You hop into your car, and your friend asks you what happened to the new stereo you were telling him about. With a knowing grin, you press a spot on the dash and out pops a sexy and sophisticated faceplate. The Kenwood KDC-X917 then rotates it's faceplate up into position and your friend's jaw drops.
There are plenty of other features that impress. The display is a rectangular grid of pixels with enough resolution to show mini videos and complex spectrum analyzers. When set to demo mode, the display plays videos of Formula 1 racing, yachting with dolphins in Hawaii, and then becomes a Vegas slot machine.
This display also makes the EQ settings easy to understand, showing a frequency response graph to illustrate what the current setting is doing to the sound. You can set the readout for varying levels of complexity, from plain text to full-screen spectrum analyzer, or a combination of the two. Animated icons will zoom across the screen when you change sources, making it easy to see what source you selected. There are also animations for each of the equalizer presets. One thing about this deck, you can never get lost with this fabulous display telling you where you are at all times.
The faceplate has a pair of semi-circular ridges, one on each side of the display area, that give you anchor points for finding the buttons without taking your eyes off the road. Once you learn where the important controls are located, you can easily run this unit without ever looking at it. The button illumination can be set to green or red. You can angle the faceplate to make it easier to read, and it will remember to return to that position after being turned off. When you shut down the power, you are given a few seconds (adjustable duration) to remove the faceplate for security. If you leave it in place, it rotates 180 degrees, leaving nothing showing but a flat shiny black surface. There is also a programmable security code to prevent use by unauthorized personnel (little sisters) or thieves.
Standard ISO mounting points are provided for ease of installation, and a mounting sleeve is included for non-Japanese vehicles. There are control lines for amp turn-on and electric antenna, as well as the external amplifier control line that is used to change the bass boost on some Kenwood amps. A dimmer control line can be connected to the car's light switch to dim the display when the headlights are on. Two CD changers and an auxiliary input can be connected to the high-density DIN connector provided.
Front, Rear, and Non-Fading stereo outputs for your external amplifiers are given through three pairs of gold plated RCA jacks. These outputs have a voltage swing of 4.5Vdc for excellent signal to noise ratio in the harsh mobile environment. When using the preamp outputs, you can disable the internal power amps for better sound quality. Two-zone audio is an option, allowing you to send the AUX input signal to the rear speakers while still listening to a CD or the radio in the front. This means that you can have a VCR or game console going in the back seat, and still have your tunes in the front.