Hey Olentz,
Welcome to the site!
I like the idea of this new Dual head unit as well. You are correct though, in that it is so new that there aren't a lot of reviews out there yet. We just received them this month. For a long time, the JVC HDR-1 has been the go-to head unit for built-in HD tuner capability, but this one may give it a run for its money if it performs well at all. We do post reviews on our site as soon as we get them, so if you go to the page with the Dual XHD-6425, you will see any reviews available listed above the price (look for the little yellow starts).
I like the Sony head unit as well, but if HD radio is something you are interested in, then you might want to hold off a bit and let some reviews get posted. Hope this helps!
Anybody tried one of these units yet?
I bought the Sony CDX-GT410u with the Sony HD tuner module - note that there is a $50 rebate on this package (or the 610u) through October 31st, so for $50 more (plus $20 more for the Sony HU over the Dual - or with the 410u for the same price), you can get roughly the same capability with the Sony.
I hadn't heard of the new Dual unit before your post, so I read through the manual (pretty quickly, though). Nice looking unit. I have seen Dual in stores, but haven't owned one or known anyone who has, and frankly have not been very impressed by them (maybe until now). I also scanned the reviews of the Dual XDM-6820, and they seemed pretty polarized - people thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread or absolute garbage and not much in between.
You can see a comparison of the units here - Glancing through the list of features:
Power output is roughly the same.
Sony (at least the 410, and I am thinking the 610 probably does also, confirmed for the 610) supports subwoofer mode on the pre-amp outputs (only one set total, though). This can be good b/c you can connect an amp with speaker level inputs for the front and rear, and control your sub amp from the HU. Dual has two sets of pre-outs, but no sub mode.
Dual has bass and treble controls and the manual says that any adjustment cancels the pre-selected curve, but I don't see that it has pre-selected curves available. Sony has basically bass, mid, and treble controls, and also about 6 customizeable inputs.
Sony has a built-in iPod connection - Dual does not seem to support controlling an iPod from the HU - could playback an iPod through the AUX port.
Dual has optional bluetooth connection, Sony does not.
Sony supports either Satellite radio system (additional module required), Dual does not.
Sony supports a CD changer, Dual does not.
On paper, Dual has a more sensitive FM tuner (which surprises me) (well, it is more sensitive than the 610, less than the HD module from Sony).
On paper, Sony has a much better S/N ratio on CD's.
The Dual does not seem to have any dimmer function - the 410 has a selectable dimmer, but not a wired one, not sure about the 610 offhand - confirmed 610 works the same way - holding DISP will switch the mode - although I leave mine in BRT mode always anyway.
Integration and Installation - Dual will have advantages in both of these categories, not that it matters much ...
The Sony module is designed to mount under the seat, which means running cable down the center console and under the carpets. This works fine, but I chose to install mine under the dash, but a lot of the wires cannot be shortened, so you have RCA patch cords and lots of cable tucked behind the dash. In theory this could create a problem with noise/whine in the system, although I haven't noticed any personally.
The Sony module also seems more like an afterthought - which in fact it somewhat is - you can't store subchannels as presets on the Sony, you can on the Dual. Sony leaves the Tuner as a selectable option, even though it no longer works (You select HD to listen to the radio). Neither of this are a big deal to me, but they do take away from the overall impression.
Sony beeps at you when you select (or scroll past) USB in the source selection, if no USB device is plugged in, for no apparent reason, but it's not a big deal either (don't know if dual does as well or not).
One nice thing Sony did is if you want to select the multi-cast station on the same preset frequency, you can press the preset button again (after it locks the station). Many receivers use the up-arrows for this and if you don't remember that a pre-set doesn't multi-cast, you end up on a different frequency.
For a single line receiver, I very much like the way Sony handles MP3 text display. You can select:
Folder, Track, and elapsed time,
Folder Name
Track Name
ID3 Info (Title/Artist/Album/Comments)
Clock.
If you have Clock selected, it will still show the ID3 info once when the track changes and then return to clock mode. (On the 410 it does this automatically, on the 610 you can turn Auto-Scroll off in the setup menu and it won't).
I haven't use it but Dual looks like it is set up similar to Alpine in that it shows:
Title
Artist
Album
That's a lot of buttons to press when you were displaying the clock and just want to find out what the song title is and return to clock mode, for example.
Sony also has an annoying beep when you turn the key off without removing the faceplate which can realistically only be disabled by wiring a relay into the speaker wiring.
If you have more questions I'll be glad to try to answer, although I know much more about the Sony than the Dual unit.
2002 Ford Focus Sony CDX-GT410u Sony XT-100HD HD Tuner Stock speakers, no amp, no subs
A couple more things - The Dual has preset SCAN and also some MP3 CD search and direct song access that the Sony lacks. I looked at some of the display units by Dual at the yellow tag store last night (not this unit, though) and the quality didn't impress me, but they could be top notch products, just my initial impression. The brand doesn't have a great reputation, IMHO. I guess to give a good example, AudioVox or Kraco or Sparkomatic in the day could have hired some top engineering talent and made a better quality product than Alpine or Pioneer, but it would hard to convince people that it was really that good.
Lastly, how close are you to the major HD market. I am about 35 miles outside Atlanta in a wooded area and until I get about 2-5 miles from home I get drop-outs/dropbacks with the HD signal. I believe the JVC had a feature where you could select either Analog only, digital only, or automatic switching, but Sony does not, and I don't think the Dual does either (There are times when it might be preferable to listen to standard FM rather than having the signal drop off and come back in). Overall, though I really enjoy the HD radio reception.