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Kenwood DDX9903S Stereo Upgrade

5K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  ZoSoIV 
#1 ·
The Kenwood DDX9903S was recently released, and I started this thread to talk about Pro's, Con's and general observations about the unit. I had my unit installed last Thursday, Aug 25. I did not add any speakers, and this unit replaced the standard FJ Stereo. I had it installed by a local car stereo shop and my observations are not a reflection of the installer.

Cons: There were several things that I was disappointed with in reference to the DDX9903S.
1. After the install, the clock/ calendar would not keep accurate time. When the FJ was turned off, it would reset to 13 hours forward.
2. The Compass Icon would not work on the display
3. Steering Wheel Controls. Only the left side of the steering wheel controls work (Volume, Mode, Forward). None of the controls on the right sight that include the Voice Control button and the answer / hangup buttons DO NOT work. For me, this is a major issue... You know have to access the Voice Button on the DDX9903S to provide voice commands for phone calls.

Kenwood released a firmware upgrade on Aug. 25th to correct some issues. I took the stereo back to the installer today and they installed the firmware upgrade, which fixed the Clock / Calendar and Compass issues.

Pros: There are a lot of Pros for this unit... I am not going to go through them all, but will give some highlights. Again, I have only had this unit for about 5 days, so I a still learning all of the features.
1. The video is very sharp and easy on the eye. The controls are easy to access and is very responsive.
2. The touch screen is very responsive and I have had no issues with using the screen.
3. Audio is very good... I did add XM and both XM and the HD radio work very well. I did not upgrade the speakers, but the unit made the stock speakers sound much better.
4. Android Auto. This unit supports both Android and Apple Auto. I have an Android, and it works very well, giving access to maps, a familiar phone book look, quick cards and access to music on your phone... for me, that is Spodify. All work great.
5. Camera. The unit supports both a front and rear camera. I had the backup camera on my FJ routed to the Kenwood... it works great, just need to align the parking guidance lines to fit the FJ.
6. Bluetooth. The bluetooth works great, and will support two connections at the same time.. and if you don't want to connect to Android Auto, you still have access to your phone and music. I have a Motorola Droid 2 and my phone book downloaded to the Kenwood without any issues.
7.HDMI... have not tried these feature yet.

If you have purchased this unit and have any comments or tricks to share, please do. I saw a couple of threads about a group purchase, but was hoping to start one that would concentrate on the Kenwood.

If you have any answers to getting the steering wheel controls for the Voice and Phone working with this unit, please share.
 
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#3 ·
I checked the details from the installer, and here is what they used...
Toyota 87-05 Harness MET701761
Steering Wheel Interface PACSWIRC

I can probably get more details from the installer, but that is what is on the invoice.
 
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