How To: Upgrade Head Unit (Kenwood eXcelon DNX6960)

I am seeing 10 feet accuracy a lot of time. If I go under a highway overpass, it jumps to 15 feet accuracy.

I made two trips into Manhattan and the GPS reception works ok (50 feet accuracy) in areas without crowded tall buildings. When driving on 42nd St, the accuracy went to around 90 feet. GPS started to think I was on 40th St and it became pretty much unusable.

I am going to try to mount the sensor near the antenna on the roof.

 

Here is a video of the Garmin navigation in action:

Picture of GPS reception and DVD video quality:

 

No, not at all. I hope there was someone who can answer these kind of questions before I bought mine. I am glad I have this opportunity to answer your questions.

Yes, it can give spoken direction with text-to-speech. This will pronounce the street names. You can also use the regular voice that doesn't say the street names. I prefer this one because it sounds more human than robot.

Nav doesn't have parking detection but the DVD movie player does. I grounded my parking wire so I can watch DVD even when I am driving. I have done it only to test so in the future passengers may watch in the future.

Nav runs off map from the built-in (internal) solid state memory. This enable DVD movie or mp3s full of DVD to play while Navigating. The micro SD card is to upgrade the Nav firmware or to use additional maps.

Yes, I believe so. The head unit supports dual zone. You can choose a source in the front and another source in the back. Nav is not considered a source because it can interrupt (with direction) and can be configured for the front or all speakers.

Traffic is optional. It is about $100 and I plan to upgrade it in the future. It is Navtec FM based traffic information without subscription fee but I heard there are some Ads though.

I also want to get HD radio (subscription free also) as an upgrade in the future.

 

Here is the video I took when I installed the mic in the stock location (next to the overhead sunglasses / map light compartment).

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-aAvhz_24c]YouTube - DNX6960 Mic install.ts[/ame]

 

That's exciting. Do post (in gen3 section) your experience with it. It looks like DNX6960 is now available for $724 on ebay.

 

I posted a video overview of the unit. I hope someone find it useful to make the decision.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1AcfT-c0gM]YouTube - Kenwood DNX6960 Overview[/ame]

 

People can understand me well. The mic is very sensitive because when I am driving on the highway, they hear the road noise. The head unit has the setting to filter out the background noise and I have yet to play around with it. So far, I have no issue other than talking louder when on noisy highway surface (concrete) or in the rain.

At slow speed, they can not tell if I am talking from my car bluetooth. I have not tried myself from the receiving end and have my wife talking in the car. DNX6960 comes with the latest Bluetooth chip from Parrot, supporting version 3.0. This means faster transfer speed with lower battery consumption.

Once I removed the overhead map light unit, the roof fabric create a gap. I use it to route behind A pillar (just pull back the weather strip). From there, the wire goes behind the dash (behind the steering wheel) to the back of head unit. The cable still had probably six inches left.

This maintains the stock look, exactly how I wanted.

 

I replaced the OEM steering wheel controls with Bluetooth, Info and Map buttons. Right off the bat, the Info button was able to switch between Consumption and Energy screens.



I made a video showing how I programmed SWI-JACK to work with the steering wheel buttons.

 

There is now $100 rebate.

Kenwood - Navigate A Rebate

A user posted a sweet deal on kenwoodforums.com.

1) Go to www.al-eds.com
2) Add the DNX6960 and the KCA-IP301V to you cart.
3) Check out using the coupon code dev300.
4) Pay using paypal or a credit card.
5) There is a MIR on it. Apply for the MIR and get the Unit plus the IPOD cable for 750.

 

The new control module is plug-n-play. The wire is zip tied so you'll need to cut the zip tie and use a new one. After you swap the controls, the Info button worked right away; switching the Energy and Consumption screens on the MFD.

1) Disconnect the 12V battery to prevent airbag from accidentally deploying.

2) You'll need to unscrew two screws. One is located around the base of the cruise control and another one on the other side. The airbag and horn (center unit) will come off. I did not unplug the cables from it. I simply moved it out of the way, sort of dangling. It gave me enough space to work on it.

3) Cut the zip tie and remove the control. First, practice removing the control from the one you bought from Ebay. You can study how things are snapped in. There is a plastic hook that you'll need to push it out.

4) Install the new control and put everything together; connect the 12v battery as well.

I have more pics I took at home that I can post if that's not clear enough.

 

The Info button is definitely a plus. I can switch between Energy and Consumption screen from the steering wheel. Before, I had to reach the LCD screen and I change between these screen depending on the speed.

I also gained 3 more buttons to program. I do not have to use it to pick up the phone. It could be for something else. Once I develop muscle memory, the steering wheel buttons are very useful.

For $70+, it is expensive but the OEM look along with additional buttons are worth it. It will not give you the best bang for the buck. BOSS BASS600 subwoofer for $100 will give the best bang for the buck.