High-end Kenwood tuners from the late 1970s, such as the KT-917, KT-815, KT-8300 and KT-7500 are considered to be very competitive quality-wise with Pioneer, Marantz and Sansui. The Kenwood L-02T from 1982 is probably the best analog tuner ever made.
I got tired of looking for someone who might have made the comment before me - so here goes. The Pioneer SX-1050 you picked was made from 1976 to 1978. That is the same time period as the Kenwood KR-X600 series. So for a comparable to the Pioneer we have to look at a KR-7600 (at 70WPC) or a KR-9600 (at 160WPC). That is not fair to the smaller Kenwood or the Pioneer the other way. So we bump up to a Pioneer SX-1250 versus the Kenwood KR-9600. Conveniently, these are both the TOTL for their respective manufacturer. The KR-9600 is definitely NOT an empty box. Looking at the specifications, the Pioneer claims their wattage from 10-50KHZ, the Kenwood only from 20-40KHZ. Keep in mind that human hearing is usually 20-20KHZ at best. The Pioneer does so with a claimed .1% THD, while the Kenwood does it with .08%. Now, I am not claiming that is a big difference numerically - and BOTH are below the threshold of human hearing (3% for most, down to 1%) - but the Kenwood is better. Just like the Pioneer does a wider range. The damping factor is 55 for the Kenwood, but a mere 30 for the Pioneer - this translates to poorer control of the load (speaker). The line signal to noise ratio of the Pioneer is 90dB, while the Kenwood is 95dB - a significant improvement. Let's not pretend that both are not excellent, though. I mention line only because most are not dropping needles or plunking in cassettes nowadays. You repeatedly talk about the size of the filter capacitors and the toroidal transformer versus the standard or traditional (D? or is it El?) transformer. While a toroidal transformer was the thing that made the Pioneer stand out (they were very early of not the first to use them) - the benefits are not so clear as one might believe from the hype. They are more efficient, and they have less magnetic "leak" or stray. So they are more efficient, meaning more for your size and input or a smaller package for the same performance. They are also less likely to vibrate due to more uniform construction, but I suspect that is more theoretical for mass production units. On the flip side, the El is less prone to immediate or sudden saturation, and better about DC rejection or smoothing of noise on the power line. Most do not use a line conditioner. While I agree that larger filter capacitors are generally better practice, there is also a point where you are not gaining anything. I will not say that Kenwood did a great job on the size, but it was obviously more than adequate as this was never a weak point on them and they did hit their specifications. I will give topology aesthetics to the Pioneer. It looks a lot better with it's top off than most manufacturers would bother with. The Kenwood is still not bad - but not really comparable. I am not trying to say that Pioneer's stuff was not great - it really was quality. I am not saying that Kenwood was a giant killer that was under rated and remains so - they were not. Both played a similar game in the same field - I just think that we ought to discuss the same era.
In the early 70s working at a gas station when I was 16 and going to high school if it wasn’t for Kenwood’s practice of not overbuilding and pricing I would never have been able to have a quality sound system, to this day I have Kenwood in my collection, there beautiful and sound great
Sound is subjective, and the canon of the time was that receivers mattered little for sound, in contrast to speakers and audio cartridges. 18 wpc was 'good' for 'easy listening' music of the 1970's if you had Technics, but it was good for little else. Everything else had more dynamic range (and has not completely disappeared from what has been offered as music. Other brands, like Pioneer, had more reserve power.
@@PaulBrower-qr8hf 18 watts is plenty if one has efficient speakers. I personally find that those early low watt solid state amps/receivers sound more laid back/tubey (If I can say that?) than the later power monsters. I'm guessing that the early solid state was designed by old tube designers and therefore they have that tube type sound.
@@PaulBrower-qr8hfIf he says Kenwood is the best for him, you and your idea of subjectivity don't matter. What someone likes and enjoys is what matters.
I have owned a Kenwood KR-8010 for 35 years, bought it second hand in the original box for $50.00. It has 125WPC and has never been touched for repairs. Everything works perfect. I do not know how you could get much better than that. Sounds phenomenal to my ears. I absolutely love that thing. My dad is an Electronic Tech and has been since the tube days. he opened it up and was surprised how well it was built. Granted, he did not work on it, just looked at it. I completely understand what you are saying and actually agree with you but sometimes things do not have to be "overbuilt" to be great. Maybe Kenwood engineers understood what good enough meant. I would not trade it for a Pioneer or Sansui if I had to keep them. One thing seems to be evident, if you want a great deal in a vintage receiver, buy a Kenwood, they are not overbuilt/overpriced, they are just right.
A friend of mine has a Marantz He has owned new from the early 1970's and he has repaired it on average once every 12 years, he uses it daily while I still have a 1970's realistic I bought used in 1983 I use daily in my garage (by Daily I mean I just never shut it off) that is still playing and never been serviced, My High end reciever gets used on average 2 times a month. On my computer I have a Audio Refinement Complete that I would not trade for a marantz The sound is awesome, and extremely Rare when you find them listed for sale it is usually in Japan.
