Kenwood Excelon KDC-X492 CD/MP3 Receiver with front USB and Auxiliary inputs
From KENWOOD

* CD player with built-in MOSFET amplifier (22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels) * Plays CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RW discs, including discs loaded with MP3, WMA, and AAC files (will not play Digital Rights-protected music files on disc) * Detachable, fold-down face with fluorescent display * Remote control * Dual-zone capability for playing different sources over the front & rear speakers * System Q Sound Control (6 EQ curves and a 3-band equalizer) * "Supreme" audio processing for better sound from your compressed music files * speaker settings that allow you to tailor the sound to the size and type of speakers in your car * System E's high- and low-pass filters * Built-in iPod control through the USB input * Compatible with Kenwood's Bluetooth adapter and satellite radio (tuner, service subscription, and antenna required) * Inputs: front auxiliary and USB inputs * Outputs: three sets of preamp outputs

Amazon Sales Rank: #41646 in Consumer Electronics
Brand: Kenwood
Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Quality and versatility
I wanted a direct, plug in, replacement for an 8 year old Kenwood already installed so considering other brands wasn't an issue. For this installation, must haves were a USB input for my thumb drives and MPG/WMA capability for CDs, so my choices in this price range were between this or a KDC-MP438U. The X492 has a higher pre-out output and the price (caught it on sale) made this unit the winner over the MP438U. Sound is great but I gave it only four stars for a few good reasons: The blue lighting around the jog knob and external inputs is distractingly bright (with no way to turn it down or off) and the instruction booklet could be clearer on how all this good stuff works and, at this point, the GUI seems a little complex when setting up and making adjustments.

Kenwood has developed a "dual mode" feature for this unit (and others I suspect) which I think would be ideal for families with kids. Easily selectable, in dual mode different sources can be listened to through the front and back speakers. With the included remote control, the kids can play what they please (iPod, whatever) through the back speakers while the adults can do what they want in front. Good idea.

All in all this is a good sounding unit that has a nice quality feel. Great for the price and I'd do it again faced with the same circumstances.

Good, but... Not easy to use at all!!!
Like other reviewers I've found this stereo to be extremely unintuitive to manipulate and set which is a real shame because the sound quality is very good.

For example:
- the ON button is the second little button to the right of the big knob (almost impossible for me to find in the dark) and it's labeled something like SCF, or some other unrelated acronym, so the first couple times I tried to find the ON I pressed other things (like the knob, which really, really, really stands out and looks like it SHOULD be the ON/OFF/VOL control)

- the OFF button is the same button that you press *briefly* to switch media formats but press it for a couple seconds and the machine turns OFF...

-pushing the knob in, the most obvious action to do when staring at all the doodads on the units face, moves you through a series of settings menus that are further manipulated by pushing the knob left, right, up, or down, or by pressing some of the other little buttons that look just like the radio preset buttons... no way to really know how to get to the menu you need without the manual and even then the buttons are so similar it's too involved to do while driving and impossible to memorize for future minor adjustments

Other CONS:
- the blue lighting is damned annoying at night - it does dim when the car's headlights are turned on but it's still way too bright; I'm going to have to do something stupid like tape a sheet of dark plastic over the thing at night to keep from feeling like I'm getting some young geeks laser pointer shined in my eyes from afar while I'm watching the road

- the unit's lights and display are totally off when the radio is not on --- very annoying when I want to know the time quickly, or even when I want to turn the darned thing on without turning on the interior lights!!!

- if the display is set to clock and you want to be shown the station's setting (frequency) you either have to change the radio frequency a click manually and then go back to the original frequency or go through a short series of button pushing to switch the display from clock to radio frequency - not easy when driving in town and you have to look at the unit to press the right buttons

This review is gripe heavy given what I feel is a good unit that warrants a solid 4 stars out of 5. Maybe I'll feel better about the unit when I get more opportunities to make adjustments and learn some basic/important options by memory. I guess I just feel that with the media formats and sound quality this unit could have been one of the best available at a very good price had Kenwood thought a little more about ergonomics and interface.

FOLLOW UP after 2 months of use:

Still getting the "feel" of using this unit. It sounds good right now so I mostly just ignore the options available to me since I don't bother to try to remember how to find my way to those menus. Maybe I'll fiddle with it when the wife is driving and I remember to bring along the manual...

Still prone to missing the "ON" button in the dark - as expected. Really, really wish Kenwood had made it so pushing ANY button, or at least the largest "button" (the knob) would have turned on the unit.

Have to find and hold the "OFF" button for too long to make the unit turn off. If the button isn't held for 2 seconds (I think it is - feels long anyway) you just change the input method. Then you have to scroll through the inputs to whatever you want the unit to power up with (if that's an issue to you).

No way to get time display without having the radio on. Wife has to turn on the unit and then turn the volume all the way down to get a clock in her car when she doesn't want to listen to music. Lame.

Still happy with the unit in general, though - especially with the sound quality and apparent construction quality.

On the other hand, though, if I knew what I know now I'd have looked at some of the higher #'d Kenwood excelons to see if they had the same button pushing issues as this model does. Since the sound specs are virtually identical between the units (USB input is to the rear on the others, however, which is a big issue to us) I probably would have opted for a more expensive unit that avoided the pressing of a teeny, hard to find button for the most used control (power).