Kenwood KDC-MPV7019
www.kenwoodusa.com

Kenwood gets colorful with it’s latest MP3-compatible head unit.

by Brian Smith

The KDC-MPV7019 is a single DIN head unit with AM/FM tuner, CD player (CD Audio plus MP3 CD-ROMs) and CD changer/Sirius satellite tuner control capabilities. Features include a removable faceplate with variable color display, six preamp outputs, an IR remote control, and internal amps rated at 22 watts x 4 into 4 ohms.

Performance
Kudos to Kenwood — this is the second head unit that I’ve seen from them with a reasonable power spec. The 22 watts x 4 rating is still a bit optimistic, but it’s far closer to reality than 50 watts x 4. We measured 16 watts x 4 at 1 percent THD+N with a 14-volt supply and all channels driven into 4 ohms.

The preamp outputs appear to be conservatively rated at 1.8 volts. We saw 2.3 volts at 1% THD+N, and a maximum of 2.7 volts at 20% THD+N. Source impedance measured in the 600 ohm range, which is usually adequate for all but the most demanding installations.

Only one aspect of the KDC-MPV7019’s performance seems a bit unusual. The unit obviously has a zero-bit muting circuit, as evidenced by its complete lack of output noise when playing our zero-bit test track. However, the muting circuit appears to be a little aggressive, as our ultra low-level gate cheater test track also registered absolutely no output. I was finally able to get the gate to open by using a test signal that’s swept from zero bits to maximum level. During this amplitude sweep, the gate opens and the outputs come alive about 75 dB below full output. Usable Dynamic Range specs on head units usually run in the high 80’s to low 90’s. While there is a rather substantial difference between -75 dB and the optimum, I’d be willing to bet that you could get away with a gate set at -40 dB about 90 percent of the time, as most modern recordings only fall below -5 dB in the silence between tracks.

User Evaluation
The KDC-MPV7019 was surprisingly easy to use despite its button-driven user interface. The internal menus progress in a logical manner, although some of the buttons on the unit are exceedingly small and the larger ones are oddly shaped.

While the interface isn’t exactly a tactile delight, the remote is quite good. Of course, it’s also a button driven interface, but somehow that’s OK when I don’t have to reach for anything. The main things that I dig about the remote are that it’s large and it feels good — it feels like something that I’m already used to, and that’s about the highest praise I can give an IR remote.

Another aspect of the KDC-MPV7019 that I like is the manner in which the tone controls work. Adjustments for bass, midrange, and treble are provided at center frequencies of 100 Hz, 1 kHz, and 10 kHz, respectively. While I would likely prefer lower bass and higher treble center frequencies, I like the fact that all of the filters provide 1 dB of boost or cut per click. Given that a 1 dB increment is a pretty standard graduation in the world of audio, it’s surprising how rarely it’s seen in head unit tone controls. It’s just refreshingly logical that +5 on the display means 5 dB of boost and not something like 7.3 dB. The plus or minus 8 dB limit is also nice to see. Face it, if you need more than 8 dB of boost or cut from a tone control, you have problems that should be addressed elsewhere in the signal chain.

Finally, I shouldn’t overlook what is probably the KDC-MPV7019’s main selling feature — the variable color display. As our regular readers know, I’ll be one of the first that’s willing to throw aesthetics out the window, but even my grumpy ass will have to admit that this one is pretty cool. The main colors available are white, red, blue, and blue-green, but you can also scroll through various shades of each main color or pick from a number of factory presets. For the struggling interior design types, this is a feature not to be missed.