Z828 Problem

[Robba]

I have an MP3 Protege and the Kenwood head unit seems to be breaking.

The lights come on, and I do get an audible 'beep' through the speakers whenever I select source, however no sound actually comes out.

It seems like this problem has popped up for a few people, but I haven't been able to find a solution on these forums.

(I know I hate it when someone's first post is something that could be answered with a simple search.)

Anyway, I was just hoping someone here might have some wisdom. I suppose if I need to replace the head unit I might as well ask for advice on something that would be easy to install, under $150 on the used market, and reliable.

 

[1sty]

Other then hitting the reset button, I have no clue. Its probably time for a new unit.

For $150 look for pioneer online. They are probably the best brand that will authorize online sales. Clarion is good too.

 

[Robba]

Thanks for the reply.

It's a strange problem because at times the HU will work (like all day today and yesterday) and at other times not (like all day on Friday). Of course, intermittant problems are often the hardest to diagnose.

Given what these things originally retailed for, I'm staggered by the frequency of problems that these units seem to have (as reported online). I don't know a lot about mobile audio, but I do know quite a bit about home audio and I couldn't imagine a high end company putting out a unit with such a high failure rate. It's just too hard to build a 'high end' brand and there's far too much competition.

 

[1sty]

Thanks for the reply.

It's a strange problem because at times the HU will work (like all day today and yesterday) and at other times not (like all day on Friday). Of course, intermittant problems are often the hardest to diagnose.

Given what these things originally retailed for, I'm staggered by the frequency of problems that these units seem to have (as reported online). I don't know a lot about mobile audio, but I do know quite a bit about home audio and I couldn't imagine a high end company putting out a unit with such a high failure rate. It's just too hard to build a 'high end' brand and there's far too much competition.

Its not a problem of competition but one its one of size verse bargin shoping. Most of the people buying car audio are kkids with no money as it is an no understanding of price verse quality. So brands like kenwood throw in alot of dancing lights and crappy parts to move units at a low price.

The MAJOR engineering problem is fitting that much into a small package. Consider how large a stereo home audio reciever it. They are 10 times the sizeof a car audo deck. Yet the car audio deck has a 4x15 watt rms amplifier, built in CD player, CD changer controls, tuner, aux input, up to 6 channels of Preouts, digital crossovers, digitial time corrections, digital EQ's and all of this has to beable to survive -10 degrees to +160 degree weather in a constantly shaking envirnment.




That said, when the lights went out did anything stay on at all or where all of the buttons lights out too? Some units, although I am not sure about the kenwood, have a feature to turn off the display. My last few decks have had it. Its enabled by holding down a button for a few seconds. So sometimes its enabled accidently.

 

[Robba]

1sty, definitely hear regarding the difference in engineering challenges between mobile and home audio. Five years ago I purchased a Sony mobile ES head unit and changer. While the sound was definitely better than the stock HU, I really began to see the inherent limitations in trying to eke out good sound in that kind of environment. It was then that I decided to put money into the home rig in the future. After the Sony stuff was stolen, I simply replaced the stock HU and lived happily ever after.

I never would have bothered with mobile audio again except that I ended up buying a Mazda MP3 which comes with the fancy Kenwood HU. It's just staggering to me that someone could release a $700 piece of audio equipment with such a high failure rate. While I can certainly see engineering problems in the sub $200 market, you'd think that shelling out extra money would guarantee either quality control or at least a decent warranty. Because certainly its possible to make a HU that doesn't fail. The fact that Kenwood only covered work for the first two years is pretrty telling. Again, I'm just comparing things to the home market where companies like Bryston offer lifetime warranties that rarely have to be used.

Anyways, the lights don't go off. Everything besides the sound works. I can change tracks, pause, rewind, etc. And like I said, it only happens some of the times I get into the car. And sometimes if it isn't working, it'll cut back on. At first I suspected a loose wire, but it seems like other people have had the exact same issue.

I made this post kind of hoping that if someone had figured out what was causing the problem, they might be able to offer some advice.

Thanks again for your reply, though.

 

[1sty]

1sty, definitely hear regarding the difference in engineering challenges between mobile and home audio. Five years ago I purchased a Sony mobile ES head unit and changer. While the sound was definitely better than the stock HU, I really began to see the inherent limitations in trying to eke out good sound in that kind of environment. It was then that I decided to put money into the home rig in the future. After the Sony stuff was stolen, I simply replaced the stock HU and lived happily ever after.

I never would have bothered with mobile audio again except that I ended up buying a Mazda MP3 which comes with the fancy Kenwood HU. It's just staggering to me that someone could release a $700 piece of audio equipment with such a high failure rate. While I can certainly see engineering problems in the sub $200 market, you'd think that shelling out extra money would guarantee either quality control or at least a decent warranty. Because certainly its possible to make a HU that doesn't fail. The fact that Kenwood only covered work for the first two years is pretrty telling. Again, I'm just comparing things to the home market where companies like Bryston offer lifetime warranties that rarely have to be used.

Anyways, the lights don't go off. Everything besides the sound works. I can change tracks, pause, rewind, etc. And like I said, it only happens some of the times I get into the car. And sometimes if it isn't working, it'll cut back on. At first I suspected a loose wire, but it seems like other people have had the exact same issue.

I made this post kind of hoping that if someone had figured out what was causing the problem, they might be able to offer some advice.

Thanks again for your reply, though.

I haven't actualy seen this problem as being a major problem with the 828's. Kenwood unfortunily started taking a divew in quality a few years ago. They were certaqinly our worst at tweeter. However, I would estimate the between 3%-10% of all head units fail depeding on model and manufacturer. Thats just accounting for the 1st 2 years. Not many make it past 5. Hell most people replace them before that. Things have certain gotten worse since the dancing light craze, video craze, and motorized face plate craze have come around. Although even without all that crap, decks like nackamichi have always had there problems even though they are as simple as can be.