Our take on the Kenwood KTC-HR300

by Zak Billmeier

Upgrade your Kenwood's radio to the digitally-enhanced sound of HD Radio™ — once you connect the KTC-HR300 hideaway tuner, participating FM stations approach CDs in sound quality, while AM stations sound as good as today's analog FM.

Multicasting
HD Radio technology allows a station to create up to eight separate channels on its assigned frequency. The KTC-HR300 will receive these additional channels, so you'll enjoy the wider selection of entertainment and information provided by participating radio stations. And when you tune to any HD Radio or Radio Data System (RDS) station, you'll see song, title, artist, and other text information on your Kenwood stereo's display.

Tag your favorite tunes
With an iPod® connected to a compatible 2009-up Kenwood receiver, you can "tag" songs that you hear on an HD Radio broadcast for future purchase. The next time you sync your iPod, you can buy the songs you want from the iTunes® Music Store.

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Highlights:

add HD Radio reception to your compatible Kenwood stereo
tune in to "multicast" channels
"tag" songs that you hear on an HD Radio broadcast for future purchase
dimensions: 6-9/16"W x 1-3/8"H x 4-15/16"D
warranty: 1 year
Our 60-day money-back guarantee

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What’s in the box? | In-depth notes

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What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

HD Radio Tuner with attached 57" DIN-cable terminated by a proprietary 13-pin connector
7" KAB adapter cable (13-pin connector on one end and a 9-pin connector on other end)
61" Antenna cable (female Motorola connector on one end and a male Motorola connector on other end)
Velcro strip
Instruction Manual (Eng/Spa/Fre)
Warranty Card

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Features
Connections
Specifications

Features

HD Radio: HD Radio technology, where available, offers higher quality sound than conventional analog broadcasts and receives text data. HD Radio provides FM broadcasts that are equal to CD sound quality and AM broadcasts that are as good as analog FM stereo broadcasts. HD Radio also provides a variety of data, including station name, song title, artist name, album name, etc.

Multicasting: In addition to conventional broadcasts, with HD Radio broadcasting it is possible to choose from up to 8 multicast programs (HD1 to HD8 and analog). There are also data programs for each program.

Head Unit Compatibility: The KTC-HR300 tuner can be controlled by most 2003 and up HD Ready Kenwood receivers which feature either Kenwood's 13-pin connector or Kenwood's KAB 9-pin connector. The KTC-HR300 is both digital and analog, so the tuner can receive all FM and AM stations.

Note: Not all HD Radio compatible Kenwood head units support iTunes tagging. 2009-up Kenwood DNX, DDX, KDC-MP, and KDC-X models support iTunes tagging feature. You must have your iPod connected to the compatible Kenwood receiver for this feature to work.

Receive Mode: You can choose one of the following receive modes:

Auto: analog broadcasts and digital broadcasts are switched automatically. When both are being transmitted, the digital broadcast will have priority.
Digital: receives digital broadcasts only
Analog: receives analog broadcasts only

Tuning Mode: The KTC-HR300 tuner has the following three tuning modes: Auto seek, Preset station seek, and Manual.

Preset Memory: You can store 18 FM and 6 AM stations in the receiver's preset memory.

Auto Memory Entry: This feature selects stations with the strongest signals within the selected band and stores them in order of their frequency.

Information Display: When listening to HD Radio, you can cycle through the following information on the receiver's display: station name, song title/artist name/album name/genre, and frequency.

iTunes Tagging: The Kenwood KTC-HR300 is also capable of iTunes tagging with compatible Kenwood receivers. iTunes tagging gives the ability to tag a song (up to 50) and stores it to a connected iPod. The next time the iPod is connected to iTunes the tagged songs are displayed with the option to purchase them from the iTunes Store.

Note: This function can be operated with the following iPod/iPhone models - iPod nano (3rd/4th/5th/6th gen), iPod classic (80/120/160GB), iPod touch (1st/2nd/3rd/4th gen), and iPhone (2G/3G/3GS/4).

Connections

To Head Unit: 13-pin jack attached to a 57" cable that connects to a compatible Kenwood head unit which features a 13-pin CD changer port. The Headunit also comes supplied with a 13-pin to 9-pin KAB adapter to connect to compatible Kenwood head units which feature the new KAB port.

Note: There are two dip-switches on the tuner that need to be adjusted based on whether you are connecting the KTC-HR300 to a Kenwood head unit with a 13-pin port or 9-pin KAB port.

Antenna: Motorola jack which is used to connect your vehicle's antenna. (unit come supplied with a 59" antenna extension cable).

Note: The 113HR300 cannot be used in conjunction with an external Satellite Radio tuner interface.

Specifications

Analog FM Tuner Section:

Usable Sensitivity (S/N = 30 dB): 11.2 dBf
Quieting Sensitivity (S/N = 50 dB): 16.3 dBf
Frequency Response (+/- 3 dB): 40 Hz - 15 kHz
Selectivity (+/-400 kHz): > 65 dB
Stereo Separation (1 kHz): 40 dB

Digital FM Tuner Section:

Frequency Response: 20 Hz - 20kHz

Analog AM Tuner Section:

Usable Sensitivity (S/N = 20 dB): 20 uV

Digital AM Tuner Section:

Frequency Response: 30 Hz - 15 kHz

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Reviews for the Kenwood KTC-HR300

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5 out of 5

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Written By ed, wonder lake Illinois on Friday, April 26, 2013

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

Awesome add on product

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1 out of 5

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Written By Stanley, St.louis Mo. on Sunday, October 28, 2012

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

not worth the money just get the station I was getting without it. The HD stations take 3 or 4 seconds to come when you change them

Pros:

none

Cons:

station change slowly do not buy not worth it

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4 out of 5

Hd Tuner added to Kenwood KDC

Written By Kevin, Madison, WI on Friday, April 15, 2011

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

I had received the Kenwood KDC-BT838U head unit as gift about a year ago. I
had installed it in one vehicle, then I decided to install the head unit in a
different vehicle. I ordered the Kenwood KTC-HR300 HD tuner before I
installed the head unit again. I have had it for a couple of weeks, and the sound
is incredible. The display now shows the songs and artists, plus I get more
radio stations to listen to. I listen to AM radio from time time, and wow - what a
difference for the stations broadcasting in HD on AM. Incredible, well worth the
time, effort and price to convert to HD.

