 Very satisfied | | Review Date: October 19, 2009 | | Reviewer: The Real Deal, Leesburg, VA | | I installed this in my 2003 Explorer back in August and it is truly an upgrade from the factory 6cd stereo. I wanted a unit that I could connect my iPod to and was satellite radio ready so I could do away with XM unit in the interior which had become a hassle. I also wanted a radio that looks like it belongs in my truck, not a pimped-out ride. This radio does more than fit the bill. Installation of the head unit was easy (about an hour) and installation of the satellite tuner added an additional hour. Sound quality is a huge upgrade from the factory radio (would be even better with a speaker upgrade), and with the additional features of Bluetooth and iPod compatibility, my family has plenty of options when we hit the road. My only complaints are with the BT. As previously stated by other reviewers, having to reconnect every time the car starts can be a pain, but it is minor one. Also had some minor difficulty getting the cx609 and my iPhone to sync up. Other than that I am extremely pleased with my purchase and after 3 months of use I would recommend it to anyone. Once you connect through BT, phone calls and music streaming quality is excellent. |
Great product, simple design with lots of features | | Review Date: August 16, 2009 | | Reviewer: M. Singh, | | I had a different clarion head unit in my WRX before this (single din) but i broke it so i decided to get another one. I got another clarion because it would allow me to keep my sirius satellite radio receiver box and use the same harness my old clarion used. I think buying the Clarion CX609 was the best decision i made. It fits well with the interior and i can pick and chose almost any color for the led. I like that it has a simple design, which looks almost stock, but also offers a lot of features. I like the bluetooth and usb capabilities because it keeps me from burning and wasting CDs. |
Great Radio - Does everything I wanted. | | Review Date: September 13, 2009 | | Reviewer: Mike Regan, Ohio, USA | Bought this radio to replace the factory radio in my 2009 Subaru WRX. I had it professionally installed and they hid the USB in my glove box and placed the microphone on the rear view mirror. So now my ipod stays charged and I can control it from the deck. The receiver was slightly smaller than the opening so they had to make a custom ABS filler. The original factory deck was made by Clarion, so they said it was a relatively simple install.
The bluetooth works great, although with my HTC Touch Pro I still have to voice dial from the phone itself unfortunately. I really like that you can change the colors of the display and that the AUX input is on the front.
It has loads of features and is a superb sounding radio even with the factory speakers (also made by Clarion), especially for the price.
I highly recommend this receiver. |
Great Buy! | | Review Date: October 12, 2009 | | Reviewer: Thomas Cunningham, Charlotte, NC | | This is a very nice unit. Lots of great features. Blue Tooth works great. Just do not count on being able to play music through the wireless connection to your phone. There only a select few phones that it will work with. Other than that it does everything as promised. |
great | | Review Date: October 23, 2009 | | Reviewer: Simona Voina, | | Ordered that for my husbund. He loves it. He took about 2 hrs to install it. No problems here. |
It sounds good enough for me and I have an associates in audio production | | Review Date: January 10, 2010 | | Reviewer: Matthew Bogusz, New Providence, NJ USA | I was a first time car stereo installer and I'm so excited because I got everything to work. I mainly bought this so I could use the USB feature, but there's so much else that I didn't know about. The A2DP is a great thing. That's brand new technology. With that and a data plan I can stream Pandora Radio from my iPhone. It even charges my iPhone 2G so I never have to worry about the battery dying. It sounds better than the source unit (I have a 2007 Xterra) and I'm so impressed by the many functions. Can't wait to use the bluetooth and the included microphone with my cellular.
The only part of the installation for me that was tricky was getting the different colored wires too match up, but I was able to follow the installation instructions included, and those for a wire harness that I purchased separately. All in all I got much improved sound and all these new functions and I couldn't be happier. |
Very Satisfied | | Review Date: January 23, 2010 | | Reviewer: Curt Lotter, WI USA | I purchased this to replace a single DIN Alpine unit in my 1999 Maxima. I never liked the single DIN look of the Alpine over the stock BOSE system that my car came with. It's great to go back to the double DIN look. I was able to get the lighting of the Clarion to exactly match the stock greenish/blue lighting. The understated styling of this unit give it a stock look in my car.
I am extremely satisfied with the Clarion. The FM tuner is so much better than the tuner in the Alpine. I absolutely love the ability to play MP3's from a USB thumb drive. I don't have a bluetooth phone so I can't comment on that. The CD player works great. There are a lot of sound customizing options. I also like the ability to use the units high/low pass filters to keep the bass out of my main speakers and divert the bass to my sub. Overall, the Clarion does a great service to high quality recordings.
I use the ISR button to change back and forth between my favorite radio station and the USB card. A great idea! |
Clarion Car Stereo | | Review Date: January 30, 2010 | | Reviewer: V. Le, | | I purchased this for my husband as a Xmas gift and he loves it. The bluetooth is an added bonus. Sounds very clear. |
Excellent Car Stereo and More | | Review Date: March 13, 2010 | | Reviewer: R. Patterson, Tucson, AZ | | I read and reviewed many brands of this type of car stereo before making my purchase, and I am so very happy that I did. My homework paid off. This Clarion CX609 Receiver does all it is supposed to do. I am very happy with my purchase. I had to have it installed professionally, but it was well worth it. |
Clarion is the "BEST" | | Review Date: March 31, 2010 | | Reviewer: Brian C. Gilliam, | Simply put, this Stereo is one of the best out there. It has all the features anyone would want for the price. You will not find a better HU than this!
Pro's- Bluetooth, MP3, Aux, XM Satalite Compatible, USB for Ipod, Changing LED light to match your vehicles Interior, Message Scrolling, and much more!
