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It’s that time of the year again when the cream-of-the-crop contenders in mobile electronics walk the red carpet to Australian InCar Entertainment’s own Kodak Theatre Awards presentation…
What a year we’ve had since the 2009 InCar awards! It was a somewhat topsy-turvy year which saw the industry’s major festivals and exhibitions change ownership and consolidate. This local phenomenon was somewhat a reflection of what has been going on overseas, as we found out when we visited what is arguably the Mecca of consumer electronics in Las Vegas’ CES, where we were privy to some of the exciting things to come. Having suffered through the Global Financial Crisis, the general vibe in the States was quite optimistic and showed confidence in a slow but steady recovery.
Throughout the year, here at home, we’ve been busy reviewing a plethora of kit spanning the gamut of companies from cottage manufacturer to multinational conglomerate.
Progressively over the last few years technology has been rapidly advancing when it comes to head units in particular – now easily referrable as media centres, really. Further advances, albeit at a much slower pace, have been made in material technologies (for speakers) and electronics’ topologies (amplification).
Overall we’re seeing further technology advancements and integration with external devices such as iPod (with better control), memory cards (of the SD type predominantly) and USB-based external devices. Bluetooth of course has established itself as the mobile phone protocol for wireless communication and more head units are including this as an in-built standard. GPS navigation is also becoming a feature with stronger presence in head units of the multimedia variety, although the stand-alone portable units are also proliferating (we saw some great examples in our group test which concludes on page 36). Both GPS varieties – of the in-built and portable types – are improving ergonomically and in terms of navigation accuracy while providing ever-increasing features count.
As was the case last year, the job of decision-making was no easy task – we mulled and mulled. But without further ado, we’d like to present this year’s Australian InCar Entertainment Awards to products of excellence in the field of mobile electronics…
head units of the year under $500
JVC KW-XR816 $499
This new double-DIN head unit from JVC could almost have won on looks alone. Its elegant satin black fascia and minimalist controls will add class to any suitable dash and its ease-of-use is a welcome change from many of today’s over-busy designs. But it also delivers the tech too with good AIFF, MP3 and WMA playback and track data off CDs, plus snappy recognition and display of USB files and iPod functions. AM radio reception was also good – important in Oz and often overlooked, plus the unit is ready for Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming via an optional adaptor. The final clincher was the XR816’s excellent audio specifications and sound quality via a simple but effective parametric equaliser, 24-Bit DACs and 5-volt pre-outputs.
For those less technically inclined, such specs are typically only found in higher-end units and were unexpected at this price. Incidentally there’s also a single-DIN version for those with less dash space – it just doesn’t look quite as grand. Well done JVC.
MYM: Hagemeyer Brands Australia Pty Ltd (Audio Division)
Clarion CZ500A $399
Clarion has packed a lot of media capability and practicality into this unit, including built-in Bluetooth hands-free and A2DP audio streaming. It’s the upper model in a new single-DIN range and it looks good, with its rear USB fly-lead allowing cleaner connection of optional thumb drives and the ubiquitous iPod. A simple 3-band EQ, 4V outputs with crossover and subwoofer drive helped the CZ500A to sound good too.
MYM: Clarion Australia
Pioneer DEH-7250SD $399
Cool blue seems to be the display colour ‘du jour’ among head unit brands right now and Pioneer’s large OEL display is impressive, with three lines of text display to help users identify radio stations, plus files from CD, iPod and even SD cards here. A five band EQ, full crossovers plus high-volt front, rear and sub pre-outs also make the new DEH-7250SD an ideal unit from which to build a quality in-car system.
MYM: Pioneer Electronics Australia Pty Ltd
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