JVC Deck with Built-In HD Radio Tuner
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at
8:01 pm
Product Description
HD Radio provides digital CD quality sound using a standard FM antenna. JVC’s KD-HDR1 has HD capability without the need for additional equipment or tuners. An Ipod, Satellite Radio, or CD Changer can also be added through the changer bus for even more digital quality entertainment.
Features:
- HD Radio Tuner
- AM/FM Radio Tuner
- Wireless Remote
- CD Player w/MP3/WMA
- Sat Radio Ready
Price: $259.99
JVC Deck with Built-In HD Radio Tuner
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Tagged with: builtin • Deck • Radio • Tuner
Filed under: JVC
I went shopping around and compared the JVC to the Kenwood and the Alpine radios with builtin hd tuners. The Kenwood radios biggest problem is you have to activate the satellite radio to use the radio. The Alpine radio was the cost. For the money the JVC KD-HDR1 provides all the features and versatility to make it the best radio for the price and for the capabilities it offers. Once you listen to High Definition radio you will not enjoy regular FM broadcasts again. Alot of stations are going to High Definition radio. I am very happy with this product and would recommend it to anyone who wants a good sounding radio without paying for satellite to get it. The surround sound it offers is even a better enticement and the EQ settings will make it worthwile even on a stock system without a amplifier.
Over the past month or so I started to listen to podcasts while driving to work. The trouble is on a audio cd format your limited to 80-90 minutes. It was a pain if it was say cut to four tracks of twenty minutes and if ones just a hair above it wouldn’t fit. Then I also heard of hd radio…I live more in a rural area…FM is good but has some static…some AM comes in well at night.
This was a perfect fit. A large chunk of FM near me is in HD…and I can get about a dozen or so HD 2 stations I wouldn’t normally get. There’s a few AM ones as well but due to highpower at night (nightwave) it’s on during the day. If you get out of range on a HD1 station it reverts back to analog…if your on a HD2 it cuts off since there is no analog stream of it.
On FM you can somewhat hear the difference…it’s definatly clearer…AM is VASTLY improved. It should also be noted that it would help to manually go though the stations to see if they are hd because not everything that iBiquity lists is complete..I receive about three stations from RI that aren’t even listed yet…for a small amount of time it tried to get a HD Am stream from NYC! Range varies on the stations.
For the mp3′s they play very well..giving some of the text ID information (hd radio stations can (but not always) give track and artist information as well as some station information…one tries to give some weather but it’s still a work in progress).
Also this piece of equipment is pretty technical…the surround sound can be manually adjusted and the steps for it can be set for USA or s.central america or EU..to note if you adjust it to EU it won’t work right with Am tuning since it’s in steps of 9khz vs 10 khz..
It also leaves open if you want to a kit to add sirus or xm…
All in all I think it’s excellent…
The unit is great. About a month ago, I upgraded to it from the stock stereo in my Grand Cherokee (all other components are stock) and even the difference in the sound quality of a CD is amazing. Once you turn the HD feature on, the difference is impossible to miss. It isn’t quite CD quality sound, but it is certainly a noticable improvement. Everyone who has ridden in the car has been impressed with it.
All that being said, the multi-cast ability of HD radio is my favorite part of it. I don’t like listening to morning shows, so the multi-cast is nice as I can flip over to the “hidden” (HD2) station and listen to just music. The HD2 stations also seem to have fewer commercials, though I haven’t exactly counted them to check that statement.
The price is the best I found as well. I looked around the internet for several days before I choose this unit. Most of the other HD radios I found were “HD ready”; aka you have to buy an additional tuner to be able to use the HD function. This one comes with the tuner built-in and is well under 1/2 the cost of any other “built-in” player.
The installation was no more difficult than a normal radio installation. If you can do it yourself, I recommend it to save a couple bucks.
I only have 2 “issues” and they are certainly not enough to take the product rating down at all.
1) The unit gets HOT. You can feel the heat radiating from behind the dash after it has been turned on for 30 minutes or so. That being said, it has not affected the performance in anyway…yet.
2) The display isn’t the best I’ve seen. I would have given the unit the ability to display the time simultaneously with other scrolling text. You have to keep switching the display based on what you want to know. Switching is easy though, one button cycles through the options.
I was having trouble with reception on a couple of my favorite stations in the Los Angeles area and being too cheap to spring for Satellite service, I read the previous reviews of the JVC KD-HDR1 and thought it might be what I needed. I got the impression that the less crowded HD frequencies could help my reception issues so I gave in and bought one. I am glad I did. The reception on those trouble stations is now great. Sports talk on AM stations sound like good FM and my favorite-but weak-FM station sounds like I’m listening to CD’s. It comes in and out of HD a little in some parts of town but then again, I am on the outside edge of this station’s range. Of course this is just in my humble opinion-since I don’t claim to be any kind of audiophile. I also liked the fact that this unit and the i-Pod adapter cost less than $200 delivered. Again, I am cheap and wasn’t going to spring for the Alpine HD unit that is well over a thousand bucks even though I am an Alpine fan. Back when I was young, single, and into spending money on car stereo equipment, I used to think that JVC wasn’t cool enough for my ride. I definitely don’t think that now.
I bought the JVC-HDR1 to replace the factory unit in a Toyota Highlander. The improvement in FM reception is very noticeable. I listen to KCSM-FM which is an all-jazz community college station broadcasting from about 30 miles away. Without HD, static “happens”. With HD the sound is clean, no static! Most of the stations I listen to offer HD. Sound quality using CDs is also good. The only things I miss about the factory unit are the larger faceplate and buttons and cleaner overall look. Installation of the JVC was not hard, basically the same as any other typical replacement head unit. It uses the existing vehicle antenna.