Con's- I can really only think of one issue that I have with the HU and that is, the LED light wants to stay on all the time, even after I turn the vehicle off? It could be the way I have it wired, but I wired it just like the manual said. Also, about the manual, It can be difficult to understand. You would be better off going to Clarion's website and downloading the manual. |
Wow | | Review Date: May 18, 2009 | | Reviewer: J. Bolick, The Desert | | I bought this to replace the factory radio in my 2008 Nissan Altima S. The dealer added bluetooth for the car is $400 alone and this deck has it built in as well as ipod controls and a usb dongle that plays from thumb drives. It is AWESOME! It can match ANY factory illumination color. The only thing I would call a negative is that you can't see the clock if you have any of the other display options active. |
Good all around with some annoyances here and there. | | Review Date: May 15, 2009 | | Reviewer: K. Forti, | I purchased the CX609 for my 2008 Nissan Frontier. Having high end audio systems in my past two cars, I initially was going to just leave my truck stock, but then I got a new phone (Samsung Omnia) on which I can store 16 gigs of music, and the Bluetooth audio bug bit me hard. I picked this stereo because it does everything I want it to do (I will discuss the functions in detail later) and it's Double Din, so it fits perfectly in my dash. In fact, its worth noting that I didn't need an install trim kit to fit this into my dash. Despite Crutchfield telling me I'd need a $20 Metra kit, I found that all I needed to do to install the chassis was to unscrew the 2 brackets from my stock HU and screw them onto the Clarion. Clarion's install instructions clearly explain how to do this for Nissan and Toyota vehicles, although I did not use the thin spacers that the instructions said to use. Didn't need them as the stock and new HU chassis were both exactly the same width (I believe Clarion makes the stock HU).
The main reason I bought this unit was for the Bluetooth abilities, and because in addition to hands free functionality, it also supports A2DP Bluetooth audio streaming, so I can play music from my phone right through the stereo with no wires. I am really impressed with this technology. I did some testing with a CD burned from MP3s, and with the original MP3s streamed via BT. I honestly can't hear the difference. When connected, the HU controls the phone by changing tracks, pausing, playing, stopping, and it also can FF/RW through tracks, which is something my BT headphones can't do.
The CX609 works well as a hands free unit as well. When a call comes in the HU pauses the music and rings through the speakers. I ran the microphone up through the A pillar and headliner and popped it out next to the map light/sunglass holder. This is about where a stock MIC is found on a Frontier with factory BT, and it works fantastic. Everyone who I've spoken to says they can hear me better on the HU than on my phone. The MIC gain can be adjusted easily from 1-5, but I found the stock level of 3 too soft, and my preferred level of 4 is just a bit too sensitive. I just need to speak at a normal conversation levels rather than "yelling" into the BT which is what I often tend to do. Once connected, the stereo is ready to take calls in any mode. To initiate calls you are supposed to be able to browse your phonebook on the stereo (I haven't loaded mine yet, and might not bother), or you can enter numbers directly, or of course use the phone, which is how I do it.
However, all is not perfect. My major gripe with the HU is also Bluetooth related. The HU can be set to auto connect to the phone, or do it manually. Autoconnect works great, and if you want to listen to the phone right away, it handles everything for you. The problem is that if you are listening to any other source, it goes to Bluetooth mode every time you turn it on as soon as the phone connects, and you need to switch back to your old source. If you shut auto connect off, it stays on the previous source, but to connect you need to switch to BT and go through a menu to select the phone as there is a disconnect button, but no connect button. If you don't connect it, you don't get hands free capabilities if you get a call, so its kind of a no-win. For now I just let it connect (which it does VERY fast) and then switch to another source if I don't want to listen to the phone.
The attatched USB cord is very cool and allows you to connect your ipod up without an adapter (haven't tried it), or plug in your thumb drives and stream music off of them. I plugged a Kingston 4gb micro SDHC chip into a thumbdrive adapter, loaded up some albums, and plugged it into the cord (which I snaked into my glovebox), and it works great. The read speed is almost instantaneous, and it navigates folders easily. Very cool.
The stereo works fine, although as the less than stellar FM sensitivity specs would suggest, it doesn't pick up stations quite as well as the stock stereo, but out on the road its fine. In my basement garage I was able to pick up all the stations I would expect, although 1 came in scratchy until I pulled outside. It does not have RDS or HD radio, which would have been nice, but you can program station titles which in a way is better because you don't end up with your stations named incorrectly the way many RDS receivers do it.
CDs play fine. I haven't tried an MP3 disc yet since I have the phone and USB port, but it does read track titles off my CDA discs... cool.
Overall sound quality is good. I still have stock speakers so I can't say for sure how good. The preset sound schemes didn't please me, but the custom function works well. You can set your low, mid, and high levels, and for each you can select the frequency center and Q ratio (I believe this means how wide your adjustment is). I believe lows can be set at 50, 100, or 200. mids at 500, 1000, or 2000, and highs at 5000, 10000, or 15000. Q settings are .7, 1, 1.4, or 2 for each. I prefer smaller Qs. While it's nowhere near as nice as the 12 band EQ I had in my last vehicle, it does work pretty well. It also has a Bass Expander and BBE processing - but only for CDs and MP3s. I wish you could use BBE on everything.
The display is ok but not as high end as it could be. The color on black screen looks good in some of the colors, but not all. My interior lighting is amber but the amber looks bad on the display, so I set it to Red which I find is easier to read. Ford owners with green illumination would like the green, and blue looks cool but it doesn't match my car. You can customize your color (R0-8, G0-8, B0-8), but most colors are pre programmed. My HU is mounted right at 30 degrees, so I need to crank the contrast to be able to read it at that angle... but it works.
