New Kenwood Starter Headunits

27th August 2010 Adam Rayner

Two new entry level headunits are launched by Kenwood this week. The KDC-241SA/SG, which will sell for only £69 and the KDC-W312SAY, which is tagged at a mere £79. The KDC-241 is a budget player but even at this level now comes with a 24bit DAC, which is nutty VFM. It has a 4 x 45w amplifier inside, a bass boost and a front mounted stereo audio auxiliary input facility. Any flash player or iPod’s analogue output can go in here. Here’s the general SP.

TDF (Theft Deterrent Faceplate)
14 Segment FL Display
Rotary Encoder & Control Knob
2-way Telephone/Navigation Mute
Digital Clock (24H)
Key Illumination Red or Green
Manual Dimmer Function (on/off)
System Q (Preset Sound Control)
Bass Boost Fader & Loudness Control
Attenuator (-20dB) with Smooth Volume Return
RDS FM/MW/LW 24 Station Presets (18FM, 6MW & LW)
AME (Automatic Memory Entry)
24bit D/A Converter CD-R/CD-RW Compatible

For a tenner more, the KDC-W312 offers the same stuff but has a bigger 4 x 50w power chip and the ability to play MP3 files from CD. It also adds a single RCA preout that can be filtered for subwoofer use or left full range and called a Rear Output. Again, very high value for money. I think we should try one of these out.