Dual XHD6425 4X50 Watt Bluetooth-Ready HD Radio and MP3 Player

I had to take the Dual HXD6425 unit out of my car and am now using it as doorstop. First, the CD player stopped working. I started to put a CD in, then hesitated and held onto it a little too long. After that, the CD player never worked. It immediately ejected all CD's. Several weeks later, the tuner went south, delivering mostly static on all the stations that previously came in fine. Also, not a big issue, but the clock ran fast from the day I got it... it gained about 5 minutes per week, so I reset it every week. I replaced this with a Kenwood KDC-MP342U, for about the same price. Only then did I realize that the sound was not all that stellar on the DUAL either. The Kenwood has a nice bass boost option and sounds better overall than the Dual (It does not come with an HD tuner, but I can live without that because the HD signal gets lost frequently, which is annoying). p.s. I originally was going to buy from Crutchfield, but most of these units cost more there and you can find the car stereo harness that you need online at other places for cheap. Also, you can find or buy instructions for taking out your existing stereo. The wiring hookup is easy... just connect the same colors to each other using butt connectors.

We've owned a 6425 and a 6420 (same but without USB and Bluetooth) for about a year, and son of a gun, you can't get anything this good for anywhere near the price. Let's be realistic, this isn't a high-end receiver. Power is modest, usability is OK (control layout is a bit weird), but it does what it does very well, which is to receive and play HD-radio stations. We live in a major metropolitan area, so there are a lot of HD stations and they come in fairly well. HD-radio is, honestly, no big deal (quality is not "HD" - it's really only about as good as MP3), but a nice thing is that, for some reason, all of the "upper" HD channels (HD1 is always the same as the analog FM, which the unit automatically switches to when the HD signal isn't good enough) seem to be commercial free. I don't know if this is a requirement or just something broadcasters are trying out, but it's the main reason I like HD-radio.

Aside from that, the aux function, the USB port, and MP3 compatibility on the CD player, and the Bluetooth function (with the optional BTM60 module) are all great features. I especially appreciate the bluetooth, because, unlike many car bluetooth units, it disconnects automatically when you shut off the radio. Visor-mounted units stay on until you're out of range (unless you remember to turn them off), and it's happened to me more than once that my phone rang while I was sitting in the living room and the speaker in the car answered it. And the BTM60 routes the caller's audio through the speakers while muting the radio. This is probably about as convenient as car bluetooth gets. I know that units from other companies can do this, but not at this price. I regret saving a few dollars and getting the 6420 for the other car instead of another 6425 (the 6420 doesn't do bluetooth).

I won't say that these receivers don't have problems that others have reported; I just haven't hit them. So, for the money, you really can beat these.

Have this system for over 8 months now. They were selling for under $100 so immediately ordered one. It's packed with features, no doubts. Had to buy the kit cuz only then this would fit (like any other stereo). It costs around 30 bucks. I had some issues with the f*#@$*g installation guy (broke the AC connection and he won't fix it) but I can't blame the product for any of this.

However, the remote didn't work at all. I tried replacing the battery but it has never worked. I don't plan using the remote much, but this says a lot about the manufacturer's quality check process (if there is any).

Pros:
- Price
- USB slot
- Plays all kinds of CDs
- Random sequencing goes across folders on an MP3 CD/USB

Cons:
- HD radio reception is not very reliable. I've seen better receptions in stereos some of my friends have.
- Display is not much visible in bright daylight.
- No clock. May be it's just a habit thing and I can use my wrist watch, but they could've made the clock turn on when we turn on the engine. All the OEM systems that come with the car have them.
- When I play the songs while set to random, the sequence it chooses first is not "random". It's predictable (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 127, 63, 31, 15, 7 and repeat from 8). This is annoying as it plays the same songs again and again until i press the random button again, which then changes the sequence.
- Slow response time - Even when a CD is already in, when I turn the system on, it takes a little longer to load the first song.

I have owned this product for about a year now. I really love this CD player, the ability to store music on a USB flash drive and play it on the deck is genius. I never have to worry about my ipod getting stolen or another expensive mp3 player. The look of it is cool, I like the blue lighting. I'll just do a quick point counterpoint

Pro's

Looks cool
USB slot for music
Aux input for any mp3 player (ipod zune etc)
Removable faceplate
HD radio
Possible bluetooth phone upgrade for in car talking
Remote
Works well for cd's
Ability to pause a song instead of muting or turning off the player is great

Con's

You have to keep hitting the Disp. button to get what you want to see.
No scrolling information option, a setting in which it would rotate through song artist album, time of day, would be incredibly useful.
Display is hard to read under bright sunlight.

These next few happened months after i bought the product
Display will go out for now reason, i have to tap the faceplate or push slightly for it to come back on. This is bad since i never remove the faceplate. I do live in vegas however which exposes this player to extreme heat. This problem however is reoccuring, the unit still plays but the display on the front stops scrolling info.
Also twice the volume has stopped working correctly, i will try and turn it down and it will only go up, i have to power the unit off then back on and it fixes it.

Would i buy this product again, yes. The pro's far outway the cons. I have not tried the bluetooth accessory so i dont know how well it works. As far as my needs go it works really well. you can even use the usb to charge your mp3 player, NIFTY! Unless this unit dies for no reason in the next few months i wouldn't change my mind. You should feel good about buying this.

This radio is a peace of crap. I bought it in janurary and is already messing up and sucks. The Radio portion quit working all together No HD or regular FM radio. Also the volume button is already wearing out I will try to turn it down and it will raise the volume instead and I will have to shut the radio off and turn bak on. Overall Do NOT buy this radio go for a name brand not this crappy Dual.