The remote that comes with it does enough, although it wont navigate menus which might be more useful than anything. Warning... when installing make sure you plug the MIC into the correct port. It also fits in the remote port which is the same size. I made that mistake and only figured out the problem after the MIC and IR remote both didn't work. This suggests to me that the IR remote may not function if you hook up a steering wheel adapter... although I can't be sure.
Overall, for $230 + $25 in harness and antenna adapters, this radio is an affordable unit that really does the trick, especially if you want to maintain a stock look. You can get much flashier units in a single DIN, or go with a touch screen DVD player for more money, but to have a radio that looks like it came in the vehicle, but does stuff that most factory radios cant, look no further!
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Really like it | | Review Date: December 7, 2009 | | Reviewer: S. Franklin, Charleston SC | I've had mine for two weeks and have really learned to like it. Unfortunately, it does not have a way to initiate voice dialing from the head unit. As a consolation prize, it is pretty straightforward to transfer my phonebook from my phone (Note - I use the 'selected categories only' option from my Blackberry so I only transfer over about a dozen. Any more than that and it gets tedious scrolling through the entries - and dangerous.)
Pros:
Nice double din size to fill the dashboard
Can change display color - more fun than I expected
Bluetooth telephone and Bluetooth audio work great
USB connector from rear of unit allows iPod to be stored in glove compartment.
ISR Button allows 1 button to select favorite radio station
Can enter radion station names into headunit.
Navigation through the Bluetooth Phonebook and iPod Playlist is easy.
Incoming Bluetooth phone calls will activate the unit even when it is in 'off' mode (note - car has to be running or in ACC mode).
Cons:
Can't initiate voice dial from head unit
Also another quirk is that if I initiate voice dial from phone, subsequent voice dial attempts are muted. Voice dial still works, but you can't hear the prompts (Resets itself next time you get in the car.) Odd, but consistent.
If Bluetooth Audio is set to autoconnect, then the unit will automatically switch to it as the source when you start your car. If you were listening to the radio and stop your car and get out, when you get back in a start the car, you will hear the radio for about 5 seconds, then the Bluetooth audio will connect and automatically switch over. Again, odd but consistent.
Display screen is execellent when viewed straight on and loses contrast when viewed from angle. Driver and front seat passenger generally have an angled view that can make the display difficult to read depending on your car/seating/dash configuration.
I would definitely buy this unit again. Sound is great. Bluetooth is easy and reliable. If voice dialing could be initiated from the headunit, this would be a 5 star system. |
Good factory replacement | | Review Date: May 26, 2009 | | Reviewer: Matt, MO, USA | Overview - the great Blue-Tooth sound quality, the nice factory look, and ease of basic use (due to button layout) are the main reasons why I would recommend this product.
I basically wanted to add Blue-Tooth, USB, and MP3 player AUX in to my factory stereo, and this unit did the job (it says that it can control an I-Pod plugged into the USB input but I have not yet tried this). This unit looks just as good as a factory installed unit in my Toyota Sienna. The basic operations are easy to use (because they provide enough actual buttons that you are not constantly stuck reading a context-sensitive-menu while you are trying to drive).
Music audio sound quality is fine, I did not need a unit with a huge amp, (I still have the factory speakers installed) so this unit is great for my purposes.
Blue-Tooth - My mic is placed next to my garage door opener and the phone quality when using Blue-Tooth is great (all cords were completely hidden so it looks professional). The pairing process was a bit clunky, I had to read the manual as it is not intuitive. I have only 1 phone paired to this unit and so far everyone I talk to says that it sounds good from their end, and I can hear them perfectly.
Playing MP3 songs via the USB input is very good, this player displays the folder name when you select a folder which makes it easy to pick what folder of music you want to play (the no-name brand stereo in our boat does not display folder names, so I really appreciate this unit in this respect). We removed MANY of our CDs from our car since we already have them loaded on our USB stick, that will help keep our CDs from getting scratched.
Radio - Sounds as good as my factory radio for AM/FM stations. One neat feature is the ISR (Instant Station Recall) button, program your favorite station to this button and you switch to that station with a single button press (as opposed to doing "source select" until you are at radio, then pressing "Band" to choose AM/FM, and then choosing your preset 1-6), so this is a nice shortcut for the 1 station that you listen to the most.
The display - one of the nice features about this unit is also its worst feature. The good part is that it lets you choose from many different display colors so that it will go nicely with any vehicle, what a cool feature. The bad news is that the display is simply not bright enough, this is the reason that the unit did not get 5/5 stars. During the bright daytime the display appears washed-out, and I ended up picking a bright display color instead of the display color that matched my vehicles color scheme.
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Not perfect, but better than what I had | | Review Date: July 14, 2009 | | Reviewer: C. Garcia, Spanish Fork, UT | I purchased this unit and installed it last night in my 2005 Nissan Pathfinder. Took me 4 hours because I soldered all the wires for the wire harness instead of crimping. I ended up buying it from [...] because it came with all the necessary installation parts for free, plus I found a coupon code at [...] and knocked the price down $20 so it was Amazon.com pricing with [...] parts. The Bluetooth handsfree is awesome and works pretty good. I have the Garmin Nuvi GPS installed in the dash (best Nissan upgrade ever!) and just put the mic behind the GPS, sticking out a little towards the driver. I love the iPod/iPhone integration (I have the iPhone 3GS, my wife has the 3G, and we both have iPods). I was upgrading from several failed FM transmitters so the quality is obviously a billion times better.
Pros:
-I like the simple look of the unit as it is not overly flashy and doesn't look overly expensive.
