EISA - Awards 2005/2006: MOBILE ELECTRONICS PANEL

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MOBILE HEAD UNIT


Clarion DXZ958RMC

With a CD transport engineered by McIntosh, the DXZ958RMC is like a high-end hi-fi for the dashboard. There is digital time alignment, crossover and parametric equalizer – everything necessary to produce the best results from a two-way speaker system and fully active subwoofer. In addition, there are clever features like Music Catcher, which at the touch of button will store up to six hours of music in solid-state memory. There is also an internal Dolby Pro Logic II decoder, and thanks to the full-color touch screen controls, all functions are very easy to operate.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MOBILE LOUDSPEAKER



Focal Utopia Be kit n° 6

Like Focal’s acclaimed high-end hi-fi speakers, this upmarket, two-way in-car system employs exclusive materials technologies to deliver a remarkable standard of reproduction. The Be in its name refers to the company’s advanced, inverted Beryllium dome, while the woofer employs Focal’s very rigid, light and smooth “Sandwich W” cone, driven by a strong neodymium magnet mounted within a carefully engineered die-cast basket. Even the crossover, an exclusive concept crafted from hand-selected components, is an unequivocal enthusiast’s design. Great flexibility is ensured by four front-panel controls and internal, gold-plated jumpers that permit “pure passive” fine tuning, multiamplification and multiwiring.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MOBILE AMPLIFIER



Helix A6 Competition

The Helix A6 Competition is an extraordinary six-channel amplifier for true enthusiasts, built using a selection of the finest high-end components. Its designers have taken an entirely purist approach, avoiding any gimmicks or features not directly related to improved sound. Instead they have focused tightly on parts quality and manufacturing techniques, with features such as heavy-gauge speaker terminals, surface-mount devices and a double-sided, extra strong circuit board. The A6 Competition stands well apart from – and in front of – the crowd.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MOBILE NAVIGATION SYSTEM



Sony KPNC9950HC1

Sony’s KPNC9950HC1 is the world’s first combination of a concealed DVD navigation system and a 1-DIN dashboard CD head-unit. This head-unit delivers extremely high-resolution navigation graphics notwithstanding its compact size, thanks to the oversized LCD-TFT display (with 32,000 colours) that dominates the front panel. It is the perfect platform for Sony’s unique ‘Map By Turn’ guidance concept, which provides an innovative combination of classic arrows and detailed 3D maps. By increasing functionality and reducing physical size, Sony has provided a real car navigation innovation.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN IN-CAR MULTIMEDIA



JVC KD-NX901

Mobile multimedia assumes a new meaning with the introduction of the amazing JVC KD-NX901 head unit, which includes a DVD transport, 20 Gigabyte hard disk and an SD memory-card slot, all within a 1-DIN size unit. It’s accomplished both as a video player for rear passengers and as a multi-format music player/jukebox for the whole car. But it is also a state-of-the art navigation system, storing on its hard disk 14 Gigabytes of turn-by-turn European navigation data (which can be easily updated by DVD). Thanks to the extended hard-disk data space the KD-NX901’s maps are not only detailed down to the smallest side-street, but also include points of interest (such as restaurants) complete with full, searchable contact details. And there is still 6 Gigabytes of hard-disk space left to store hours if not days of music.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN IN CAR COMMUNICATION



Becker Traffic Pro 7945

Bluetooth connectivity and voice control make the Becker Traffic Pro 7945 a compelling prospect for drivers who live and work in their cars. With a Bluetooth-equipped handset, users can operate Becker’s famous double-RDS, double-tuner radio, CD/MP3 player, award-winning navigation system and phone functions purely by speech. Drivers can even dial numbers from their handset’s address book with phones in pockets and hands firmly on the wheel. There’s not even a huge box to contend with: just a standard, 1-DIN unit.

 

[Giovanni Dimitropoulos]

EUROPEAN MOBILE SUBWOOFER



Alpine SWX-1042D

The SWX-1042D incorporates elements of Alpine’s most advanced technologies at a ‘real world’ price, yielding a subwoofer that must be heard (and felt) to be experienced. There is a whole host of design features intended to ensure maximum possible performance, such as a unique, one-piece carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb-cone and a specially designed motor structure with triple-stacked strontium magnets. Assembly and build quality are of the highest standard; this model is a real highlight of the low-frequency world.