Kenwood Excelon KFC-X1700P - Car Audio and Electronics Magazine

Kenwood has long been a well-respected name in car and home electronics. This month I auditioned their newest component set for the car, the KFC-X1700P. This set has a suggested retail price of $300, so it will pit itself against the lower mid-priced entries from companies like Alpine, Pioneer and just about every other manufacturer out there. Needless to say, it's quite a crowded playing field. Without further ado, let's see what we're dealing with here.

ImpressionsI received these speakers in a medium sized box that has a couple of full-sized cutout patterns for both the 6 1/2" woofers and the 1" soft-dome tweeters included in the set. This nice idea eliminates any guesswork as to what size cutout is required for proper installation. The outside of the box also includes a parts list of the contents and a chart giving all the dimensions for mounting depth and diameter of the drivers. Peak power handling is rated as 220 watts and 55 watts RMS, and frequency response is given as 35Hz - 30kHz.

Upon opening the box I was presented with a warranty registration card and a multi-lingual instruction manual. The manual uses pictographs and words to describe the installation procedure for fitting these components to your vehicle and appears to address just about any scenario you may encounter. It also lists Thiele-Small parameters for the drivers and cautions about where not to place the components.

The 6 1/2" woofers employ a robust cast basket with an 11.6-ounce ferrous magnet, a carbon-pp cone with a rubber surround, a 30mm voice coil with a vented pole piece, a fabric spider to locate all the moving parts, a spacer to use in tight applications and an attractive grille to finish the installation. Around the circumference of the frame I found a multi-holed bolt pattern that looks like it will accommodate just about any car you'd install these in.

The 1" tweeters for the set use a soft dome and are small enough to mount easily in most applications. They include a mounting cup that applies from the rear, an integral grille, pre-soldered leads and a front housing that allows the tweeter to swivel and aim into the listening area - always a good idea.

The box advertises the medium-sized crossovers as being a "High Quality X'over Network," so I expected to find quality components employed in their construction. Instead I found very small-gauge coils that will likely saturate prematurely, and electrolytic capacitors throughout, even in the high-frequency section of the crossover. This doesn't bode well for the high-frequency performance of the system. Polypropylene capacitors are regularly used by most manufacturers in the tweeter section of crossovers in this price range to enhance the smoothness of the tweeter's performance. C'mon Kenwood, why would you put your eXcelon name on this set and then cheap out on the crossovers just to save a few pennies on the bottom line? On the positive side, there's a poly switch included to protect the tweeter and a three-position attenuation switch that allows adjustment of 0dB, -2dB and -4dB to help tame the tweeter's output.

InstallationInstalling this set into my test boxes was pretty straightforward, with no major snafus to report. The set was powered by a Genesis Profile Four amp bridged to two channels to produce roughly 120 watts per side, driven by a Denon R1 CD player - simple and elegant.

ListeningBluesB.B. King "Stormy Weather"Those of you who have read some of my previous reviews will recall that I hold B.B. King in very high esteem. This gentleman has been singing the blues for over 50 years and is recognized as one of the all-time greats in this genre. Let's see what he sounds like on this new Kenwood Excelon set.

My initial impression of the band during the intro to King 's vocal was that they sounded thin, lacking appropriate weight, especially in the horn section. King 's vocal also lacked the chestiness I expected to hear and at times sounded nasally. On a positive note, the cymbals sounded reasonably realistic; although at times they were a little "splashy." Lucille ( King's guitar), also exhibited some very resonant notes that tend toward harshness and, if listened to long enough, would induce fatigue, at least to my ears. I thought lowering the volume might help, but when I did, I lost the life and excitement in the recording. Also, King's image lacked focus and it was difficult to pinpoint the instruments in the band.Score: 5/10