-It can mimic the color of my other dashboard instruments which is a big sell for me and the reason I picked this unit over the better-looking Pioneer model.
-iPhone/iPod integration is great, you can use Bluetooth or the USB dock connector. Both sound great.
-Sounds great!
Cons:
-The design is nice but not as cool as Pioneer's double DIN units but they don't mimic the dash illumination color.
-Setup and menus are a little awkward. You need the manual to know what BBE-MX or S-CTRL is referring to.
-There is a screen saver that I find a little distracting. Maybe I'll get used to it.
-The unit doesn't fit flawlessly into the Nissan Pathfinder double DIN hole. Luckily [...] included some minor trim pieces to fill in most of the gaps.
-The instructions were not originally written in English and therefore it takes a bit to figure out what they are saying.
Overall I am very happy. I even called [...] tech support line to double check some wiring (10 hold time @ 8:00pm MST) which was nice to have instead of just guessing. I'd recommend it to a friend. The coming weeks will allow me to work out any other imperfections in the unit. |
Clarion CX609 | | Review Date: September 18, 2009 | | Reviewer: Kenneth J. Christy, Kailua, HI | Bought the Clarion CX609 to install in my 2006 Nissan Frontier (replaced original stock stereo). Installation was pretty straight forward - I bought a wiring harness for the Frontier at a local auto parts store ($7). Making sure the wires on the harness and stereo were paired up correctly was a bit tricky - a small amount of trial and error. Don't forget to have the right size and number of wiring nuts on hand. I think if I had purchased from Crutchfield I could have avoided the uncertainty in the install, but would have paid at least $60 (~25%) more.
The stereo works great in the Frontier and with my Blackberry Curve (8330 - Verizon). Bluetooth synch is automatic and very reliable for phone connections. The microphone is OK. I've ended up installing it on my visor. When I get a call I lower the visor down slightly so the mike is near my mouth. It is still apparent to callers that I am using a mike and not on the phone handset. Bluetooth connection for the Blackberry media player is about 50-50. Sometimes you need to go into the media player menu to select output to the stereo (probably more of a Blackberry issue than the stereo). The Bluetooth music playback "skips" or pauses sometimes - again I think this is a Blackberry issue.
USB playback works well. Haven't tried an MP3 CD.
The only drawback is that the stereo controls are not intuitive. It takes some time to dig into the manual to figure out the controls. I don't mind it - lots of features for a great price, but some people may be overwhelmed with the choice of buttons and menus just to make some simple things happen. A friend borrowed my truck and had a hard time just getting the radio to work. Easy for me - tough for the uninitiated.
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Works well with iPhone 3G and iPod | | Review Date: November 24, 2009 | | Reviewer: tef, San Francisco, CA | | The Clarion CX609 is a reasonably priced 2-DIN receiver with lots of audio source options. I wasn't into spending $500+ for something with a touch screen, but still wanted a unit that could interface with my iPod and would provide hands-free use of my iPhone via bluetooth. The CX609 fits this bill well. Installation in my Toyota Land Cruiser was straightforward and I've been very impressed with the sound quality compared to the OEM unit. It did take a while to figure out how to get the CX609 to pair correctly with my iPhone 3G, mostly due to the poorly worded user manual (definitely written by someone for which English was not their native language); hence four instead of five stars. Eventually I found a product bulletin on the Clarion web site that describes device pairing in good English. Note that at least for the iPhone you want to use the WAIT method of pairing. Pairing also allows the iPod portion of my iPhone to stream audio via bluetooth. So now I just hop in the truck and turn the key and my music picks up right where it left off. And if I'm going on a longer trip, I plug my iPod Classic in via the USB cable and I've got plenty of tunes and audio books for the ride. |
One Step From Perfect | | Review Date: April 1, 2009 | | Reviewer: Payerman54, florida United States | | This head unit works great except for the bluetooth function. I can get the bluetooth to work with my AT&T 8525 (W Mobile 5) cell phone but it really isn't worth the effort unless you are going to be in the car a long time. Every other feature works great. The sound is an improvement over the stock radio. The surprise was the USB port- didn't think much of it till I tried it- much better than dragging around CD's or MP3 players. I put this in a 2006 Toyota Highlander with the standard radio system. I used the Metra wiring kit 70-1761 and dash kit 95-8202. The dash kit requires cutting off the last mounting hole, not the last 2 as the directions say. Also the Toyota wiring has a 3rd connector w/3 tiny wires in it (the connector is 20-pin) this is not an amplifier and doesn't get re-wired into anything with an aftermarket radio. BTW the "standard" radio has 6 speakers (2 are small tweeters in the front doors) but it is wired as if for 4 speakers (the tweeters wire into the front 5-6" speakers). Hope this helps someone else not waste days trying to figure this stuff out. |
Great BT stereo but with some annoyances | | Review Date: June 11, 2009 | | Reviewer: W. Thompson, Virginia Beach, VA USA | After significant research I took the plunge and bought the CX609 and a PAC SWI-JACK steering wheel adapter for my 04 F-150. The purchase and installation went more smoothly than I had hoped. Crutchfield support was terrific, including fast shipping, the installation kit and my call in the middle of the installation about a 16-pin plug that wasn't addressed in the instructions. (From what I understand, it is a cable to support a CD changer/aux unit that Ford puts in all their trucks so the dealer can more quickly accomplish upgrades.) The stereo looks like it belongs and with the incredible choice of colors, it was simple to match to the displays.
