Can someone recommend whether I should get the Kenwood KCA-RC700 or the Pioneer SR80?

pioneer is the one i use and it is excellent have no problem reccomending you to use that one

Just you need to use hijack with it where as the kenwood one uses empeg codes so should work with no fiddling but where is the fun in that

After a brief period of ownership with the Pioneer remote, I had the following problems :

1. The Pioneer remote secures to the steering wheel with a strap, which was never tight enough round the wheel shaft to stop it rotating when a button is pressed. Not good.
2. To avoid (1), I mounted the remote onto the steering wheel with 2 x M3 allen screws. Problem solved. Not bothered about hacking my car to bits cause its a shed, but you may feel differently about this
3. During an energetic 'reverse round a corner from a main road' manouvre, my hand caught the Pioneer remote on the steering wheel, causing the bracket (which is now screwed to the steering wheel) to snap. The remote has lived in my ash tray, unused, ever since.
4. Bought a tuner, used a sony joystick for remote control, and never looked back.

If I was buying again, I would personally give the kenwood - with its alternative mounting arrangement - a try.

1. The Pioneer remote secures to the steering wheel with a strap, which was never tight enough round the wheel shaft to stop it rotating when a button is pressed. Not good.

This is likely a result of poor installation. The strap can be tightened as much as you need to tighten it. When you install it, you just need to really pull on it. If you had pulled the strap one or two clicks tighter, I doubt you would have had these problems.

FWIW my Pioneer CD-SR77 has been working very well for the last couple years. I only recently had to change the battery for the first time, and I use it a lot.

I had/have a Kenwood remote I mounted on the top of the wheel in the corner where I could work it with my thumb. Worked great. I've got a Sony stalk remote sitting on the passenger seat now, I just need to get the dash out to plug it in.

I installed the Kenwood RCA-700 and it has worked well. I have it attached (with the 2-sided adhesive) behind the wheel pretty much where the fingers of my right hand reach during normal driving.

One initial issue was that the IR emitter wasn't pointed very well at the Empeg/HU. Plus, in its original position, the emitter could get knocked off by my knee when exiting the car.

I solved this problem by molding a little adapter out of epoxy putty that fits the emitter to the back of a cruise control paddle (hard to describe, I should take a picture). Proximity and angle of emitter are much better now, and no problems with my knee!

So both remotes suffer some IR problems in terms of finding a good place to point it towards the empeg? Do you guys have any pictures of placement? I'm having trouble picturing this in my head. Thanks for the help.

I have used my Pioneer remote for over 4 years now (with my old "fish finder" head unit) and then sucessfully with the Empeg with Hijack installed. I have never had the strap issue either....it works really well in all sunlight conditions and is a real joy and easy to use while driving. Here's a pic as it is in my car:

Dude, someone bent your dashboard.

ROFL @ Bitt