I agree, my brother brought home a Kenwood System from Okinawa in 72’ he passed in 74’ so my Dad kept it. That was the best stereo system in the neighborhood. My friends all had top ( midrange ) like Marantz, Sansui, Technics, Pioneer & Realistic to name a few. I loved our Kenwood
I have 2 8010's, one I purchased new and one I purchased at a yard sale for nothing. The one I bought new is minty today and has been used very hard, man the party's we had, you could cook on that thing! Never thermally shut down never failed never recapped (I know I should) to this day it runs perfectly. The one I got from the yard sale looked like it was dragged through the mud! Every knob and switch was bent but all the knobs and switch pices were there. So I tested it and it worked! Some static from the knobs and switches so I took the chance and bent everything back into shape and cleaned them washed the circuit boards and face plate, hooked it back up and it works perfectly everything! I can't imagine it was used harder than mine but who knows! This dude's tripping, had many friends who went the 2270 route and I had to fix them all. Most blew channels in the outputs, several had preamp issues in the tone circuits, Strange I thought. All I'm going to say about Sansui is they had problems with circuit boards loosing traces and poor soulder joints. Pioneer receivers early 70's ones would also pop the outputs but by the mid 70's they fixed that and I didn't have any friends to have problems after that. Technics was good until they started using modular circuits. Like he said everyone makes good and bad products but over the decades I just didn't see failures in the Kenwoods, Pioneers, and such like the formentioned issues. Also simpler circuits are usually better sounding, you know "the closer to a wire you get the better the sound".
I bought a KR6030 back in 81, aside from the power/spkr sw switch and a few transistors This rcvr has been and still is a damn nice receiver, I am still using it. The KR6600 is a fine looking receiver, a little more control, this is built like a panzer tank rugged yet handsome with beef, I have that in the den. It really depends on what you want and I think many go for the very attractive silver face, I did, multiple inputs and able to take 2 or 3 pairs of speakers. A vintage Kenwood built in the 70's to me, beats the ass out of a Kenwood built in the 80's.
EE audiophile, repair tech, and former stereo shop owner here: I agreed with you on Technics and Kenwood receivers. Kenwood, however, made some excellent, well-made serious stereo tuners in the 70's utilizing their RF know-how from making 2-way radios which they still famously do today. Technics had their Pro Series line of separates, a big step up from their receivers. This included their excellent reel-to-reels, as well as preamps, power amps, and tuners. Of course their turntables were legendary, taking the market by storm.
I bought a Technics receiver when I graduated high school. It was less expensive than some of the other brands with similar power and features. It worked great for over 30 years till one day it stayed in protection mode. Bummer. You could tell it was not as cosmetically refined as some of the other receivers but still very clean and nice looking. Price was a big factor back then for a kid just out of school. It served me very well.
some of the larger later SUV amps also had a protection fault i cannot remember which of the flagship suvs I had but it had the power transformer wound with OFC the protecion fault with all the suvs is simple they ran high current the protection relay got hot my one you tap him on his head bang bang and then he works it was the soldered joints of the relay that got hot and caused the connections to be dry joints after 10 to 20 years dry joints you can only realy see with a manifying glass like little carbonated rings on the terminals use a solder sucker remove solder and re-solder the joints good for another 20 years the one i i had was i think suv8x ofc tranformers and black gate supply capacitors
@@christopherhines2718 I wish I knew enough about the circuitry layout in that old receiver. I'd try to track down the problem, but I'm afraid I would cause more damage than good! May have to send her in for a revamp!
I'd expect that the relay contacts got dirty enough at one point, replace the relay or clean the contacts and then see and while you are at it, replace all the elektorlytic caps
My first HiFi was the SU-8022k with it's tuner and an SL-Q2 attacked to Mini 2-ways HERU LS. The LS are still working in the Médoc, the turntable was spoiled at May sisters family and the amp with a RS63M tape deck is still running fine on my balcony attached to F1 LS. As a student I upgraded to High class DENON stuff attached to Cabasse Sampan 311. Still running fine unserviced and the sound is satisfying. I do own a lot of other historic (even High End) audio gears and I always focused on a clean efficient design with good finish quality until late 80s, and some stuff mid 90s. So Technics is on my top list regarding sound and build quality. Of cause they did die because they started to be more focused on cheap consumer marked, but this happened in late 90s. All brands offered high quality but also budget lemons. But also expensive high end I always would stay away from because of being error prone and idiotic and unrepairable and or servicable design. E.g. Sansui, nearly all german/ european stuff but first of all I stay away from Pioneer & Co. what U.S. Americans basically think it is of value. Of cause a Dodge or a Viper has got some kind of fun, but I always would prefer a Volvo or any "german" car brand, including an european Ford or even an Opel (ex GM Europe). 😊 🎉
I wouldn't trade or sell my 3 Kenwood 7600's, Awesome power, sound ,tuning,looks, multiple speaker out puts, one in the bar, one in the garage one in the house. If your looking for something that sounds incredible and beauty, made in San Diego USA, Get you a Kenwood 7600, had the one since 1979.