Getting everything working between my iPhone and the CX609 wasn't as smooth. While getting the Bluetooth function to operate, I completed the instructions several times without success, but I wasn't surprised since other reviews informed me that this might happen, I went to the website and printed those instructions. Imagine my surprise (shock might be more appropriate) when that failed to navigate me to the correct menu. Being fairly gadget oriented, I simply started pushing other combinations of buttons until the unit began searching for a signal. Between the manual and information from Clarion's website, I was finally able to get the Bluetooth function to operate, but I am sure I didn't follow either one exactly when it finally allowed me to go the correct menu. Like another reviewer, I was puzzled that the CX609 doesn't support RDS. I thought that any head unit of this caliber, not to mention cost, would have RDS capability. The cheapest rental cars I have had in the last three years always had RDS. Like most audio units, it was made for iPods and works with the iPhones, but I have to tell it not to use airplane mode each time.
That said, the unit does every thing that I wanted, plays music from the iphone and the Bluetooth works loud and clear.
Pros: Bluetooth, USB, aux jack, equalizer, display and it sounds terrific too!
Cons: Manual/confusing operations (but that won't matter after a few weeks), not fully iPhone compatible, lack of RDS
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Complicated at 1st..... | | Review Date: June 24, 2009 | | Reviewer: Jonathan Czewinski, Lyndhurst, NJ | Long story short.... It's a complicated radio. Bluetooth feature works great, once you figure out how to set it up. Make sure you, or the installer, inserts the wire from the mic into the correct port on the back of the radio. I learned this the hard way as my mic didn't work until I figured out why. Callers can hear me perfectly, and I can hear them just as good. Again, it took a hour to figure out how to pair the cell with the radio... have patience!! Oh, the instruction book is useless, it didn't help at all. Basically, if you want to change any setting for the radio, you need to be in Tuner mode... If you want to change a Bluetooth setting, you need to be in Bluetooth mode. That simple instruction would have been great, but it doesn't say it anywhere! This is a confusing radio, and if it were not for the Bluetooth feature, would be a bust in my opinion. OK, the USB input is cool... I'd rather have a few flash drives than a car full of CD's. I gave the radio a 4 rating b/c it is nice looking, the color changing is a cool feature, and the Bluetooth and USB features are top notch. For a "regular" person, the radio is too complicated. Sometimes, too many options can be a bad thing, as in this radio's case.
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Clarion CX609 double DIN head unit/ deck | | Review Date: July 13, 2009 | | Reviewer: G. Ferguson, NC USA | Clarion CX609 double DIN head unit/ deck
Install Vehicle Details:
1991 Toyota Celica GTS
1" Factory Tweeters (doors)
4 ½" Kicker Speakers (dash)
6 ½" Pioneer Speakers (Rear quarter panels)
1" Orion Tweeters (Rear quarter panels)
MTX Crossover
Jenson 500W AMP
Rockford Fosgate 12" Subwoofers (2)
Phone Type:
Nokia E63 (Unlocked) Purchased 6/1/09
Installation date: 7/9/09
Purchase Location: Amazon.com
Price: $229.99
Here is my small review of this radio. I have had a few Clarion head units/ decks/ radios in my time. They have never let me down as far as bang for the buck or cool gadgets and bells and whistles. As well as normal functions, this unit is no exception. It performs well and offers a good deal of bang for your money.
I installed this radio in a new/ old car I just purchased because I wanted two things this unit offered, iPod controls, and Bluetooth hands free. Another deciding factor was the different color display combinations the unit has to match up to any dash color lighting.
First thing you notice is the HU/ deck is nice and black not allot of chrome or "bling" that serves no purpose other then theft magnet.
You will also notice once you start looking at the manual that the person who translated from Japanese to English was on "Crack" or some other drugs? The manual can be a little confusing not only in the fact sentences are sometimes written in backwards English but the actual directions are not in LOGICAL order (for example BT pairing comes a page after how to make a call using BT)? You must read the manual very carefully and concentrate on what you're reading to get it. I found it very difficult to get the device to pair with my phone before I found these instruction from team clarion on the following website "http://www.teamclarion.com/sharedwebdbs/clarionsupport.nsf/WebCategorizedView/C52461A06F9427E98825756F007B4808?OpenDocument" After reading this I had no issues the manual doesn't really mention holding enter in until "Search" or "waiting" begin to flash. Also note the blue tooth indicator light on the radio display does not come on unless connected to a device or connecting to a found device (annoying made me think BT wasn't working almost sent deck back).
Phone auto connect feature is great all though people complain about it taking the deck to BT (Bluetooth) from what ever source you were on when it connects. This to me is not nearly as annoying as trying to get Bluetooth devices to pair up or find each other through numerous menus and button pushing. I'm fine with selecting the source it was on prior to connection. This also lets me know the phone is connected. What happens when you turn on the car the radio is on for example then in about 2-5 seconds it will cut off and switch to Bluetooth mode "Source", you push the "SRC" button to go back to what you want (USB, Tuner, etc.).
BT hands free works great I can hear everyone and everyone can hear me fine (run mic up to drivers side A-pillar near visor). Can't get my phone book to upload yet though, but haven't spent allot of time on that either. Direct dialing is a pain since there is no numbers keypad on the remote (deck only has 1-6).
ISR (Instant Station Recall) is great programmed it to my favorite local station to go to it with one button push from any source or mode your in.
iPod controls work great after you figure them out (read manual) controls my iPod Touch 16GB great and charges it to, USB cable long enough to put in center console, glove box, or almost any where in or around your dash.
Main issue I see is that the subwoofer doesn't seem to get any signal strength at lower volume levels below 12-15 I think the max is 33 on display. It works great after about 15+ on the volume level but before that at say 10-12 where I have to listen with my wife in the car it seems to not have any base at all other then from the regular speakers (1" tweeters, 4.5", 6.5")? This is kind of disappointing and I have never seen this before in a deck but after 13-15 the bass comes in hard and fast.
