing is that this radio doesn't have nav, but wants you to install a GPS antenna for the sole purpose of getting time. I just put it up on the dash until I get the conversion cables to use the existing roof antenna.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this. I'll have to pull some videos of the dashcam so you can see the recording quality. It's about on par with my old system from Street Guardian.

 

Thanks for putting this up. I’ve been considering this stereo for a few months now, kind of waiting to see if I can get a crazy deal since my stereo still works fine.

The reason I’m looking at this particular one is because it is an eXcelon Reference (XR) model.

Can you speak to any difference in SQ that you may or may not have noticed? Do you listen to HD or lossless content?

 

Thanks for the post OP. I like that you're able to view the dashcam from the HU. Would it also support a front camera?

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-uF4SdwBGN8n/p_113DDX9906/Kenwood-Excelon-DDX9906XR.html

Specs say three camera inputs. Most only have two, so I'd assume the answer is yes. Hopefully OP can confirm for you.

 

I'm not into flac/HD audio so I can't help ya there. I was running the factory JBL setup and it sounds the same to me. There are a TON more options on sound control and I haven't dug in on all the options. I need to spend a little more time tweaking it to my liking but I'm no audiophile.

Yeah, you have three inputs. Rear, AV, and dashcam. You can assign the AV input as front. When you press the CAM button, it will default to the camera of your choice. You can tap the center of the screen and it'll ask you what camera you want to view.

 

I got a quote from an Amazon seller who'll do $857 (this includes the $100 Kenwood rebate)for the unit, dashkit, Maestro MRR, T02 harness and antenna adapter. If you get billed directly via the seller price will include tax and shipping. It's a ~$200 savings buying from Crutchfield. PM me if you want sellers contact info. NOT associated with the dealer in anyway, just trying to pass a decent deal to fellow members. Hmmm.... wondering if he'll do a group buy?

 

That's a great price! Way better than the chunk I just dropped.

 

Question, since I have yet to get this answered - can you use Gaia GPS on it?

I use Gaia GPS on my phone and tablet, but would love to have a head unit with a screen I can take advantage of.

 

The feature would exist via Gaia, and they've only put Car Play on the feature roadmap from what I've read.

AAMirror can mirror your screen, but the process gets involved..

 

This is essentially at Wholesale pricing, seems like this guys just wants to move numbers. Don't forget to add an usb adapter.

I worked for a distributor up until a week ago(A Home AV company bought us out and they aren't continuing with 12v).

Make sure to do a Firmware update on the headunit, people were having issues with the rca outputs(Kenwood released an update within a few days).

 

Just waned to drop back in and give a good three month review.

So far, the head unit is great. I didn't think the moving parking lines were that needed, but it's been awesome. They are spot on.

The parking assist sensors only come up like 10% of the time. I'm not sure why the maestro adapter isn't sending that data. Again, it's not really needed since I have that data on cluster.

The integrated dashcam camera has been good, but after installing a CAI, the engine is much louder when hitting it hard. When that happens, it triggers the dashcam to record so it fills up the event recording every few weeks. I've adjusted the sensitivity as low as it'll go and it still triggers an event recording when I merge.

I just put in some Infinity Reference speakers (3ohm) in the rears. Good so far. The fronts are coming in soon. Those will also be Infinity Reference, 6x9 at 3ohm. I'm hoping that will give me some decent punch at volume. (Speaker install tip: Pull your sail panel clips out of the door panel and put them on the sail panel before pushing it back in on reinstall. I lost like 4 clips before I realized that).

Android Auto has been really good. There was a bad update a few weeks back but it smoothed out and works great. There are a few songs that never update cluster screen, but I don't really care.

 

What is the glare from the screen like at night? In my old vehicle I had a Aftermarket GPS head unit that was really bright and would not dim at night. Is that a problem that you have had with this?

 

I have the same unit it's very good. Sounds great.

 

I rarely drive at night, but there is an issue how it handles auto-dimming and the DRL wiring. It basically thinks the lights are on all the time. There is probably a way to wire around it but I haven't bothered since I'm rarely out at night.