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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Kenwood Radio

I know it isn't a big deal, but the rather tacky Kenwood radio cassette that comes with the ZS120 is not impressing me. The Rover branded radio that came with my old 414 seems much more logical and easy to operate.

The Kenwood has tiny controls with tiny labels. Even something as obvious as the on button is the third one in and marked SRC!!! On the Rover you just pushed the volume dial. The Kenwood can't even get that right with those daft up and down buttons!!!

When a traffic report comes in, the Rover gave you the frequency of the station. You can't get that info from the Kenwood.

Any most importantly, I don't think it sounds as good.

That radio/cassette has put me off Kenwood for life!




Brett

We will add that to the" things to improve" list I am preparing Brett.
How is the car otherwise after several week's ownership ?
andrew

i agree, the standard kenwood display is hard to see so i've upgraded to an alpine head with cd changer in the boot, much better and better reception as well
rob

Before you have a go at MGR. The car comes without a radio fitted. You CHOOSE from range of Kenwoods (an allowance is given so that a basic one is fited if required).

I'm sure that if you had insisted that you could have chosen an equally bad ergonomic nightmare from Japan - SONY.

Jerry Flint

Being as it is a dealer fit there is always the option for another and I know at least one from this BBS who has chosen that route. However the cost of the car includes the base Kenwood, which I agree does not have a user friendly display. As to quality then being an ICE heretic I am not one to comment!!

Rog
Roger Parker

If I wanted, could I have a normal Rover CD Autochanger and head unit fitted to a ZR, complete with integrated display in the dash?? A much better proposition than the Kenwood if reports are to be believed.
John G Hackett

I've got the Kenwood MP3 unit in my 'F and have done ever since they came out. The only annoying thing is that you can't seem to cancel out of Traffic Info when you no longer want to listen to it or the station 'forgets' to transmit the end-of-traffic-info bleeps and goes into an Ad break.

Apart from that & the fact the connector to the detactable face plate has a few dodgy connections, its ok :)

The MP3 function works brilliantly and that's what I got it for anyway, but I would agree, its an ergonomic nightmare.

Steve.
Steve Childs

> I'm sure that if you had insisted that you could
> have chosen an equally bad ergonomic nightmare from
> Japan

I couldn't agree more. Having suffered products from Clarion, Pioneer and Sony in the past I had two complaints:

1) Terrible user interfaces, which are difficult to use safely when you are driving the car

2) Having to take a box with the faceplate in it from the car when you park it.

When the Sony unit in my last car was stolen, I chose this Blaupunkt unit for the sole reason that it uses a keycard - a smart-card, which you can just slip in your wallet - instead of a removable panel:

http://www.blaupunktusa.com/receivers/receivers_00_dallas.htm

The added bonus is that I find the user interface far superior to anything that I've used up to now thanks to the use of 8 'soft-keys'. I had it transferred to the ZS180 and, to my ears, it sounds pretty good through the standard speakers too.

Incidentally, I have a Kenwood radio/cassette deck at home, boxed and unused, if anyone wants to make an offer. ;-)

S.
Steve H

I spoke to someone who owns a Kenwood unit today and they said they are extremely impressed with it. They showed me the panel and I agree that the buttons are slightly too small, but it didn't seem to bad. Can anyone comment on the performance / sound of the kenwood system in the ZR??
John G Hackett

Forgot to mention, the problem with these units in the F is that when you have the roof down on a sunday day, you can't read the LCD display at all. >:(

Steve.
Steve Childs

I have no argument that the Kenwood head units are a diabolical nightmare in terms of ergonomics- a problem compounded on the ZR by the low mounting position.

Sooo much better is the standard Rover item found on our beloved 214. Steering remote control and high level display of time/ radio frequency/ channel name. Superb. A great shame that more manufactures (other than Renault and Rover) do not offer these options :o(
It *would* be nice to get a ZR with the Rover stereo- and fit a decent amp and speakers to that rather than mess about with this Kenwood item. Oh well- its a good name held in esteem by the Max Power brigade- and that might be the reason for the unit's choice...

Okay- who is paning Sony? Have a Sony head/ cassette tuner in my F with autochanger. Once I switched off the juke-box display option, I am delighted with it. It's one of these 'face' units with few buttons and a rotary volume control. Very nice, and I am very pleased with it. Just a shame that the detachable fascia panel is so much larger than the OE MG/Phillips item. No longer exactly pocket size you see...

Rob
Rob Bell

Rob

Twas I that was paning SONY (just a name taken from the ether). Excepting household goods though, I think SONY are top drawer, while some of the automotive stuff defies belief.

I currently have a double DIN unit in a piece of Jap machinery I own, but before that I had a single unit in its replacement which had a CD changer and like Steve mentions on the Kenwood you could not read what was in the CD/MD/Radio etc - disaster, when I was trying to avoid Oasis (it's a son thing!!)

I vote back to Motorola and big Bakelite switches!
Jerry Flint

That double DIN format is getting more popular isn't it? Actually Jerry, you are probably just the man to ask: what is the format of the R75/ ZT ICE?

>>I vote back to Motorola and big Bakelite switches! <<

Hey, I reckon there is a market in that statement! Have one of those groovy sixties Motorola front panels (all silver and black- cool) and stuff inside the contents of a modern ICE reciever and autochanger controller. Popular not only in classic motors but also in a variety of retro-mobiles and 'style' cars. Could look good in certain MGs too! :o)
Rob Bell

As I said in my original, I don't want this to appear a bigger deal than it is - the car itself is fantastic and I am VERY happy with it - see the ZS120 thread for more comments.

But as far as the radio is concerned, I stand by my comments. I love Jerry's comments. Damn! I should be lucky that I got a radio at all!!! Yes I chose the basic model from a range of Kenwoods but why should that mean I end up with an inferior deal than the BASE (but excellent) model that came with my 1997 Rover 414.
Progress?
Brett Laniosh

This thread was discussed between 17/10/2001 and 19/10/2001

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