Over all I'm pleased with the purchase the deck looks nice the iPod controls work great with the USB cable with no need for an auxiliary head phone cable to be plugged in (like on my 07 Civic). Sound quality is good, radio stations pick up good power antenna works when it should (Tuner only). I would recommend it and would purchase again.
PROs:
1. Multi color display to match almost any car on the market today's factory interior dash lighting color.
2. Bluetooth (up to 5 devices in memory)
3. Hands Free
4. Ipod controls (rear mount USB)
5. Auto connect to phone
6. Dimmer control
7. Amp remote turn on out separate from power antenna remote turn on.
8. ISR is great.
Cons:
1. No dedicated Subwoofer RCA output (knew before I purchased -ok)
2. Output power of deck kind or low (but about all anyone really needs)
3. Round control knob not really that comfortable to use in low mount applications.
5. Deck sticks out a little to far from dash panel (needed more mounting hole options, still looks okay just can't use cup holders).
6. Manual isn't the best as always the English translator who does the manuals for them should be fired (I work with Asian people from China, Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines on a daily basis) and this person stinks, and often leaves out key things or speaks backwards?
7. Getting phone book into radio doesn't work with my Nokia, dialing direct is awkward and a pain to do with the unit (no number key pad on the remote).
8. No indication in the manual which RCA outputs are front and which are rear?
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Some Bluetooth issues but otherwise a good head unit | | Review Date: December 7, 2009 | | Reviewer: Anand Thakur, | The only problem I've had with this head unit is that I've so far been unsuccessful trying to pair it with my T-Mobile MyTouch. I go through the pairing process and the phone ends up thinking its paired but the stereo doesn't. I didn't have any problems pairing my previous phone, an old Nokia 6600. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the MyTouch or this head unit.
Otherwise, I'm happy with this head unit. I replaced the stock 6 disc changer unit in my car with this one. I can fit far more than 6 discs worth of music in MP3 format onto a USB drive, so I don't feel like I've lost any functionality there and it's much more convenient to copy files to a USB drive than it is burning new CDs.
One problem I had with the USB functionality is that it seemed like it played back the files in arbitrary order. Once I looked into it more, it seems like the unit only looks at the first few characters of the filenames to figure out how to sort them. If the track number isn't in those first few characters, then the music won't play back in the right order. If you rename your MP3 files so that the track number is the first thing in the filename, they will play back correctly in this head unit. Playback order isn't generally a big deal unless you're playing an album where the tracks fade into each other, in which case it can be annoying if they don't play back in the right sequence. I haven't tried playing back a MP3 CD yet so I don't know if this behavior is specific to USB devices.
The ability the change colors is nice. I've found a combination that almost exactly matches the rest of the interior lighting in my Subaru. Now if only I could change the color of the faceplate so easily so it matched my silver dash...
I don't have any complaints on sound quality or radio reception. |
Bang for the Buck | | Review Date: March 7, 2010 | | Reviewer: L7jr, Brooklyn, NY | I recently purchased the CX609 for my Saab 9-2x. It was replacing a Sony unit that I only had for about a year. I chose this unit because of it's "stock" look and it's integration with the iPod and blue-tooth connectivity.
The radio fits perfectly inside my dash and does look as if it came from the factory. The unit works seamlessly with my iPod Nano 5th gen and is hidden inside my glove compartment. I like the color scan feature and it cycles through the colors nicely. It is hard to read the display depending on which color it is on when I look at it though.
The preset equalizers all sound very similar and have an emphasis on bass as opposed to my Sony which preferred treble and the highs. I prefer bass in my sound so this doesn't bother me. My main reason in choosing this deck was because of actual preset buttons for the radio. I was considering another double-din with blue-tooth but it was controlled through one big knob...not cool while driving through the streets of NYC.
The iPod works quickly and has the ability to do alphabet search instead of scrolling through the entire list. Some have said the controls are tricky for the iPod, but I've only been using the iPod with it for a day and I'm used to it already.
I like that you can label the radio stations with titles. The display will show the frequency plus whatever you program the station title as. The ISR button is good as well because it lets you set any radio station you want. Regardless of the source currently in use, pushing the ISR button brings you right to the station; this is perfect to catch the traffic or weather for example.
My one caveat with this unit is in regards to the blue-tooth. The manual must have been translated by someone who is illiterate. Why is the page on how to make a blue-tooth call through the radio the page before pairing your phone to the unit? The instructions for the pairing are horrible and in general the entire manual is pretty bad in regards to the English language. I tried 3 times to pair it to my phone and couldn't figure it out; I had to look online to do it. Once doing that, my Blackberry Tour paired up to the unit. Once the unit paired, I found out that I can't do blue-tooth streaming with my phone nor can I load my phone-book into the unit. This means if I want to listen to Slacker Radio, I have to use an aux cable and connect it into the front of the unit. When I try loading the phone-book, the blue-tooth on my phone disconnects but the unit still says "Receiving" and the blue-tooth icon flashes on the display. One last thing in regards to blue-tooth, when the unit auto-connects to the phone the unit goes to the blue-tooth source regardless if the unit was off or on a different source. At least you know it connects without picking up your phone.
Overall I would recommend this unit because of it's stock look as well as it's availability of features. Just make sure you leave time to either play with the unit or struggle through the manual and also make sure your phone works fully with this unit.