At the end of the day we listen to the amp we bought. Nobody buys an amp and open it and relax by staring at the big transformers and capacitors the whole day.
I have a late 70s Kenwood 55 watt unit I believe, I think its a KR5060 or something like that. It has a rotary on and off switch which fried, I couldn't get it repaired or replaced so I bypassed it and now when you plug it in it has power so I put it on a remote on and off switch you plug into the outlet and has a remote to turn it on and off which is a great option anyway. I love the receiver, it sounds great and is all original.
Kevin, you did a great job detailing sound and adequate engineering differences, and, you as a repair & business owner made excellent points. I am not a brand snob, I own a Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, NAD, and Yamaha. With that said, in my stash of receivers is a Kenwood KR-4600 matted up to Yamaha NS-344 speakers. Over the past few years, many other brands and price points have come and gone like a Yamaha CR-620. Don't get me wrong the 620 is a great receiver but the KR-4600 sound is bolder and warmer, and the tuner is amongst the best also. I have owned this for more than 20 years and as there is no real $ value this receiver makes any speakers I hook up to just sound better. For those on a budget and who find a KR series from the mid-70s cheap and in perfect condition, I say go for it. Love you, Kevin, and keep up the good work.
i forget to mention Yamaha but once i saw a receiver from late 70´s where all inputs in the back had a tiny volume knob ,this to make all sources output sound at the same level, this feature i never saw it again in other brand and a very wise feature , but never found one for me, regards
I respect your justifications here. Vintage audio is a journey and quality is objective to a point. I have owned many vintage receivers over time and enjoyed the ownership experience with most. In the end, I have kept what sounds good to me in my room with my sources despite what others may opine. I’m not sure what you think of Scott receivers but my Scott 385r will never leave my room.
"Sound is dependent oh how you hear things" = words so true. Inner and outer ear are the mechanisms which receive air pressure changes. The nerves to brain are the transmission lines. The brain is where the magic happens where the previous becomes sound, speech, and what we call music. The brain can be trained to "hear" more small intricate details in "sound". The more you concentrate on listening in a quiet, non disruptive environment, over time the more intricate you can hear and that ladies and gentlemen is a key ingredient component in becoming a true audiophile.
Kenwood Eleven Mark I, II and III are nice sounding receivers. They are also very similar in looks to the KR-7600 and KR-9600 receivers that usually don’t have a wood case.
Technics 5570 fairly rare and sweet and bassy sound. Excellent phono stage too. Mid to late 70's Kenwood intergrated amps are nice......to look away from receivers for a second. Budget in the 70's compared to anything today has my vote.
Absolutely loved the dog with the Kenwood football. Enjoyed the video and your thoughts, I'm an analog circuit designer and verify your message about quality components and power supply size.
Late reply. But a lot of Technics stuff had very large power supplies. Aside from their cheapo range. A 1KWT power consumption allied with very large reservoir capacitors. However they didn't sound that good for some reason. Flat & dull for most part
I had a Technics SA505 receiver and a Technics PL 100 turntable in the 1980’s and I was completely happy with the performance of both. I never had any problems and I wish I had them both now
I missed out on the silver disco era receivers; too young and poor. For a few months prior to the COVID lockdowns, stereo gear ranging from R2R and cassette decks to receivers were donated to thrifts. I bought an SA 500 and SA 505 for $4.99 each. Still functioning though I should rebuild them. Never found decent speakers for a reasonable price so the receivers sound good but presumably would sound even better with expensive speakers.
Kenwood amps from the early to mid seventies were beautifully made and sounding products. They hired the same designers that made high end Accuphase separates. The same quality was also put into many of Kenwoods integrated amps. Kenwood's Supreme series was a good example.
@@stillastillsfan Most people do not know that Trio/Kenwood had three product lines. Audio, two way radio and test equipment. Because of being a world leader in two way FM radio, their tuners were 2nd to none! They used basically DSD technology by turning the FM signal's pulse density into PDM audio. I gave lectures on it. I still have a KT615 sales sample from back then.
@@pippocalippo2447 Today most of them do. Most are just names from the past bought and sold many times over the years. Denon, Marantz, Pioneer and Onkyo used to be separate companies in full competition. Now one company owns them all and makes sure cover different markets and do not compete.
Glad you did this video, maybe folks will understand more now. You guys see these everyday. You know what works, what lasts-what doesn’t. Most don’t understand or know these things.🙏🏻
Yeah but he's blowing a lot of smoke. I have a Super 11 and got on eBay to see if what I need is available and it's ALL available. Sometimes these guys will diss on certain units to drive the prices down so they can buy them up for cheap. Not sure this guy's intentions but my guess is that they might be a teence more difficult to work on. So not ezpz as they say. 😢
I'm listening to this right now on my Kenwood receiver that I bought new from Circut City back in 1993. And I have used this stereo continuously since I bought it every year too. I bought the Kenwood not because it was cheaper, I bought it because I thought Kenwood was the best.
