First there was radio, then 8-track and cassette found their way into our cars. Compact discs took over in the 1990s, followed by everything from DVDs to iPods. Now JVC's KD-AR5500 CD receiver lets you play back songs from Secure Digital (SD) cards. Fill your pockets with the tiny memory cards and hit the road; hours of music will now quite literally fit in the palm of your hand!

And this convenience comes bundled with an array of high-performance audio and a host of connection options. Its motorized, flip-down faceplate features a user-friendly, touchscreen control panel with Voice Support. Just touch the large, bright screen and you get spoken acknowledgments of each command you enter. Too cool!

Touch control isn't this display's only trick, either. It also offers a palette of over 1,700 variable colors, so you can set the receiver to match your interior, your outfit, or your mood! And with the PICT (Personalized Image Capture Technology) feature, you can load slide shows of your own digital images via the CD or SD card inputs.

JVC's DiAS digital AM/FM tuner delivers powerful radio reception, and you'll enjoy superb CD, MP3, and WMA playback, courtesy of the Advanced Multi-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter). The on-board MOSFET amp (22 watts RMS x 4) ensures clean, realistic sound, while the 7-band iEQ (with its 12 preset tone curves) gives you the tools to shape that output to match your car's acoustics. Use the three sets of preamp outputs to send a powerful 5-volt signal to your external amps.

Top of page