Home > Consumer Reviews > Dual XDM6820 In-Dash CD/MP3/WMA Receiver

This stereo is the XDM6820 by Dual. It's a car stereo that has a detachable face. It plays CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and CDs onto which you have burned mp3 or Windows Media audio files. It also comes with a mini stereo plug (the "iPlug") that lets you play your iPod or any other external music source (laptop, portable DVD player, whatever) through your car stereo.

Anyone who has an iPod (or similar music player) knows that playing it in your car is a nightmare. You have to either use an FM transmitter which sounds tinny and gets interference, or use a cassette adapter - but who has a tape deck in their car these days? So this unit solves your problems by letting you input your iPod directly into the stereo. All you need is a 3.5mm mini stereo cable connector (male to male - basically like the end of your earphone jack but the same on both ends). This cable is NOT included here but you can pick it up at any radioshack or similar store for a few bucks.

I'm very impressed with this unit, it has lots of high-end features for a pretty low price. I managed to install it myself but you can have it professionally installed if you're not technically minded. It should fit in any car with a wire harness adapter and a dashboard kit, both available from most big department stores for every car type. The iPlug can be screwed on your dashboard somewhere or can be stuck on with the provided tape. Or you can just leave it loose on your glove compartment.

It has 30 radio presets, 5 equaliser settings, and has electronic skip protection to stop your music skipping on bumpy roads. A really neat feature is that if you have an mp3/wma CD stuffed with music, it will display the title of the song and artist on the bright blue display. You can play songs randomly or by artist or by album, pretty much whatever configuration you want. You can even scroll for the next song while it is currently playing.

It has 200 Watts of power, 50 Watts for each speaker, with connections for a preamp if you have one.

Overall, a very nice product. Sounds great, lets me connect my iPod and makes me a happy driver! I bought it simply for the iPlug feature but I'm very happy with all of its other features.

OK, I'm really picky, and would never consider a low-end unit for myself. I got this because of the great reviews to replace a car stereo in our old minivan that is mostly for shuttling the kids, and my wife who can't tell the difference between a tin-can with a string attached and a $1000+ setup. So, although I wanted something better than a $30 rig from WalMart, I didn't actually care if it was only one notch up from that.

Boy was I blown away by the quality of this unit! So blown away that I ordered a second unit and replaced my $500+ Eclipse head unit that was in my car... Really! The sound is equal to my $500 unit - the max sound level output is also high, and the unit looks really nice. The antiskip (big deal where I live) is a million times better than my Eclipse was - that plus the iplug closed me out. The only downgrade I sufered swapping from my Eclipse was the brand logo.

If you buy this unit, you will not be sorry. I think it is, without a doubt, the best value purchase I've bought in a LOOOOOONG time... They could easily sell this for three times the price and it would be priced properly. (Did I mention I make my living pricing electronics??)

If you're shopping around right now, just stop, buy this, and spend the rest of the time doing something you enjoy. You will never find anything this good under $150. Even a used unit on ebay you won't be able to match $80 for this quality.


PS - the brightness thing is NOT as big a deal as some would make you think. I live in rural Hawaii - there is zero ambient light at night, and I have no issue with this causing a distraction (actually, it looks cool!)

Yay! I've had an iPod for about four months and finally got some music out of it. Not because of the iPod, but because I only had a FM transmitter (Belkin Tunecast II). As probably everyone knows by now, FM transmitters are $40 tangles of frustration.

After many hours of research, I went out and got this XDM6820 receiver because it was the ONLY car MP3 player one out there that had an aux input and a sub output, in this price range. I had it professionally installed and am now the proud owner of a '05 Matrix that plays CDs, MP3 CDs, iPod, my friend's iRiver AND can play audio out of any dvd player or laptop.

I was really torn over whether to buy this after reading some of the reviews here. I eventually did buy it and I am quite happy with it.

- Yes, it is bright, but it doesn't bother me or my wife near as much as it bothers others here.

-Yes, the buttons are small. I don't wear mittens in the car, so...

- I think the sound is pretty good; it is certainly better than the stock stereo that came with my Toyota. Then again, I am NOT an audiophile, but I do have a bit of a palate. The whole reason I bought this is because all the other options for using my iPod with the existing stereo sounded horrible. This one sounds great. So, does it "lack bass" and is it "hollow" sounding? Not to my ears, but maybe I haven't heard some of the absolute top end decks.

THE BAD

- The one thing I've noticed that has been written about here is FM radio reception. My radio reception dropped considerably when compared to the stock unit I had before. I really don't use FM radio much, but some people might.

After researching online for a bunch of different mp3 decks, I ran across this deck and thought, wow, less than $90 for an mp3 deck?? Is it too good to be true? I just had to try it since most decks out there are way too pricey for what I needed it for. Plus all the reviews for it, about 10 that I have read gave it a perfect review!! except one that was 4.5 out of 5 stars!

After installing it, turned it on and enjoyed the tunes!! It was awesome, the amount of power the deck was turning out through the stock speakers! It was clear and not getting distorted, and I turned it to a volume so loud that I would not normally drive with that kind of volume.

All the buttons were easily accessible and the deck functions were easy enough for your everyday use. My friend who helped me install was amazed by the sound and quality of the deck! He has a $450 alpine deck and he was quite impressed at the sound coming out of the $90 deck!

PROS: great sound for the price, functions it has will make everyone happy, I think. Sure it doesn't have the fancy animations and mechanical sliding faceplates, but for the price, AMAZING!!

CONS: a couple button placement might have been placed at easier locations, but fortunately, you won't be fiddling with them too much. Also, I wish there was a dimmer for it since the brightness of the display can be too bright at times.

Defintiely recommend it if you just want an mp3 deck that looks decent, sounds fantastic and won't burn a hole in your pocket!