I watched this and decided to stay away from Kenwood, but then a buddy wanted a Kenwood amplifier. I found him a KA-305 and listened to it against my Pioneer SX-780 and was very impressed with the bass. I then found a Kenwood KR-5600 reciever and it gives bookshelf size speakers more bass and warmth than my Pioneer SX-780. All these came out around the 78 and all are around 40W so I think its a good comparison. The KR will stay in the garage, and the Pioneer will go in the living room because I paid $400 dollars more for the Pioneer. My tech worked on all three and he specifically said that the Kenwoods were nice unit's.
So were you actually there back in the '70's? I had the very unique opportunity of being in the middle of all of this. I was in HiFi retail starting in '70. Our stores were one of the first Panasonic/ Technics dealers. In fact we received a batch of Panasonic labelled receivers and were quickly told after putting them out to pack them up. They were being returned because Panasonic had come up with the Technics brand instead. Same models, different logos. In '71 I became a Manufacturers Rep in the S.E. for Marantz, Cerwin Vega, Empire, Maxell, Pioneer Car Stereo, ... My customers included the most highly respected Audiophile level dealers because of Marantz. The Marantz 1060 and a pair of large Advents was the defacto basic system. Then I started to lose business to this other line, the Kenwood 3500 was replacing the 1060 in all my dealers! Less expensive, more power and every of my Marantz dealers said better sounding! Because of my relationship with those dealers and their move to Kenwood from Marantz, I was offered the region for Kenwood and became the Kenwood, AR, AT, .... rep position. I travelled up to 6 S.E. states giving clinics and seminars. Some of my dealers were also Mcintosh. They never promoted it as the superior sounding line. Audio Research, perhaps! Krell! But one explained to me (college town) that a professor would walk in with elbow patches, briar pipe, ... they'd take him into the showroom and lightup and big blue meters. The guy would pull out his check book and sign. Yes the Mc was made better. You could pull the covers and show how all the caps were so neatly all facing exactly the same way! Massive output transformers not needed by others. Yes Kenwood offered a compromise to keep costs down. e.g. the 3500 was lighter than the 1060. Thinner chassis, face plate, ... but parts quality design and build was not compromised. I ran a regional Kenwood repair facility in Atlanta for a while. But pull the covers on a Kenwood KA-907 amp and tell me you can find a more powerful design and parts construction! It blew every integrated amp of the time away. I proved it with a travelling High Speed clinic taking on any amp anyone brought in for full power 10khz squarewave into 8 ohms! Harry Pearson Absolute Sound said the Kenwood L-O7M's were the best amps made and owned them as reference for years! I provided his demo units. I will still put them up against almost any equal powered amps made today. Yes unfortunately as TV/Media started to move in, they were one to start cheapening out. Today almost none of these companies exist. Just names bought by some larger company. Often the same holding company intentionally creating marketing differences between their own lines.
@@skylabsaudio I've partied with Joe Tushinsky, the founder of SuperScope which first imported Sony and other than a few original components, was the Marantz company. SuperScope was actually a lens technology company that competed with CinemaScope. Howard Hughes, RKO used it. Joe was friends with Hugh Hefner, it was a private party with Hugh at the California Playboy mansion. Got lots of stories!
I have the Kenwood KR-6600 rated at 60 WPC . What I liked about it was the "Acoustic " controls (like turnovers), which is something not found in many receivers. There are 2 amplifier blocks (DC), but they placed them so close, it looks like a single block. The amplifier blocks are located in the front behind the tuner. A set of heat sinks and output transistors, we call it a block. Just like an engine and spark plugs.
My dad bought his Jumbo Jet new in Thailand and it still works perfectly in 2023. This was my first intro to this space, and we had many house parties with that receiver, some Pioneer speakers and Thorens turntable. He also has a Teac reel-to-reel. He’s had other gear, but that’s the piece that started it all.
I’d love to see a video discussing the highest build quality in modern amplifiers. As a technician, you must have some perspective on this. Thanks for the great content!
Im 56 and have always been into audio...but its mostly car audio. I used to install amps...speakers and tape decks back when I was 14. I just took interest in vintage stereo receivers and my first must have unit was the one my parents had in our family room that I would push to its limit playing Kiss Alive 1 on vinyl. I just found a working Fisher CA-880 that is in perfect condition that I plan to use in my garage driving some old Pioneer speakers with a Cerwin-Vega powered sub. My local repair guy called it a "department store stereo " when I asked him about parts for it if needed (it looks hardly used...no vented caps..lights...knobs switches all work fine). I get what he said...but when you want to relive your youth...you look for that piece of history. Buying this unit and watching your videos has me itching to start a collection of the more quality units from the 70's and 80"s. By the way..my Mom still uses that same Fisher rack stereo that is in the same spot in her family room that I cranked up till the garage doors vibrated in the early 80's. Thanks for the awesome videos you post!