2 out of 3 people found this helpful

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5 out of 5

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Written By Matt C, Monterey, CA on Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

Great product. Had no idea how awesome HD radio is. Wish I had purchased
it earlier. Crutchfield is the best. I love the saticfation of installing the
equipment myself.

2 out of 3 people found this helpful

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5 out of 5

Worked Perfectly With My eXcelon KDC-X790

Written By Alex, Moody, Alabama on Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

My older headunit found and used this as soon as I plugged it in. This was a headunit
purchased when nothing but the KTC-9090DAB was available. Glad I waited. The KTC-
HR300 HD was still running cool in use two hours after I installed it. It was harder to dig
out the KDC-X790 manual to make the headunit settings I wanted. The HD sounds great,
and there was no loss from any previous performance of the headunit. The KTC-HR300
just added a lot of digital stations for my pleasure - with their added sound enhancement.
I've had very little drifting between HD and analog, and fast channel acquisition. When
switching back and forth between HD and analog, the change has been seamless. Very
pleased with this unit, in my use.

7 out of 9 people found this helpful

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5 out of 5

satisfied customer

Written By charles, massachusetts on Saturday, December 11, 2010

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

product works well ,i am very pleased with this unit,instructions for control are in the head
unit maual,a little diffacult mounting (its cold out the velcro did not want to stick)used some
zip ties.some screw tabs would be better,i put it on the driver side kick panel above the ecu.
in my 06 frontier.there are 2,3 stations with sub channel programs i have found so far,this is
connected to a ddx 512,this unit does not tag i tunes,newer ddx and dnx units do,tho not a
dissapointment.

1 out of 2 people found this helpful

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2 out of 5

Works ok... mileage may vary

Written By Dan G, OH on Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)

paired this with an x994..

Overall.. decent unit, works as advertised (picks up digital FM or AM stations
if available).

I do like that if the digital station is lost, and rediscovered shortly after,
the transition isn't too jarring. The tuner kind of blends between
analog/digital and you'll hear the sound change but the music/voice keeps on
going without skipping too much of a beat.

However....
On my 2004 camry xle the AM performance is terrible. I used to be able to pick
up OSU's public station (820 AM) from 80-90 miles away, my range is now 10-15
miles tops.

I realize that my Factory stereo had a diversity antenna (two antenna plugs) but
I didn't know the loss would be so great. I also tend to lose Digital (and swap
to analog) just driving around. I'm hoping to find a way to try the 2nd antenna
in case it's any better (need to find an adapter for the smaller pin) or perhaps
connecting both antenna pins to the HDR.. some forums seem to indicate that can
help.

FM performance is good.. I only listen to one FM station and it works ok...

I'd return it and just use the standard am/fm tuner in the x994 but I'm going to
stick with it in case I find a way to improve things.

1 out of 6 people found this helpful

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5 out of 5

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Written By Snakeman, Virginia Beach on Monday, October 18, 2010

I got this to go along with the new Kenwood X994 receiver that I put into my 1999 Grand Caravan. Finding a spot to mount the unit was a bit of a challenge - it ended up in the tilt-out tray under the ashtray/cupholder in the center. I bent the mounting tabs down, and screwed the unit to the sides of the plastic tray, along with the source switcher that I also had to mount (on account of adding Sirius too). The head unit sees and controls the HD receiver with no setup required. I haven't used it much in HD mode yet, but it works flawlessly for normal AM/FM.

3 out of 5 people found this helpful

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4 out of 5

Do Your Research on HD Radio

Written By William, Canton, GA on Saturday, June 26, 2010

Before purchasing any HD radio unit you need to do your research on HD radio first. Make sure you'll have coverage in the area where you'll use the unit. I thought I'd have good coverage in the Atlanta suburbs but that's not the case where I live. However, coverage is not the fault of the unit...

When you do have coverage, this unit provides very clear audio and it works very well with the KIV-BT900 which allows selection of Dgital, Analog, or Both. I've had to switch to Analog to get consistent reception near my house, although Digital works great at my office which is nearer to the city.

As you can see from the online info there is no mounting hardware with this unit other than a Velcro strip, so you're pretty much on your own there. I managed to snug mine in behind the center console in my 2000 Mustang GT, but that was more luck than anything else. I would have given a 5-star rating if the unit had any mounting tabs or other mechanical attachment points.

22 out of 24 people found this helpful

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1-9 of 9

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Kenwood KTC-HR300

Add-on HD Radio™ tuner for select Kenwood receivers (New Stock)

Item# 113HR300 offer details

Review Summary

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Our take on the Kenwood KTC-HR300

by Zak Billmeier

Highlights:

Shop all Kenwood HD Radio Add-on Tuners

Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Product Research

Our Product Research Team

Features

Connections

Specifications

Product Reviews

Reviews for the Kenwood KTC-HR300

Average Customer Review:

Review this product:

Crutchfield Video Review Guidelines

Filter by rating:

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Hd Tuner added to Kenwood KDC

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Worked Perfectly With My eXcelon KDC-X790

satisfied customer

Works ok... mileage may vary

Kenwood KTC-HR300

Do Your Research on HD Radio

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