At first glance, JVC's KD-AR5500 looks like a pretty simple CD player — black faceplate, LCD screen, a handful of buttons, and that's about it. But the KD-AR5500's sleek, futuristic style belies the powerful technology it's packing under the hood. CrutchfieldAdvisor recently took this in-dash wonder out for a spin to see if its performance features — from the touch-screen display to the SD memory card reader — can live up to its style.

The KD-AR5500's black, touch-screen faceplate certainly earns points in the style department.

Front and center

"Wow, what a looker." Out of the box, the KD-AR5500 just plain looks great. And for me, its stripped-down touch-panel was a nice change from my button-crowded factory stereo. Before even getting it into the car, the stereo was looking cool and offering far more style than I was used to; good news all around.

Best of all, those good looks are just the beginning. The KD-AR5500 is a deceptively advanced CD player. Once installed, you've got a touch-panel control screen, a full palette of background colors and images, and even an SD card input at your disposal. These high-performance features really set the KD-AR5500 apart from the pack. So now the question is; how well did JVC incorporate all that technology into a usable, real-world stereo?