JVC In-Dash CD Player

5 Comments

1. WorknMan says:

   March 19, 2010 at 6:20 pm

   UPDATE 1/21/06: One thing I have noticed since my original review is that if you set it to play random songs in a particular folder, it will play through every song in the folder ONCE, and then it starts playing random songs on the entire disc. This is highly annoying and drops my rating from 4 stars down to 3.5.

   I just picked up one of these for my new ’05 Kia Spectra. I’ve never owned an aftermarket head unit and therefore I’ve nothing to compare it to, but I’ll give you my impressions so far. My main requirements where an MP3/CD player and an auxilary input that I could hook my iAudio G3 flash mp3 player to (mostly used for audiobooks – car CD/mp3 players don’t do audiobooks well, mostly because of a lack of any kind of bookmarking capability).
   
   I decided to purchase this unit because of the auxilary input on the front, as opposed to other units where the input is in the back. I’m starting to question the wisdom of that decision because it might’ve been better to have the 3.5mm audio cable coming from the back of the h/u with the end of it in the compartment under the dash instead of having a cable dangling off the front of the radio. That being said, the G3 sounds amazing when hooked to the aux input, possibly even better than the CD player
   
   The unit is a definite step up from the factory radio it replaced in terms of sound quality. It wasn’t quite as big of a leap as I could have imagined, but it definitely gives the speakers more power.
   
   The CD player supports auto resume for both audio CDs and mp3s (haven’t tried WMAs) and fast forward/rewind is there too (though it’s not nearly as smooth with mp3s – it jumps about 9 seconds instead of 4-5). The EQ settings are pretty basic – treble, bass, fade, etc. There’s 5-6 presets so that you can save your own settings for different styles of music. This is a good thing because the CD player has much more of a bass boost than FM (assuming you even listen to FM these days), so it’s important to have at least 2 different settings. The buttons are small, which is sort of a bummer. The Mode button (used for various functions, such as turning on/off suffle, random, and mono on FM), is sitting right beside the preset buttons, which is extremely aggrevating because if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself pressing it constantly while flipping through presets. When are manufacturers going to learn that putting buttons the same shape/size right beside presets is NOT a good idea? This is the only thing I REALLY don’t like about this radio.
   
   As for the mp3 capabilities, pretty solid. You can switch the display to either scroll or not scroll and display either tag or filenames, whatever you want. However, the display is limited to about 8 characters (not a problem for me since it scrolls). Also, you can’t view the clock and track information at the same time, so anyone without another clock on the dash may want to consider other options if this is a big deal to you.
   
   I honestly have no idea if it does playlists, but you can store songs in individual folders and then have it play randomly all songs on the disc or all songs in a particular folder, so I suppose that kind of does the same thing.
   
   I don’t have Sirius in the car, so can’t comment on the h/u as a satellite controller. (BTW: For all of you computer geeks out there who are paying for more than one sat radio, you need to research a program called TImetrax.)
   
   All in all, I am quite pleased with the product. I could easily have gotten something much more ‘stylish’, but I live in an area where car break-ins are quite common and nobody even pays attention to car alarms. So, the less I can advertise to car theives, the better
2. JoeW says:

   March 19, 2010 at 8:26 pm

   for the auxiliary input alone. Although, that negates the need for the CD player. I plug my Ipod into the face mounted jack, and I’m good to go. The sound is good for the price point, but navigating the various set up options can be bewildering.
   
   I’d completely forgotten it came with a remote control! I threw the silly thing away before even checking if it had batteries. What were they thinking?
   
   This is a good utilitarian radio/CD deck. The front mounted aux input sets it apart from anything else I’ve seen in it’s class. I’ve had mine for over a year. I’m still happy with it.
3. Kevin Crimmins says:

   March 19, 2010 at 10:57 pm

   I have this with head unit and it does a good job with, its pushing 2 dual 6×9′s, 2 dual 6.5′s and a Sony 1300w sub. its a nice unit if your on a budget, and it comes with a wiring harness that you have to soulder, if you know how to do that than it can save you a few bucks from buying a harness.
4. Nicholas A. Kistner says:

   March 20, 2010 at 12:05 am

   This unit is awesome for the price, even if it were more expensive it would be well worth it. It has every feature you need along with an ipod/mp3 player hookup on the front. The unit is very easy to use and has a large display that is easy to read during the day.
5. T. Hodges says:

   March 20, 2010 at 2:17 am

   I got one of these for my own 1991 Honda Accord after having too many difficulties with the in-dash factory cassette player. I actually didn’t mind having the older set, but there was some loose connection that caused the speakers to cut in and out, and I didn’t have the tools to repair it, so I decided I might as well replace it with something.
   
   I also have a sirius radio on my windscreen. Previously I was using it to broadcast via FM to my car radio, but that was a royal pain whenever I drove into Chicago and there was noise on every frequency. The line-in port in the front was a real strong selling point. The radio can tune sirius directly, but I need to buy other parts, have them installed, and then I only get the one-line display.
   
   Having something to minimise the bling factor was also important. I think that flashy garbage on cars is in really poor taste. This radio has the advantage of being highly functional, but not showing it off. I did thing that the remote controller was a bit frivolous, as it’s easier to reach for my dashboard then for a remote dangling off my keychain, but I won’t complain.
   
   This actually gives really good sound on my old 1991 factory speakers. It can certainly output a lot more then they can handle. Also it’s nice not to have a CD player sitting on my passenger seat with wires dangling up to the cassette adapter. It certainly skips much less then what I had.
   
   In theory, the feature to quiet the radio momentarily by hitting the controller is a nice idea, but I find it just as easy to give it a quick twist to the left.
   
   Only complaints:
   
   I would like a pause button on the CD player. The only way of really pausing the thing is to hit the source button and momentarily switch the input to the radio or something.
   
   Also the buttons to skip forward and backward are a bit small and take some getting used to. I would have preferred something slightly bigger that is easier to reach for while driving.

   EDIT EDIT EDIT

   A few months after writing this review, a CD got jammed inside. I got it out, decided it was a one off, and went back to using it normally. Another got jammed. I would not buy again for that reason. Everything else that I say above about the sound quality and stuff still stands.