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Kenwood VAG

Supurbia

By Supurbia
in Skoda Superb Mk II (2008-2015)

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wja96 Experienced

wja96

Posted
Posted

I'd wait for a well priced Columbus to appear on the market :thumbup:

Never been a fan of aftermarket HUs despite the efforts to make them look OEM-esque .

If you check the spec on that unit it does everything a Columbus does (better) and much more. Fully integrated Parrot bluetooth and Gamin satnav make it significantly better than a Columbus which is very old tech in comparison. Ands then there is the iPod integration (totally controls the iPod from the HU).

The only fly in the ointment is that it's basically a Kenwood DNX5260BT which can be had for about £600 fitted, so why buy the VAG one?

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dstev2000 Experienced

dstev2000

Posted
Posted

If you check the spec on that unit it does everything a Columbus does (better) and much more. Fully integrated Parrot bluetooth and Gamin satnav make it significantly better than a Columbus which is very old tech in comparison. Ands then there is the iPod integration (totally controls the iPod from the HU).

The only fly in the ointment is that it's basically a Kenwood DNX5260BT which can be had for about £600 fitted, so why buy the VAG one?

I think it's a bit unfair to say the Columbus is old tech. Far from it in my opinion. I presume it will integrate with the optical parking system, maxi dot and climatronic? Aftermarket stuff is always clunky when it comes to integration with a vehicle.

Why have something aftermarket stuffed in the dash when you can have the right bit of kit that works well and looks the part?

And yes, I already know the spec of the Kenwood and don't need to check.

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wja96 Experienced

wja96

Posted
Posted

I think it's a bit unfair to say the Columbus is old tech. Far from it in my opinion. I presume it will integrate with the optical parking system, maxi dot and climatronic? Aftermarket stuff is always clunky when it comes to integration with a vehicle.

Why have something aftermarket stuffed in the dash when you can have the right bit of kit that works well and looks the part?

And yes, I already know the spec of the Kenwood and don't need to check.

I believe it integrates with the CANBUS, maxidot and MFSW, but it has it's own (superior) camera system and I'm not sure why you would want it to integrate with the Climatronic? I don't see why it has to have clunky integration with the vehicle, after all it was done as a joint effort between VAG and Kenwood as something to retrofit easily. I think the retrofit is the key point here. It will fit any modern VAG car out of the box and just work.

The navigation on the Columbus is very, very, poor in comparison with the Garmin setup on this and likewise the Parrot bluetooth makes the Skoda one look like something from the 1990's. And it'll pair with any phone too. Adding decent amplification is much easier with the Kenwood and it's surround processing capabilities are excellent. If you want to drive rear screens etc. it does that very easily and DAB/TV is easily available as well.

By definition, an aftermarket unit will always be something more modern than something built by car manufacturers which has to be designed years ahead of production.

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perka Enthusiast

perka

Posted
Posted

Here are a video of the Kenwood unit:

Notice the text at the end:

"Some of these sequenses have been sped-up for visual purposes"

So the video may not show the real performance of the unit.

I think it looks cheep in comparison with the Columbus, but thats just me...

/P

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  • 4 weeks later...
McShape Enthusiast

McShape

Posted
Posted

I think it looks awful compared to the Columbus. I also much prefer the Columbus mapping than the Garmin one. But then these things are down to taste...

I think this looks good, Having only a bolero im very tempted to check with my skoda dealer for a cost on this, If climatronic does not display i wont be heartbroken!

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mannyo Veteran

mannyo

Posted
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I think it looks awful compared to the Columbus. I also much prefer the Columbus mapping than the Garmin one. But then these things are down to taste...

Same for me, I hate the Garmin interface and the way you enter destinations, with the columbus you now have full 7 digit postcode entry. The Kenwood ipod integration uses a front mounted USB cable, whereas the columbus uses a nicely hidden out of site interface (assuming MDI spec'd), you can also plug in USB HDDs, USB Memory sticks etc. The columbus also has a 30GB internal HDD, which is lacking completely from the Kenwood unit.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Nick P Experienced

Nick P

Posted
Posted

I swapped my Columbus for the Kenwood. Kind of regret it.

The interface looks much nicer on the Columbus, although physically the Kenwood looks great (apart from the front mounted usb).

I do miss the maxidot integration more than I thought I would.

Although the sound on the Columbus is miles better than the Stream, the Kenwood is a significant step up again.

The bluetooth works great with all phones I've tried including iphone 3gs and 4s.

The nav interface is much quicker than a Columbus.

The Kenwood will make more sense once I get around to putting my amp and sub in (it has straight forward pre-outs).

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  • 1 year later...
SkodaTC Rising Star

SkodaTC

Posted
Posted

I'm going to stick up for the Columbus - the features are more than adequate and easy to use.  The combination of proper buttons and the touch screen interface make operation simple.  It's not too flashy or showy but looks a quality, well thought out piece of kit.

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mannyo Veteran

mannyo

Posted
Posted

Nope, you would have to bypass the factory amp under the seat as no aftermarket headunit can send the required canbus codes to turn the amp on and off. One of our foreign members has done this by running new wires to under the seat and using a custom made wiring loom to the speaker wires once disconnected from the amp.

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Skoda-Man Community Regular

Skoda-Man

Posted
Posted (edited)

Nope, you would have to bypass the factory amp under the seat as no aftermarket headunit can send the required canbus codes to turn the amp on and off. One of our foreign members has done this by running new wires to under the seat and using a custom made wiring loom to the speaker wires once disconnected from the amp.

At least I had a jvc unit in my elegance, and amp and everything else worked simply by purchasing a can-bus-wiring adapter. I don`t know if this is the case in Kenwood.....

Ps. of course those climate graphics and parksensor graphics don`t work.....

Edited by Skoda-Man
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