Thoughts on the Kenwood DPX593BT double DIN head unit (or alternatives)?

[bmdubya1198]

They can and do but the heat dissipation sucks and the unit does not last as long or perform as well. Heat is the number one nemesis of electronics longevity. The head unit can be better controlled with that massive heat source removed, cleaner audio processing. That one of the reasons the SC-901 sounds so good.

I figured that's probably what it is. It has a lot more ventilation under the passenger seat or in the trunk where it isn't surrounded by other electronics.

[wrybread]

I'm not entirely sold on the heat theory. I'm sure it's part of it, but especially with a double DIN there's a lot of heat sink surface for a head unit, and I've never felt even detectable heat from any of my external amps, and I've used a lot of them over the years. But I'm not exactly rattling my door panels with bass.

On a somewhat side note, I wonder about the new "digital amps" aka "chip amps". If I understand them correctly that's the new tech that has enabled tiny devices like the Amazon Echo to sound good while being so tiny. And it scales up, I've owned about 20 of this amp:

https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Audio-Am ... B071XQGYRJ

I'm pretty sure that's the one, it usually says "Breeze Audio" on it or "Nobsound". You can find them on eBay for about $25. It's powered by 12v - 24v, and the higher the voltage the better/louder. I usually use laptop power supplies or 19v drill batteries if I want portable, but they sound fine with good ol 12 volts. They sound shockingly good for such small devices. If you swap out the 6 capacitors in them (which I gather are always counterfeit, ugh!) they sound even better, but they sound great even without that mod.

I wonder if there's any car stereos using this technology.

And I'm getting closer to ordering that Kenwood DPX593BT, since it's so cheap and worth the risk. And it'll let me use my old Kenwood KAC-744 amp (1990s I think) that has followed me through a few vehicles and I just love the way that thing sounds. I swear you can connect the cheapest thriftshop speakers to it and they will boom and sound clear.