How much difference can a new in-dash receiver make? I found out recently when I had the opportunity to review the Kenwood KDC-122 CD receiver for CrutchfieldAdvisor. Although we bought our Chevy Tracker new in 2000, I've never gotten around to upgrading the sound system. So I jumped at the chance to compare an entry-level aftermarket receiver (the KDC-122 retails for $99) to my factory stereo.

Keep in mind I was still using the four original paper cone 6-3/4" speakers that came with the Tracker: two at the bottom of the front doors and two in the rear side panels. With the lo-fi setup I had, any improvement in sound could be directly attributed to the receiver.

Kenwood KDC-122
My factory-installed Delco Delphi AM/FM CD player was a very basic unit. It had 12 radio presets and some EQ control (bass/treble/fade/balance). None of the buttons were illuminated, and the smallish LCD screen displayed only a minimal amount of information.

Though considered a starter unit, the Kenwood KDC-122 came with a lot of great features that made it an improvement over what I was replacing:

• 22 watts RMS x 4 channels of power
• System Q Sound Control
• CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RW playback
• CR-2 Advanced Tuner

The Kenwood KDC-122

Installation
Although I'm comfortable hooking up home theater system components sprouting more wires than an old switchboard, the thought of putting something in my car was really daunting. How do I get the dashboard off? How do I thread all those little wires through the car's frame? I had a lot of questions!

The process turned out to be far less complicated than I imagined. Using Crutchfield's Mastersheet™ for the 2000 Tracker as a guide, I located and removed the three screws that held the radio?s plastic facing in place. Once the facing was off, I just had to loosen a few more screws, and out came my old receiver.

Since I was only swapping out receivers, hookup of the Kenwood was equally simple. My speakers all ran off the factory receiver's internal amp, which further simplified the hookup. (The Kenwood receiver includes rear preamp outputs, but I wouldn't need them for my setup.) The cable bundle for the speakers easily plugged into the back of the Kenwood, as did the radio antenna and the power supply. The only difficult part was getting the bundle pushed back through the narrow opening behind the receiver.

Installation was simple. Remove the faceplate, take out the old unit, plug in the connectors, and remount.

The Kenwood was about half as tall as my old unit. The provided replacement faceplate covered up the entire opening, with a snap-out panel on the bottom, so I could add an additional component later on. Once the plastic frame was screwed back in, the Kenwood looked like it had been professionally installed. Total time for installation: fifteen minutes!

Key features and impressions
The Kenwood had more features than my out-of-date factory receiver, including an attenuator. If you're speaking on a cell phone, or ordering at a drive-through, with the touch of a button the attenuator immediately lowers the volume without changing your settings. A second push of the button returns the volume to its former level. I have heard systems that immediately jump back to loud, which can be rough on your speakers (and your ears). Kenwood uses smooth volume return to fade back up, saving wear and tear on your gear — and you.

Kenwood's LCD negative display used white backlit characters appearing on a light blue screen. The bigger characters were easy for me to read, but the System Q indicator, and small letters for things such as "Random" and "Track Repeat" weren't. I could tell if they were activated, but they were too small to read from an appreciable distance. On the plus side, the display held up pretty well under a variety of lighting conditions — I never experienced any washout in the daylight.