Cypress, Calif. –
Clarion launched two navigation-ready multimedia head units, an entry-level
CD-receiver and an expanded distributor base.
The new
products, on display privately here at the SEMA show, ship this month and include
the nav-ready VX401 and VZ401 DVD Multimedia Stations, both at a suggested $549,
and a $99 CD-receiver that adds new features at that price point.
The nav-ready
heads are the company’s first with high-resolution wide-screen full-VGA (WVGA) displays,
offering four times the resolution of their quarter-VGA predecessors and
offering a $50 lower price point, a spokesperson told TWICE.
The VX401 is a double-DIN unit with
6.2-inch screen, while the VZ401 is a single-DIN unit with motorized flip-out
7-inch touchscreen.
Features of
both include built-in hands-free
Bluetooth, Apple-certified USB
iPod/iPhone interface, front auxiliary
input, rear USB input, video
output and camera
input. Both are also HD
Radio-ready
and Sirius Direct Connect-ready, and they also connect
to optional OEM steering-wheel remote-control interfaces. The head units play DVD Video +/-R/W discs,
CD-R/RW discs and MP3/ WMA
CDs. They also play MP3 and WMA files on USB drives.
Other features
include integrated front-panel
microphone,
two-band parametric EQ, 4×40-watt amplification, built-in low-pass filter for
an add-on subwoofer amp, 24-bit
DACs, clock, and
included IR remote. They also feature 2-volt line outputs on their front-, rear-
and dual-subwoofer outputs.
The company’s
$99.99-suggested single-DIN CD-receiver is the CZ101, which adds multiple features compared to its
predecessor, including ability to interface with an OEM steering-wheel remote
interface. Other new features include three-band parametric EQ and included IR
remote.
The CZ101 also
features new cosmetics that will appear in other new head units in 2011, the
spokesperson said.
Other features
include front aux input,
detachable
faceplate, switchable RCA outputs, playback of MP3/WMA CDs, 4×18-watt
output with maximum 4×45-watt
rating, 16-bit DACs, three-band
parametric EQ and low-pass subwoofer filter.
To reach more
consumers with these products, Clarion expanded the territory of distributor AM
Merchandising from Northern California to all of California and into Nevada’s
Clark County. Clarion’s New England region
distributor MRI expanded into metro New York and northern New
Jersey, and Clarion hired a new distributor, Mid-State Distributing,
to cover North and South Dakota, Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.