Female VocalRebecca Pidgeon "Spanish Harlem"The Kenwood's did a considerably better job of reproducing the original performance on this track. However, the standup bass at the beginning sounded slightly thin, though I could detect the texture of the strings as the bass player slid his fingers along them. Other than some slight sibilance, Pidgeon's vocal sounded pretty good tonally but lacked focus, while the room ambience was less than ideal. There was good detail in the highs when the maracas made their entrance about halfway through the song, but the piano served a few notes that jumped out and bit my ears! The strings had a nice, smooth sound to them and seem to span the entire width of the stage behind the performers.Score: 5/10

Big Band JazzHarry James "Sweet Georgia Brown"The KFC-X1700P's did a little bit better with this recording, but still lacked the fullness and image precision that I'd like to hear. The fact that this is a Sheffield recording probably helps, but when a company rates their speakers with a frequency response of 35Hz-30kHz, I expect better low-frequency response and a fuller sound. The fact that there's no tolerance stated for their frequency response should be a clue, I guess. Harry James' trumpet solo was well positioned and pretty much in focus, slightly left of center and forward of the band, but the baritone sax solo preceding it appeared to come primarily from the right, with a ghost of the sax also coming from the left. The saxophone ensemble behind James' trumpet sounded appropriately positioned and relatively realistic, however. The trombone solo following the trumpet solo, though also well positioned without a ghost coming from the other side of the stage, lacked fullness.Score: 5.5/10

RockVan Halen "Can't Stop Lovin' You"If you've ever seen Van Halen live, you know how dynamic their performances can be. This Kenwood component set tried really hard to duplicate it and, on some fronts, accomplished the task at hand. They will get loud, but in so doing they also get harsh as the volume ramps up. Some people might call this realism, and in some cases they'd be right. Michael Anthony's bass pretty much got lost in the mix without a subwoofer, and after just a couple of times playing this selection, my ears were ringing - I was listening to these speakers in a soft, controlled environment and these were soft-dome tweeters, so this wasn't what I expected. I think the less-than-ideal components in the crossovers might be the culprit. The supplied -2 and -4dB attenuation switch helped, but it didn't cure the abrasiveness of the sound- be VERY careful how you position these speakers in your vehicle. If your tweeter placement is high and near hard, reflective surfaces (i.e., windows or hard plastic), the harshness problem will only be exacerbated! Placement in kick panels would be my first choice, as there's plenty of excess high-frequency energy to overcome soft, absorptive materials and the extra distance would not only help imaging, but would probably help tame the tweeters in this set.Score: 4/10

CountryLyle Lovett "My Baby Don't Tolerate"Lyle Lovett has demonstrated his versatility time and time again. Sometimes he sings pure country, sometimes he sings the blues, and sometimes he has a full big band behind him. On this track he's working with a guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. At the beginning of this song there's a strong bass line assisted by some nice guitar riffs and a firm back beat on the drums. The Kenwoods did well enough with the drums and guitar, but the bass line got lost in the mix and didn't drive the band the way it should. Lovett's voice came through loud and clear most of the time, but had somewhat of a nasal tone. At times the cymbals were a little too splashy. Again, partial blame may go to the inferior crossover components. However, I must say the Kenwoods did a better job on this selection than on the other four I tested here.Score: 6/10.

ConclusionI'll offer one very important caveat to remember when shopping for speakers: Listen, listen and listen some more. It's your hard-earned money and you'll be rewarded in the end.

In the case of the Kenwood eXcelon KFC-X1700P, the addition of a subwoofer would be the first thing I'd do to really fill out the sound. A subwoofer would add realism to the bottom end, where these speakers seemed to be lacking. Using these as OEM replacements without a sub would probably give the listener the impression that he/she lost bass content by switching to a "better" speaker. This is not uncommon, as many of today's aftermarket speaker manufacturers assume their products will be used in conjunction with a subwoofer system. Placement will also be of paramount importance because of the sometimes overbearing character of this set's high-frequency response. If you ditch the passive crossovers and actively filter these components, you'll probably achieve a smoother sound.

While I found the KFC-X1700P to just be of average performance (as reflected in the score chart), they are attractive and offer some good mounting options. However, if you are a sound purist, that may not matter - take a seat and take a listen.