Eclipse AVN6600

Reviewed by

Kevin Massy

on 10/26/2006

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Page 2

One of the unit's most bizarre design choices is that it doesn't have a dedicated Close button, which makes one wonder: once the screen is open, how does it close? While the screen automatically shuts after a disc is inserted, this is not the case if you want to simply eject a CD or DVD. In this case, the touch-screen "soft" buttons are the tools you'll need. While this isn't a problem when the double-DIN slot is placed low enough in the dash for the driver to see over the flipped-up screen, for some drivers, this will mean a lot of stretching and neck-craning to locate the correct touch-screen button. A button on the screen's bottom (like the one on Pioneer's AVIC Z-1, for example) would have been a far better solution.

There is no hard button to close the motorized faceplate.

With the display back in place, we made another remarkable discovery: the unit has no play or pause button for audio files. To start a disc, you insert it; to pause or to stop, you press the unit's power button, which of course turns the whole unit off. Mercifully, tracks resume from the same spot when the unit is turned back on, but honestly, we can't understand the logic of this quirky design. Aside from these omissions, playing digital music (such as MP3 or WMA files) is intuitive and straightforward, and nine albums or tracks can be displayed on the touch screen at any one time. Full ID3 tags for tracks are easily accessed by pressing the Title button.

Audio customization is definitely one of the unit's strong points. The AVN6600 comes with a built-in amplifier (15 watts RMS x 4 output). Users can select one of five preset digital sound processing (DSP) settings (concert, live, cathedral, club, or theater). If the presets aren't sufficient, a manual EQ screen lets the user adjust the 7-band parametric EQ to preference through a user-friendly virtual mixer. In conjunction with DSP settings, three additional settings allow listeners to optimize output: Loudness, which boosts the high and low frequencies at low volume; TruBass, which increases the bass output; and Harmonizer, which acts to restore some of the sound quality lost in the compression of digital audio files.

We were impressed with the AVN6600's range of EQ customization options.

When happy with the EQ settings, users can then direct sound to specific areas of the car using the POS button, which draws up a location grid to optimize the acoustic sweet spot (over the driver's seat or in the back seat, for example).

Touch-screen controls for video
The third main function of the AVN6600 is playing DVD video. Movies can be viewed only when the vehicle's parking brake is on, unless the head unit is connected to a rear-seat entertainment system and the unit's Dual Play function, which allows two media sources to play simultaneously, is selected. DVDs can be viewed in one of four screen configurations--Normal, Wide 1, Wide 2, or Wide 3--with controls operated via the touch-screen buttons. The touch screen contains all the usual playback controls (play, pause and stop) as well as additional screens for selecting chapters or DVD menu items. The AVN6600 has no remote control, so the touch screen is the only way to manage DVDs--yet after some practice, the controls aren't too difficult to manage. While a DVD is playing, however, a viewer can skip through chapters by pressing the seek/skip hard buttons on the right-hand side of the bezel.

Overall, we got on quite well with the Eclipse AVN6600: after coming to terms with its design deficiencies, we found it a versatile, all-in-one unit with an impressive navigation system and some advanced audio capabilities. Potential buyers should compare it with the AVIC Z-1 and its additional features (including available Bluetooth hands-free calling), which we think gives the AVN6600 a serious run for its money.