For 2018, Kenwood has taken what used to be a few Excelon Reference products and created a new premium sub-brand of Excelon.
Excelon Reference becomes the top tier of Kenwood products capped by a $1,300 deck with the highest resolution to be found on a 7-inch screen at 1280 RGB x 720. The new deck also has wireless Android Auto, Google Assistant, wired CarPlay, Waze, YouTube and weather, (through a Web Link app) and Garmin navigation. The DNX995S is expected to ship in March.
The new Reference line also gets new Hi-Res Audio speakers and amplifiers including two component speaker sets, 6.5-inch and 6.75 inches, that top out at a price of $500. The three new Hi-Res Audio amplifiers play 24 bit/192kHz audio.
“We had Reference products before, now it’s a full line,” said Kenwood’s Rick Noetzli. “A lot of dealers want two have a sound quality story; they want to sell better speakers and amplifiers and you have to start with source material, which is Hi-Res Audio.”
In total, the Excelon Reference line gets three new head units. In addition to the DNX995S is a second deck with high resolution screen, the model DMX9905S mechless unit.
Go to http://www.facebook.com/ceoutlook to see a video of the new Excelon head units and other new products at CES.
