2011 LTD w/o Nav. 9980 DNX Kenwood worth it?

[Mr.T]

I have decided to go for Kenwood over Pioneer. Garmin maps has me sold, as I have had good luck with it getting me around. Now with regards to the 9980 DNX I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers to throughout my research. Looking for straight forward differences for the various DNX series is a pain in the butt.

-Can the factory backup camera be hooked up to this unit?
-Can it be set up to function with the car is moving?
-Can the factory USB be attached and function with this unit?
-Is it possible to have the DVD function while driving ?
-Can the factory steering wheel controls work with this unit?
-Will it be able to function with the JBL speakers and party mode?
-Can the Rosen AV7500 Dual Headrest be incorporated?

I guess I am in need of suggestions and answers before I go ahead and purchase this unit. Thanks for your future input. The runner is 2 3/4 months away!:bravo:

 

[haganwalker]

I have always chosen pioneer over kenwood because of ease of use, however, since most things are similar...I am going to answer from what I would believe to be true...note that you might want to do some further research...

-the backup camera should be able to be rerouted, although your kenwood is going to most likely hook up a camera through an RCA connection, and I have no doubts that toyota does it differently, so you might have to splice cables.
-I know with pioneer, there is a hardware bypass where you move one wire and it will work when moving.
-Being a computer engineer, I would say that the factory USB is simply a USB extension cord that connects the device to the back of the radio...you should be able to keep this, although you might have to spice and match wires.
-yes, back to answer two...a bypass should allow DVDS to play while driving.
-Yes, check out pac audio. I think the model number is SWI-PS but not for certain.
-Yes, you will need a remote turn on thing from pac audo or metra...maybe called TOTO or something like that? if you filter by your car on either site, you should see what I mean.
-Most likely you can tie those headrests into the output on the back of the radio (it should have RCA outputs) which displays everything on the headunit to external screens.

whoa! lots of questions!! I hope that helps, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask, I or someone else on here will do our best to help...and congrats on the new Runner...I decided on the last body style to avoid car payments

 

[Mr.T]

Thanks for the reply hagan! Lots of info there. I don't really have many options for having it installed, I just wanted to check here to see what is said verses the one audio dude in town. I was under the impression with the newer model nav systems that the dvd won't play while driving as the gps will know that the vehicle is in motion. Sounds to me like the gps is a rat!

 

[platinumb]

yes it will work, youll need these parts

metra 99-8227s dash kit
metra tyto-01 amp integration harness
pac audio swijack steering wheel controll interface the swips is the one for pioneer


you willl keep party mode (as worthless as it is) because all it does is turn on a low pass crossover on the front outputs from the jbl amp

yes you can tie the headrests into the system and kenwoods dual zone feature will actually allow you to listen to an play two seperate audio and video sources in the front and rear speakers.

for the usb yes it can be done you will either have to splice the usb cable to a standard usb end at the radio since the factory toyota cable isnt a usb plug at the radio side. it is just wires. or the easier way is to run the kenwood usb cable to the same location and mount it in the same hole. it is easy looks stock requires no modification and can be put back to stock when you sell it.

kenwood is the easiest system to bypass the motion lock on just ground the parking brake wire. pioneer is the only system that uses the vss and gyro from the navi for the motion lockout but even those are easy.

the backup camera is easy you grab the wire in the overhead console above the rearview miror you just have to splice an rca cable into the factory wire. i did this in my 2010 tundra, and just left it hooked to the mirror also so now i have two pictures when backing up.


the one thing you cant interface with any aftermarket head unit is the factory satalite radio tuner you can use the factory antena but the data comunication between the two units is brand specific so your need a sat radio tuner that is designed to function with the kenwood unit. they arent expensive (about 100).

you are on the right track with the screen your looking at it is kenwoods best i sell a lot of them. have for ears. both the kenwood and pioneer are very good units each with its own strengths. the kenwood has the edge for navi because of the garmin maps, also the easiest updates. the pioneer has the best i pod interface which is why i use it in my car, but since i pod is definitly not an interest to you the kenwood is definitly the best choice.

you can see the parts required for your car at Metra Online | Welcome to Metra Auto Parts Online Warehouse and iPod Integration for your car and More by Pac-Audio - Connecting you to the future the pac audio steering wheel controll piece is the best functioning so definitly go with it over the one that you will see on the metra sight. kenwood also uses a very good blue tooth system they use the parrot mic which is the best noise canceling mic on the market.

 

[platinumb]

the shop in town will probably tell you that the bypass cant be done because there is a pretty big legal issue if you leave and run over someone while watching a dvd technically i dont do it at my shop either i just show the customer which wire they could ground if they wanted to break the law and watch the dvd while driving. in case your shop isnt willing to show you when you get your car back there will be a light green small wire right bellow the dash tapped into the parking brake switch. disconect it from the parking brake and gound it and your done. if you do the install yourself its pretty easy it only takes about 3hrs for someone who has never put one in to do the install with a new sat radio tuner. toyota is one of the easiest cars on the road to work on. i got mine done with amps and speakers in about 4 hrs but i have run an install bay for the last 15 years.

 

[platinumb]

wow it takes that long to get one where you live. damn. the dealer i just got one from has like 17 limiteds. congrats on the new ride man!

 

[Mr.T]

Hey thanks for all the info plat!
I wanted one km free. I put an order in on friday and he said the latest would be end of August. I'm crossing my fingers. I am pumped. I've been a big fan of the 4r since the 2nd gen.