Accuphase is high end audiophile grade stuff. If they weren't happy making consumer mid-fi equipment is says more about them than Kenwood. Nothing wrong with either as they both have their market.
Hey Kevin we’ll done an honest and truthful video, I currently own a pioneer SX1250, Kenwood KR9600, Kenwood KR8050, Toshiba 7100, Sony V5, all have been totally restored , it’s taken around two years to get them done, when I picked one up from my tech I would drop the next one off, they all sound great , if it wasn’t for Kenwood’s practice in pricing I wouldn’t have been able to put together a decent sound system when I was in high school back in the early 70s, I have listened to a lot of your videos more than once when seeking reliable advice, much thanks Regards Russell Cardwell
I was in stereo retail in the 1980s. Sold Kenwood and Technics units by the truckload. But they did indeed struggle to get the comments we heard for Yamaha and Onkyo. Once Kenwood discovered the profits in CAR audio gear, they worked well into car radios and not as much into home gear.
Great honest review! I feel like so many people in the comments didn't actually listen in the video. You never said Kenwood or Technics receiver would "never last longer than 10 years" or "Will never sound as good to your ears as Marantz" or anything like that. You simply stated that they were NOT MADE with the same level of components as some other brands. I had a 2007 dodge charger. Bought it brand new with 17 miles on it. Just sold it last year with 368,000 miles on it. It was a GREAT car. Loved and it gave me few if any problems. That doesn't mean a Mercedes or Cadillac may not be built better with better quality components.
I owned a Kenwood KA-6006 and matching tuner myself back in college in the early 70’s and loved it. I think that may have been the last time they made decent stuff as by the 80’s it was clear they were declining and I turned away from them myself. I would gladly have anything they made in the 60’s or 70’s but would not tough anything from the 80’s on.
They were going strong then, that series of integrateds is great. In general, I rate their integrated stuff very highly, better than their receivers. The KR-9400 has excellent build quality, I think this guy would have to agree, but perhaps the build quality started to decline with the KR-X600 series.
Very much agree with this video. Through working on all of these brands, there's a huge difference between the craftsmanship of Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui vs. Technics or Kenwood.
excellent review Kevin. your contribution to vintage stereo is significant. no BS from an expert at the ground level in the service & resale end of the biz (bonus: a tech who can run a biz). tastes in audio, music & aesthetics vary widely, but the finite characteristics of hardware over time CAN be determined. it's also important to note you pontificate only on hardware you know quite well, while also distinguishing what you know w/ adequate certainty from the gray areas subject to opinion / preference / received wisdom. the point you made that most companies who make problematical products will undoubtedly turn over an occasional ace (& vice versa!) is important. on attachment to brand... yes, that is a major goal of modern corporate marketing (amplified by behavioral science), but also learned by consumers (even generationally - that handed-down Rolex, etc.). these days, the science of brand loyalty has been refined to the point that the image is often more substantial / influential than the content ("signature editions", fake rarity, etc). cheaper than investment in product development, + the execs get to hang out w/ infamous "ambassadors". it's getting worse, & will continue to do so until folk get a far better education in the better isms: rationalism, utilitarianism, skepticism & pragmatism (faint hope). anyway, thanks for the walk-through.
Wow. I gotta tell you... this video was an eye opener. I'm a novice to the engineering of these products. I own two Kenwoods; a KR-4070 and a KR-3090, bought with my hard-earned scheckles when I was a teenager in the mid-70s. I also own an Onkyo TX-4500 MK 1 that I absolutely love. But you are dead-on about the empty box thing and the reason why I have been ignorant for so long is, while I was able to crack open these receivers, I never saw the inside of a Pioneer. Never too late to teach an old dog. Great stuff on this channel !
I still have 2 Kenwood models bought in the 70’s, that are in beautiful working order. A 20watt version and a 50. Regular cleanings are all they’ve ever needed.
Hi. I just found your channel and, as a 66 year old audio fan, am loving it. Hope you look back at comments on older videos. Strikes me that people don't understand the difference between watts and current, and why those big power supplies and torridal transformers make a difference. May be a topic or another video?
As a poor HS kid buying my first receiver with grass cutting money, the Technics SA-300, I appreciated the price. Thanks for the video. My Technics got me through college and I passed it on to a friend who still has it, but I know my current gear is better. Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for my old Technics. It kicked ass. 😃
Have you seen the new high end Technics Receivers/amps that go for around $10,000? That blew me away they made such high end audio components. But like you, when growing up my first stereo was a Radio Shack. And when I saved up and bought my first Technics receiver, I thought wow I finally made it to the high end of stereo components. lol. Worked fine for many wonderful years connected to my Cerwin Vega speakers.
