Installed Kenwood DDX-616

[SPIRK]

It only took three weeks of owning the car to finally change the stock head unit. I did tons of searching and finally picked up a Kenwood DDX-616 because it has everything I need and doesn't cost too much. I put it in Thursday night and it was the easiest headunit install I've ever done. It makes the stock speakers sound 10 times better but I'll be changing them out for some components soon.

This is right after I finished it late that night.


Night shot just to show how the interior lights match up. The headunit illumination can be changed to any color you want. I chose red for now because of the A/C controls.


The next afternoon after I got the ipod hooked up. It was cold and I was tired so I left the microphone dangling until I figure out exactly where I want it.


The installer at the shop where I got the dash kit sold this to me for $20. He built it himself for his friend that owns an 09 WRX. It fits perfectly up on the level part of the trunk and has plenty of room for amps between the box and seats. It'll hold two 10" subs that require between 0.8 and 1 cubic feet of space.


Not really an interior mod but I wanted to show it off. I took a picture of my bike (05 ZX6R) and traced it onto some green vinyl.

[Heide264]

Looks good man. I'm glad to hear head unit installs aren't bad on this car. I'm so tired of dealing with 90's cars that have XX and YY running through the OEM head unit. My '97 caddy wouldn't even start if you weren't careful with it.

Does that sub enclosure slide around? It is dumb, but I always have issues with enclosures sliding around. That isn't in a performance car either, to say the least.

Nice install, you'll have to post up what you do with the speakers.

How are the speaker mounts in these cars done?

[SPIRK]

Thanks. I've always hated installing stuff in older cars as well. My 91 suburban has been the biggest pain I've ever dealt with. The factory placement for the headunit couldn't be in a worse spot unless it was outside the vehicle.

The sub box doesn't budge at all but it's empty right now. I have the feeling I'll have to throw a brace on it when I get the two subs in there. I haven't taken the door apart to look at the speakers but I've read about people having trouble with the spacers. Someone did a terrific write-up about reusing the factory spacer on aftermarket speakers. I'll make sure to update this as I add more stuff. Right now I'm trying to figure out where to put the tweaters when I get components.

[Heide264]

Tweeter mounting, especially for high end tweeters, is recommended in that frame along the door (A brace maybe? Sorry for the ignorance) where a lot of people load up those 3 gauges. Normally the term is axial I believe for mounting locations directly at ear level pointed at you, as compared to off axial that are lower in the door etc. It might not be a bad idea to look into getting one of those gauge mounts for it, and converting a gauge holder to a tweeter mount. The only issue I see is the passenger side one =/

..Just an idea. Fiberglass really isn't fun to play with, especially if you are semi-artistically challenged as I am.

[mangostick]

acoustically you want to keep the tweeter as close to the woofer as possible, unfortunately our cars make that a little tough. Although, there's a guy floatin around here with them mounted in the door panel just above the speaker in that angled flat spot. I went and bought the factory A pillar tweeter pods from the dealer (under $20) and stuffed a pair of Blaupunkt tweeters in them. Sounds great.. imaging/staging and clarity are much better compared to not having any tweets at all.

[bimprez]

looks sweet, what dash kit did you use? also did you use a pac to keep the steering wheel controls? I have been looking at putting that unit in my one, what's your general feeling bout it?

[SPIRK]

Thanks, I really love it. I used a Scosche SU2027B dash kit that I got from a local place for $29 and it fits and looks great. I don't have steering wheel controls but I know that Kenwood sells an adapter that I've seen in a car and it works perfectly. Also, I got the video and full menu controls to work while driving by simply grounding the light green wire that is supposed to be connected to the e-brake sensor wire. The stereo made the stock speakers sound much better but still not great like an amp and aftermarket speakers would. My overall feeling is that the DDX616 is the best choice I could have made for the money. Other models above it have navigation and a couple other things but I already have GPS so I didn't neet it.

The only problem I've had with the stereo is that people have told me they hear the engine whine while talking on the phone through the stereo's bluetooth. I'm pretty sure I caused that problem by running the mic wire through the driver side of the car so I'm going to redo it on the passenger side so it's away from the electrical loom.

[bimprez]

Awesome! Sounds like a good headunit!

Yeah I think I will do what u have done, and put it in and then use a pac to get the steering wheel controls to work!

How did u get the dash out? I have looked online some people remove the whole dash from where the passenger aircon vent is and others pry it out with tools...

[SPIRK]

All I did to remove the center dash piece was insert a butter knife (very carefully) into the seam under the bottom left corner of the left air vent and the whole thing started popping right out. If your knife is too thick, or you use something sharp, you will scratch it all up. I managed to do the whole thing without leaving any signs of the dash being removed. I'll probably take it all out again to reroute the mic wire tomorrow or sometime this week. I'll take pictures of it and post them while I have it out. This is the first car that I haven't minded repeatedly removing the stereo and changind things around. It's that easy.

[mangostick]

All I did to remove the center dash piece was insert a butter knife (very carefully) into the seam under the bottom left corner of the left air vent and the whole thing started popping right out. If your knife is too thick, or you use something sharp, you will scratch it all up.
It's that easy.

Its scary easy to get a head unit out of one of these. ^^ completely correct, just pop the vent bezel off and voila.. all the access you need. 4 screws and two connectors later and the radio is in your lap.

I used a dull but thin putty knife.. same method as above. I second the caution about scratching things, that plastic isn't the toughest stuff I've ever run into.