Pros:
-stock look
-color scan
-works with iPod Nano 5th gen
-preset buttons
-play/pause button
-ISR button
Cons:
-display can be hard to read depending on color
-blue-tooth can be difficult to pair and not all features work
-preset sound settings sound too similar from one another |
Best 2-Din I could find | | Review Date: March 20, 2010 | | Reviewer: G. Benson, | | After a long and extensive search of 2-Din units out there, this one is the best I have seen. The look of this unit is very nice and the features I have used have been excellent. The CD has been very good and radio reception has been as good if not better than factory radio. Bluetooth is working well and front AUX input works nicely with Zune. I have not used the USB yet but I'm sure it will work as well. This unit also has a lot of great features for setting your sound preferences and expanding your system with X-over and Sub level adjustments. The only complaint I would have with this unit would be the owners manual does not explain all functions. Overall it has been a great purchase. |
Great unit, unless you have upgraded your Iphone | | Review Date: July 1, 2010 | | Reviewer: Henry, | I did a lot of research before ordering a head unit for my GMC Canyon. It was between this and the Pioneer. My brother has this same unit in his car so I went over and tried it out and everything worked perfect with my iPhone 3GS. I got the unit today, installed it and was very disappointed after I noticed it wasn't working correctly with the iPhone. Turns out that I upgraded to the new OS4 last week and I cannot go back to the old OS. The blue tooth does not auto connect. It does not recognize the ipod, gives different error messages. It does play music through the bluetooth and the phone works fine when I manually connect it. Hopefully there is a fix soon, as Apple tells me there is no downgrading OS.
UPDATE: Auto connect does work with OS4. I just had not activated it on the head unit. Still does not recognize the Ipod, though |
A lot to offer, great looks and interface, at a good price. | | Review Date: July 16, 2010 | | Reviewer: Jake Hegnauer, Providence | I've had this installed now for a few months.
INPUTS:
I love all the source options. My own very old B&W LCD screen Ipod is not compatible with the USB input, but I can use it with the Aux input for now (until I get a more up to date Ipod/Iphone)
I have a 16GB Thumb drive attached to the USB input in the glove box, and that's a great alternative, though you don't get all of the Ipods shuffle features, in fact you get nothing but skipping songs or albums by folder via manual controls.
Ergonomics:
The interface of this unit is excellent, it takes no time to get the hang of things, quick and easy to adjust,. with one exception!
The biggest negative I have is that the "tone" controls like bass and treble are pretty deeply buried in the EQ settings. One must press several buttons just to get to the frequency adjustments.
For an actual EQ, this is not problem as we would want to set and forget it,. (if we truly know what an EQ is for) however, with so many different source options, and our various music tastes, I feel that simple easy to reach Bass and Treble adjustment should be available on all head units. Sadly this seems to not be the trend these days. I can hardly hold it against the Clarion since this is the norm.
Many complain that the set up for the Blue tooth is difficult and thus they rate the interface and manual poorly. I have not yet tackled Bluetooth owning no BT devices as yet,. so I can't comment there but, taking that aspect out of the equation I find this is an easy set of controls to get along with. I have to deduce based on other reviews that the only weak point is the Bluetooth set up and instructions.
Audio:
The sound is excellent. Mine is attached to 6 channels of outboard amplifier (front LR/rear LR/sub LR) so I can't comment on the internal amp, but as a head/control unit it is fantastic. Many options for controlling the output sound to AMPs including built in adjustable electronic crossovers.
Visual:
I simply love the way the Double Din looks in my 2007 Tacoma, most assume it's stock. I have used the adjustable face lighting to match the color of my trucks interior exactly. Fantastic!
Summary:
I really think this was an excellent choice. It meets all my needs and then some, and sounds great. My two wishes are as follows
- Lacks Quickly accessible Bass and Treble controls
- Lacks Built in "Ipod like" shuffle, play list, and play back options for when you access flash drives via USB or MP3 CDs.
...all in all, highly recommended. |
"Okay" | | Review Date: June 25, 2009 | | Reviewer: T. Cogar, | Short and sweet: "Okay" for the features, excellent for mp3, supports bluetooth, stock-like/conservative aesthetics, slight FM reception issues, equalizer so-so, power button not so great.
I purchased this unit Christmas 2008 for my wife's 03' Ford Escape - the stock double-din multi-CD unit died. It was installed in roughly February and I have since been driving the SUV a lot so I felt I should write a review.
The unit was bought because it doesn't look like a control panel on the USS Enterprise pimped out w/ a spoiler and modified exhaust. It was intended to replace a stock radio, support MP3 and bluetooth. It does well in the required categories: simple aesthetics, mp3/bluetooth operation (stick drive & CD)
MP3's can be played on a CD and are easily navigated with the unit as long as you sort them into folders prior to burning. The folder and song names appear on the LCD and the radio navigation controls are simple and to the point when it comes to MP3 operation.
The included USB cable supports stick drives (and I believe mp3 players). I can attest to the stick drive access working fast & you can easily use a 4+ GB stick drive and not have to worry about what's on the airwaves. An mp3 CD accesses quickly and quietly. The USB cable has sufficient length to easily route to a glove box which was done in this case. The unit does not have a front-panel USB port but it does have an Aux port.
The LCD is basic which is a minor complaint as it accomplishes what it needs - it's a radio not a TV. Sun glare can be a slight problem but no more than a nuisance. Be sure your dimmer connection is functioning properly when hooking it up. I don't believe the unit supports displaying the artist/title over FM.
Radio reception seems to be worse on this unit than the stock but I listen to mp3 most of the time. The unit supports Sat-radio (with the additional hardware) which is nice but I did not elect to go this route. Aside from that FM radio functions are standard (memory functions, scan, etc.)
