New Kenwood 700 U

I picked up the new Kenwood 700U deck to power my new system im still building.

This unit has all the fancy goodies in it. I also picked up the remote unit for it. It can control 3 separate remotes at once. They have a piggy back connector you can buy so you can run a drivers remote, transom remote and a third where ever else you want.

The deck as a standard DIN case on it. It has an over sized fascia. There is also a separate Brain unit. The actual Deck is jsut a case for the face to attach and you to store your IPod, IPhone, or thumb drives in.

I will post some pictures of the Brain when i get it installed. I haven't decided where its going yet.

Only bad part about this unit is the face is so large, and the LSV glove box is so shallow that the face wont open all the way. It open fare enough to use the connections inside just fine but some will be unhappy you cant open it all the way.

Picture 1 Deck
Picture 2 Showing the Deck open.
Picture 3 is the remote.

That was a lot of work to get it installed.
Me and Newty, < cant say thanks enough for your skills on this project bro > cut the original mounting section for the Kenwood remote out. Shaped and cut it large enough to flush mount this new remote. It required us to heat the panel and bend it to fit the contours of the new remote. Lastly we heated and bent the upper corner of the remote case to form into the panel.

I have a few other pictures of the panel work but they are in the phone not on my computer.

It was a 12 pack of beer job LOL. 1 each to talk threw the plan. 2 each to start cutting and remolding the panel.

3 more to go over all Newty's upgrades after the remote was done. LOL

Looks good on the boat! Glad to help.
Thanks for the mod fuel!:p

hope you enjoy it. def. a real nice deck for the $$. I really like the adjustability of it as compared with the factory kenwood decks.

only downside is disconnecting the batteries and you lose all the settings :(

Thanks Sandm your info you sent me on the deck really helped me decide. Luckily it does fit a normal DIN sized hole but unfortunately the LSV glove box is really shallow.

come on summer........

soooo anxious to get the boat on the water and start playing around with some of this stuff.

That's a really nice head unit. I was really torn between choosing that Kenwood 700u or Alpine. I decided to go with the Alpine CDA-9886M because I didn't want to drill any holes. There's an optional RF remote that I bought so I'm going to test it out this season. I'm going to install mine this weekend.

That Kenwood is super nice though!! Congrats

I was really looking into that same Alpine also my main selling point was the Alpine didn't work as well with my IPhone and i like the Thumb drive idea as well, now the guests can bring music they want to hear as well.

Mike, Nice install. Before the summer comes you will have to replace out the in boat speakers since that is the last audio thing you have not changed out.

Ausbill32, I have the Alpine RF remote and it is ok. Nothing great or wonderful. They say you can take it 80 feet but it is more like 60 feet.

Thanks Jester.... 60 feet is pretty good. I only tend to float about 10 feet away from the boat so I'm thinking this RF controller might be all that I need.

MMandley, I talked to two different sales people about the Kenwood and Alpine. Both told me if you have iPhone 3GS you'll need the Schoshe adapter in order for your iPhone to charge while it's connected but you can't always trust those guys. Does your iPhone charge when you plug it in to your Kenwood? I bought one of these adapters just incase but I guess I'll find out this weekend. BTW, I didn't even think about the thumb drive idea as you mentioned..... oh well, too late now.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...iPhone+3G.html

Ausbill32, You should be fine at 10 feet. I would put a floater on it for when you do drop it into the lake.

I have the 3GS phone and yes it does charge when its plugged in. Most of the stuff that says IPhone compatible really isnt, i actually went to the shop and plugged mine in before i would buy it. The sales guy is like wait what are you doing as i poped the face open and plugged my phone in to test its functionality. Then i said thanks and left because i didn't like his prices LOL.

Does anyone else have this radio installed in their boat meaning the Kenwood KMR-700U ?

Does anyone have or considered the new Kenwood KMR-440U - has the built in USB ports on the front.... trying to decide between the two... Ebay has the 700u for $214.00 and the 440U for 165.00..
Any input....

Anabolicone, I got the KDC-X493, of ebay for $125 shipped. It also has the USB on the front panel. The remote connectors were differnt, but I just cut the one from the remote and got a new connector from a shop that fit the new radio(Tested and it worked). Havn't tested the radio yet as I am STILL in the middle of finishing by add a battery and amp relocate.

BRANDNIRON - Can you give me a bit more detail on what you did with the connection for the remote on the x493. I took advice from other posts and installed the X493 this last weekend with a 700.5 amp and an SKM-10 sub all of which greatly improved my audio setup - I now have way too much volume for circling back to pick up my wakeboarders/surfers..have to get the remote going. Was hoping to use the same remote that came with the stock KW HU ...you did something similar?

Hutch

hutch,
confused as to what remote you are talking about that came with? My X493 came with the handheld remote control and then I have the Aewire remote puck at the driver's helm.

Both work just fine. The handheld remote just point and click and hardly use. Probably just end up in the water anyways. The remote puck you wire up to the blue remote wire on the kenwood wire harness.

The buttons are a little funky. You can control the forward/back movement of MP3's if your using USB and when running my blackberry on AUX the only thing I can control with the puck is the volume. But that's all I really need when streaming Pandora or something.

The CD, AUX, FM, AM, USB seem to work fine and you can get to them from the puck. The puck is older than when these devices had USB/AUX so you have to hit the cd button twice to get AUX to cycle up or something like that but other than that it does what I need it to?

thanks viking....was hoping it was that straightforward..that is my setup....I was referring to the puck...like you said I am certain the handheld will be at the bottom of the lake in a matter of time....will try it this weekend....thanks!

I just bought the KMR-440U and it works great, souinds great and fit just perfect in place of stock unit. I liked it because it is "Marine design" has a cover over the usb/ ipod inputs, 3 sets of RCA for amps and plenty of EQ adjust to tune to your liking. It is cheaper on Ebay, but I bought from Crutchfield..Was $189, free shipping and came with a free Kenwood remote (puck).. It is different than the Aeware pucks, generally the same, wires the same.thought it might be handy in case a replacement needed for 1 of the 2 I have on the Moomba (or sell it to someone in need!?) PLUS, you can trust Crutchfield to be there if any problems or warranty!!!! No telling about those ebay guys

Anyway the KMR-440u works , sound and looks good, has a cool blue backlight and no trying to find a way to mount a "loose" usb cord for plugging and has CD fi you like or use those anymore....Doesn't look as if the 700U has CD, but has a bunch of other add ons (at a cost). The 440U also has add ons for HD radio, Syrius, changers, etc.

Only thing I am worried about the 440U in the sensitivity, RCA output is only 2.5v or 3v, not 100% on that figure. But will see what happens when I get my Exile amps installed and see how it performs. Just my opinion anyway.

4v outputs on the 440U. Thats what convinced me to buy it.