This was an informative topic. I began my hi-fi journey after college back in 2008 - I loved the idea of vinyl & vintage stereos, but didn’t know where to start. As chance would have it I moved into an old apartment, and the previous tenant had abandoned a pair of AR7’s! I loved the look, but had no clue about the brand 😂 The same week I found a silver Technics SA-103 for $5 at a thrift store. I paired them together with an old Technics turntable I was given, and I spent more money on wire than I had on the rest of the system! But it was a warm, inviting sound and I loved it… until I blew one side of the Technics. While doing some research on replacing it I found my “hifi feelings” being hurt when everyone on the forums poo-pooed the Technics. I thought they were saying my ears were bad, or that my taste was poor. In time I realized they were essentially saying the unit was unreliable and you could find much better build/fidelity quality for not much more $$. I enjoy the Top 5 lists because it always gives me some new unit to research, or makes a comparison to something I’ve never heard of.
I just ran across this video and must agree with you completely. In 1975 I bought a Marantz 2250 loved it and had it for a couple of years. In maybe 1978 or 79 I was friends with a Kenwood dealer and I wanted some more power He gave me a great deal on a Kenwood 7050. I sold the Marantz for almost enough to cover the price of the Kenwood. Taking the cabinets off of both and looking at the components and build quality there was NO comparison as you state in the video. The Kenwood as you also state was a big empty box. I had the Kenwood till about 2005 was a great sounding receiver and I ran it hard all those years and enjoyed it very much.
Very well said! For Kenwood receivers I actually do not mind servicing the KR-9600 now that discrete replacements for the power packs are available. Small filters but really pretty unit, SX-1250 walks all over it in same wattage class but hey, sometimes you need handles! Again, well said. Keep up the good work.
All of the brands had some lower end models. My Technics SA-1010 was made in 1983 it cost $850 new and is still all original and works like new and has one of the biggest power supplies and pair of filter caps I have ever seen and is a beast of a build internally. Technics made the most powerful receiver ever made the SA-1000 (330 WPC 8 Ohms) I wouldn't part with it for anything and the same goes for my higher end Kenwood gear. I also love my vintage Pioneer gear as well.
Brings back a lot of memories. I was selling for World Radio in the late 70's and early 80's and concur with your quality assessments. Marantz was the acknowledged quality king with Pioneer and Sansui close behind. Kenwood was for promo and loss leaders in ads.Easy to upgrade .
I remember going to World Radio in Omaha a lot as a teenager. I bought my first pair of speakers there. They were 3 ways with a 12" woofer. I think they were a no name house brand. For the life of me I can't remember what they were called. I sold them to a friend over 30 years ago.
As a teen my dad had a Kenwood receiver with a pair of larger Kef speakers. He still has the speakers. At some point the Kenwood died after many years service. sounded GREAT!
Been in this game since 1972. I have purchased a wide variety of gear over the years. I've talked with many a technicians also. But I have never heard any "technician" trash Kentwood the way you did. Grant it there are different levels with just about anything. But you sir, are a first for me!
Both technics and kenwood put their high end into integrated amps and separates. Receivers sold well at the mid range; kenwood kr-9600, kr-9050 and technics sa-800, sa-1000.
I agree, Kenwood made a few great items, but most of their products were ho-hum. Their L-07 series was really good as was the KD-5xx/6xx turntables. They made pretty good FM tuners. I have an L-07TII tuner that sounds and works great. I've always regretted selling my L-07M amps. I worked at a hifi store back in the 80's and Kenwood was never a big mover. Like you said about Technics.... turntables and reel to reel tape machines were the best from them.
I’m glad you showed photos of the guts of these receivers. It says everything about the build quality. I wish more people in audio cared about build quality and repairability as opposed to straight looks.
As an owner of a Kenwood model 11, I chuckled about the timer, the comment is correct. The other issue is the long connecting shaft for the timer to the knob, I was lucky mine is alum but most were plastic and broke and can't be found. When I had it service and bad parts replaced I asked him to service the timer and he sorta chucked and said he was not a clock repair person. I have Pioneer/Yamaha/Luxman/Technics/Onkyo receivers and amp/tuners and I would agree the Pioneer and Yamaha are better than Kenwood or Technics. I only have the Onkyo A-10/T-9 and would say the T-9 is a bit of a empty box my most early to mid 70's tuners are that way but would say the A-10 is a well built or overbuilt int amp. I have a Technics SA-500 50w receiver that I bought new and it does the job but I would not put it up against my Pioneer 850 or a SX-750. I have a Fisher RS-2010 which looking at the inside I wonder why they are not sought after. I like the looks of the JVC tuner/amps or the Sansui tuner/amps but I have never gotten lucky enough to get either.
My first receiver was a Kenwood KR-100 that I bought just before my junior year of high school (would have been 1970). I'll confess that what I knew about audio then was what I could learn from an Allied Radio catalog; mostly features and specs. I'll also confess that I chose it as much for the number of dials on the front. There was lots to play with. It was a great first receiver for me and I also loved the cheap Advents (not the small ones, the cheap ones) that I had at the time, but I was soon leered away by the new and fabulous Harmon Kardon 930 that I used for almost 20 years. I noticed that Harmon Kardon couldn't even get a mention in this video for bad or for good. What gives? Is there an older video about H-K?