Sound reproduction on the default settings is not that great. Another poster made mention of this and also that the default or canned equalizer settings were not great. I found this to be the case as well. This can be remedied by using custom settings.
The unit uses a combined "Source" button to power the unit on/off and to switch from radio, sat, mp3, aux. This is annoying. You have to hold the button for the proper time to turn the unit off and can end up simply switching sources. Besides that, you must cycle through the other sources to get to mp3 from radio to CD etc. It would have been simple to add an independent set of buttons but this was not done. This is probably the worst part about the unit but isn't a showstopper, either.
Understand if you install this in a Ford Escape the dash opening is not standardized double din - it is slightly smaller and therefore requires some dremeling plus a Clarion kit only sold through Crutchfield (e.g. expensive). I imagine most other makes and models are fine - this is a fault of "Ford quality" which I have experienced time and time again. This is not a fault of the unit itself, however.
Overall, the unit gets 3/5 stars which means it functions as advertised but does not impress in any area. I think Clarion did well in engineering the unit but was tripped up on the more mundane placement and use of buttons and user settings. |
Good features and value, but some problems w/iPhone | | Review Date: October 9, 2009 | | Reviewer: CharT, | I began shopping for a new headunit with Bluetooth handsfree calling and to listen to music from my iPhone. The Clarion unit specs seemed to fit the bill at a very reasonable price.
The radio reception on this unit is worse than the stock one it replaced. Weaker FM stations that were clear with my old headunit now have slight background static.
Although the Clarion works more or less as advertised, it did run into a few minor issues with my iPhone 3GS. I can't tell if these problems are due to Apple's operating system or Clarion's iPod control implementation.
First, the Clarion unit doesn't always charge the iPhone 3GS. There have been multiple reports on the internet of the 3GS phones not always recognizing a charger that works perfectly fine with the 3G. I never had a 3G, so I can't comment on whether the CX609 charges the 3G perfectly. Whenever I plug the 3GS into the Clarion, I'll always get one of two messages on the iPhone. The first possible message is the "may interfere with this device, do you want to switch to airplane mode?" The second, and more ominous, message is "doesn't support charging from this device and may interfere, do you want to switch to airplane mode?" Which message I get seems random and if I unplug/plug a few times, it'll eventually charge. Not sure if this is an Apple OS problem or Clarion problem. Once charging, I just choose "No" to airplane mode and everything sounds fine without any interference.
Second, the iPhone can't export it's phonebook into the headunit. This results in the headunit always displaying "unknown caller" even if you dialed from a contact in your iPhone.
Finally, the Bluetooth mode for the iPhone 3GS only supports play/pause control. Not really an issue with the CX609, it's more an Apple OS deficiency.
For people having trouble navigating the CX609 menus, the Bluetooth pairing is actually pretty straightforward once you choose to ignore the user manual. Here are the steps from memory:
1. Switch source to Bluetooth by pressing source button
2. Hold down DISP button until menu options displayed
3. Press right arrow until PAIRING menu
4. Press Play/ENT to select PAIRING
5. Press right/left arrow to choose memory slot (1 through 5 devices)
6. Press and hold Play/ENT to go to SEARCH/WAIT menu
7. Press down arrow to select WAIT
8. Set phone to search for Bluetooth devices before proceeding
9.Press AND hold Play/ENT until WAITING is flashing on the headunit
10. New device should appear on phone and use phone to complete pairing |
No usb controls or charging Iphone 3gs with iOS4.0! | | Review Date: June 26, 2010 | | Reviewer: Bruno Carboni Borrase, | | Since I upgraded my iPhone 3gs to iOS 4.0 the Clarion unit will no longer charge or play music through USB (accesory is not supported shown on screen) It was good for the 2 weeks I had it with iPhone 3gs with OS 3.1.2. |
Factory look, Bluetooth, poor display | | Review Date: November 19, 2009 | | Reviewer: Gene, Central Virginia | Installation: The unit was installed in 2007 Nissan Frontier. Display color can be set to match the dashboard pretty close. Overall it looks good.
Sound: Sound quality is O.K. similar to OEM unit. Changing presets in the equalizer doesn't help much. There are only 4 preset equalizer modes (three of them sound awful), plus manual mode, which is very hard to navigate.
Factory manual: Reading the manual is like decoding an ancient papyrus scroll. Looks like it was translated with an online page translator. Do yourself a favor and download the manual from Clarion web site before buying the unit. You may change you mind and go with another unit just based on that.
Bluetooth: Pairing Bluetooth phone (Motorola V3m) was hard but it worked. The unit is supposed to be able to download entire phone book from your phone. That didn't work no matter what I tried. I was able to push the phone number prom the phone to the unit one at a time. After all that was done I realized that scrolling through the phone book on the unit is not that easy and the display is only capable of showing 10 characters. So if your names in the phone book are longer than that you will only see part of it. It will eventual horizontally scroll through entire name but it takes a few seconds. I ended up programming just 5 numbers that I call the most. For everything else I use the phone to dial then just lay the phone and Bluetooth picks up. Be able to answer the phone hands free is nice.
USB/Mp3 playback: It plays MP3's and that is just about it. Navigating between folders/albums is a nightmare. Unfortunately it goes for most units in this class. The unit does not support folder-subfolder structure. All folders are in one long list and again only 10 characters are displayed. If you only have a few albums on a drive that should not be a problem. Instead of having a one large drive with all your music (what I was hoping for) just buy a handful of cheap small USB flash drives 1 to 4gb. Encoding MP3's to anything more than 128 bit will be a waist of space. The unit's dynamic range is only 20Hz to 15kHz.
Conclusion: If you can afford buy another unit with more user friendly display. |
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