Interesting point about the antenna. I currently have a sirius sportster and have activated the account for life. Would I have to use something other than the factory antenna for satelite? I hear you can transfer your account into a different unit.

 

[platinumb]

you can use the factory antena for satalite if you use it with your sportster youll have to buy an extension cable to get the cable to where ever you mount the unit, yeah they will transfer the subscription to a new tuner, sometimes they will tell you they arent supposed to transfer the subscription but if you tell them you broke your tuner and need to transfer to the new one they will do it. your sportster will work but youll still have a seperate display if you use the tuner that plugs into the kenwood it will all come up on the in dash screen and the interface is awesome. but not portable. its acompromise either way but i love the function of the built in, i actually have 1 portable sat tuner like the sportster to takeinto my shop or house and such then a seperate unit built in to the cars because i really like how the satalite integrates into the navi systems. if you add tuners to an account you allready have 1 activev on the service on the rest is cheaper.

 

[platinumb]

if you want to do thesatalite radio built into the car the hideaway tuner for the kenwood navigation is sxv100v1 it is sold directly through siriusxm and should be available through any local car stereo shop for around 100 bucks.

 

[skibama]

I just had the DNX 9980 installed last week and I have to say I love this head unit. I replaced an older Alpine 9855 and I haven't looked back. I was never really much of a Kenwood fan in the past, mainly because I never cared much for their sound quality, but this unit blows away my Alpine, which in it's day was top of the line. I love how you can easily adjust the eq for each input individually, and the sound it awesome. I'll try to answer some of your questions:

Can the factory backup camera be hooked up to this unit? - Not sure...I don't have a backup camera
-Can it be set up to function with the car is moving? - Yes! absolutely. I can play dvd's and connect my Iphone and watch movies while driving (but only so my 15 month old can watch the wonder pets) The best part is I can watch tv using my Iphone and slingbox, and also stream Netflix.
-Can the factory USB be attached and function with this unit? Not sure, but as posted before, USB is USB. Even if you have to run a new USB cable, it's not a big deal. The cool thing is you can use a USB hard drive and put all your music and movies on it and play directly from the head unit. I actually prefer storing music and movies on my usb drive because they're easier to access than on the iphone.
-Is it possible to have the DVD function while driving ? Yes
-Can the factory steering wheel controls work with this unit? Yes, they work perfectly
-Will it be able to function with the JBL speakers and party mode? Not sure, as I have changed out the entire system with new speakers and amps.
-Can the Rosen AV7500 Dual Headrest be incorporated? Yes, as long as they have video inputs. This will be my next project next week, adding headrest monitors. Another cool thing is that the Head unit has dual zone control, so you can play a movie in the back and still listen to music up front.

Sorry for the long post, but this really is a great HU. the garmin gps is very easy to use, and the voice controls work well, as well as the bluetooth.
Also, it comes with an HD radio tuner, which before I bought this HU, I never thought i'd use, but it's really pretty cool. It's like doubling the amount of radio stations you have.

Another feature is you can get a module that plugs into your OBDII port and will let you monitor engine functions and engine codes. It's kind of a cool feature.
I don't think you'll regret buying this HU. My only real complaint is that there's a little lag when switching inputs, but it's a very minor issue.

 

[Mr.T]

Grats on your unit Ski and thanks for the reply. I found a local dealer today that sells Rosen. He wasn't sure if the 2011 has the 'get into an accident, headrest goes up or something' function. I'd rather not have the piggy back style.

Thanks again plat. I am hoping to get a new subscription to siruis through the Kenwood H/U and give the sportster to the lady friend. Will the factory antenna be compatible with Kenwoods GPS, radio etc? Just wondering if I will have to get a new antenna. I notice a number of people removing the factory antenna. Is this do it its location or is the factory one the pitts?

 

[platinumb]

i did notice today youll probably lose party mode, not 100% the truck i did this morning was an sr5 with no jbl the party mode switching on that one was built into the factory radio. not having picked up your truck yet i think you may be over estimating the advantage of that feature. it takes some of the highs out of the font speakers and leaves them playing bass, and keeps the tailgate speakers full range, it does nothing to change the sound you hear outside the truck with the gate open anyway just leaves the inside speakers playing the same ammount of bass they were before but less highs. you could acomplish the same thing in your truck addjusting the fader a little to the rear. again i am not 100% it will not work with yours because this was not a jbl system and most of the controll in your system is done inside the jbl amp.

 

[platinumb]

Grats on your unit Ski and thanks for the reply. I found a local dealer today that sells Rosen. He wasn't sure if the 2011 has the 'get into an accident, headrest goes up or something' function. I'd rather not have the piggy back style.

Thanks again plat. I am hoping to get a new subscription to siruis through the Kenwood H/U and give the sportster to the lady friend. Will the factory antenna be compatible with Kenwoods GPS, radio etc? Just wondering if I will have to get a new antenna. I notice a number of people removing the factory antenna. Is this do it its location or is the factory one the pitts?

nop you can use the factory antena, i did in my tundra works great. there is no reason to change it.

 

[mott768]

I have the Kenwood DNX 9960 and Love it, but I'm actually thinking of getting the DNX9980 cause of the Pandora and HD radio features, also the system seems to be a little faster than mine with the ipod controlls, everything else looks pretty much the same as my HU, I like how devirse it is, and that it had the garm Nav, that was a big factor to me when I was looking at HU's and sold me on the Kenwood.