@alm5693 Thank you for the information regarding Kenwood! I would have done the same thing if I could have afforded the same equipments back in the 70's. Later in early 80's I bought a Kenwood system but it was an amplifier, KA 30 and not a Receiver.
@@janath9118 still good , i bought a radio cassette player from kenwood in early 80´s when each brand had a diferent look and kenwood released maybe the best radio cassette player for cars at the time after changing one time the belts i used it till 95 ,it had treble and bass knob dolby switch volume with balance and fader included and auto-loudness when arriving with volume to half the scale the loudness came off and 4 crystal liquid displays for the fm frequency just by the cassette insert ,in early 90´s i bought the at the time new escort rs2000 and asked a friend to install on it the radio and asked him to put new speakers either than the 4 places from ford he put four speakers in the back from cobra and a equalizer from pioneer with fader and volume ,it was like a discoteque but i never liked that but i asked him and paid, when selling it the buyer asked me if i could leave there the radio ,i said yes
but the wing on the back was a head turner ,i didn´t knew thay had such a spoiler and from what i´ve heard was supposed to have an extra wing as the engenier designed
Kenwood Basic M2A power amp owner here. Have owned this amp since the mid 80's and it is still working perfectly today in my home theatre set up. I actually used to DJ parties and that amp was the work horse.
I bought Technics back in the day because I could afford it. It sounded good, and I paired it with good components like a Technics turntable and Pioneer cassette deck.
About 15 years ago I picked up a Kenwood silver face at a garage sale for $25, i forget the model number. Once home the first thing I did was open it up. I was suprised at how light duty the internals appeared to be. It was supposed to be a 30-ish wpc receiver but my 15 wpc Pioneer sx 450 had an equivalent power supply and even bigger filter caps. It sounded ok and cleaned up nice but the whole experience left me underwhelmed and a bit confused because Kenwood was supposed to be, in my mind, equivalent to Pioneer, Marantz, etc. I ended up gifting it to a friend, who was happy to get it. A better friend got the Pioneer, lol.
I really enjoy your approach to these topics. Straight no BS but respectful always. Wish I lived close enough to visit your shop. I know I would love it. Happy healthy holidays to you!!
Thank you for your honesty. Having had a certification in electronics, everything you have said is spot on about components, their quality or lack of quality and the price point objective they were trying to reach. In other words, in most cases you get what you pay for.
Kenwood receivers had some of the best tuner sections. As a matter of fact, Kenwood tuners are highly sought after even today. Technics stuff was good, but they excelled at turntables.
i remenber when the tuner was one of the most important features in a system, that was the source of new music and styles that we could never had listen to, FM stations were the source of new music ,today it´s sad don´t even have a tuner conected to my system and in the 70´s i had a tube tuner with multipath and other filters to make FM sound perfect and record new compilations in cassette or reels ,today that is lost, today internet as everything but not personalised shows in FM stations that one could not miss or even have a timer to when not at home the shows were recorded entirelly into reels, than search for the records on several stores
@@billd9667 if internet radio had at least half of the FM stations quality in content and sound quality and anyone could have a radio station ,in my country the best were all pirates ,mine was only legalised after 20 years
I had one of the first run 1200's. It was amazing. I could set the head weight/tracking force(it's been a LONG time)? to it's lowest setting and actually hit the body and it wouldn't skip a beat, and mean a solid thump.
just found this channel and i''''''m 65 got my 1st. componant system when i was 11 it was a midland am/fm 5w.pch. 3'' wood pulp box's was nice 1/3 the formal stereo size w/ inputs for my realistic cassette a brand new form of tape .. even now i feel the pride i had in ownership an wet corner in my eye but yea what you know is always how you will go .. love work site you guys i bet just kinda live it , psthat midland was a sears brand in 1968 ..peace and keep it real.. istic , i told you.. peace out - a fan
Not to contradict the video, but back around 1974, my brother bought a Kenwood receiver. Pretty sure it was 85 wpc. It was absolutely gorgeous. The heavy flywheel on the tuner was so cool. We loved it!
Interesting analysis. I have had in this order, starting in 1977.... Pioneer SX650, Kenwood KR770 (bought in military in Japan), used Mac 6100, Nikko Gamma 1, Mac MA252, Kenwood KR4070, and a Vector Research VR5000. The last two bought used for $50 a piece on CL in almost mint condition, just for me to play with. The KR4070 only needed a controls cleaning and one side tuning dial fuse bulb. The tech was surprised it all tested to spec otherwise, and extremely clean inside. I rotate it out with my old original Pioneer for a second room system and both sound just as good to me in non critical listening, with all sources. Both share similar features, and with same power and speakers selection on same knob, but the Pioneer does have one extra tape monitor. At this model tier, I don't think either one looks overbuilt inside and both look very close components-wise. However when I see my big brother's Pioneer SX1250, it along with the similar SX850-1050 models are of course very overbuilt! Still, I like the simple Kenwood look with amber backlit dial, all metal build quality, and sprayed on dark gray texture surface. My Pioneer started peeling off of some of the wood color vinyl surface after many years of use, and has the particle board sides. No biggie, but I think the Kenwood is slightly nicer in that respect, and has knurled twist knobs for speaker connectors. So many choices of great vintage gear out there, for little money, so this and your other videos are quite informative to new buyers of vintage. Keep it up. Thanks!
I agree. Having had several 70s vintage Pioneers, Technics, and Kenwood units, I agree Pioneer holds up better. I have had NO capacitor failures on the Pioneers - 1976,77 and 82 receivers - and have had filter capacitors fail on 70s Kenwoods. Kenwoods of that era almost always have the power switch fail and arc. With Technics, they circuitry holds up better ( 80s - SU- V 5 and &7) the problem has been with the ribbon type multi selector switches. They are poorly designed and can actually fall apart. The Technics SU - V7s a really nice sounding amp - clean and powerful, BUT my old SX 750 has a warmer, sweeter tone, and won the contest. The Kenwood also had a sweet, natural sound
Well spoken. "Vintage" doesn't equate to "Better," as so many Craigslist posts seem to infer. There were levels of quality (and price) in 1978 too. It's good to know what's under the hood.
I've had Kenwood integrated amps and I've had Technics receivers all of it was good if you ask me anything that comes out of the 1970s is super good and I'll tell you another thing that's outstanding and that was the Kenwood tuners those things kick ass. The same goes for Sansui Pioneer all of them were good back then.
Nice video. In terms of, "The inside looks empty", I think can can be an unfair statement. The (Technics?) receiver that had the power supply mounted to the side of the case, did it have to be much larger if it was only delivering 18w x 2 channels? And I'd say much of the size was driven by the front panel. If you want a decent size tuning dial, and not miniature knobs, then the front and chassis will need to be larger to support that; not necessarily to contain the not many components for the unit. On the opposite end of the spectrum are today's components (audio, video, computer) which I so tightly integrated and crammed together, that they are almost serviceable (and become more of replace vs repair).
Very cool stuff Kevin. I had a KR-7400 receiver in 1976. It felt and looked like a well-made, well laid out, aesthetically pleasing receiver. Like most buyers, I didn't pay attention to what was inside the cabinet. I'd say it sounded "good" with a pair of efficient "good" speakers. That would be my assessment of most receivers of the day. Unlike you, I consider sound to be the most important factor in judging hi-fi equipment. Of course, build quality can be directly correlated to sound quality. Yamaha and NAD were a modest step up in audible sound quality, and so capable of taking advantage of moderately better speakers. I bought a pair of pricey (at the time) KEF 104 large bookshelves. The KR-7400 wasn't up to the task. I don't think ANY receiver would have been. I clipped and blew out a couple tweeters. I replaced the Kenwood with a Dynaco ST400 amp and Nakamichi pre-amp, and o....m....g. Saying it was night and day doesn't go far enough. Was it the power and headroom of 200 w/channel? Yes, but I'm sure that even a 200 w/ch receiver would not have come close to the sound of these separates. My main point being - at least on a pair of high end speakers like the KEF's I had, I don't think there would be a big audible difference between comparably spec'd receivers of the early-mid '70's - whether Kenwood, Marantz, Sony, Sherwood, HK, Onkyo, Fisher. Technics did look and feel cheaper to me, and had the stigma (fairly or not) of being a subsidiary of Panasonic. I think all of these brands took a turn for the worse in the later 70's and 80's.
It cheapened out very hard after the 1980s. The home audio necessity was eclipsed by cable TV and all the video explosion of the 1990s. Younger generations got away from clunky material investments and mini systems were good enough.
I feel fortunate. My Kenwood KR-V6040 discrete power amp receiver has been a work horse. I bought it in 1992, and it jams to this day. One benefit of this receiver is that it doesn't get hot. It barely stays warm, even after hours of blasting it loud.
I had a Technics SA-404 50 watt receiver thru college and beyond. Perfect for two big speakers with 12”s! It worked great for 8 years before it was stolen. The late 80s Technics digital receiver replacing it was definitely lesser built. Today I have a top Yamaha receiver.
Kenwood was the first manufacturer to "de-content" their products in the mid-70's. Their early solid state models such as the KA-2000 and KA-2500 were well built and had a warm sound.
Another great informative video! Thanks and agreed 100% You know, somewhere back in 1969, my dad bought a JC Penny’s stereo component system that came with what I believe was a 6 watt per channel receiver, a BSR turntable and a couple of low watt-handling bookshelf speakers. He had a high-paying job and could’ve easily afforded a Pioneer SX series or a high wattage Marantz or a Sansui. And believe it or not, he was a lover of music! What was he thinking? I never forgave him for that. 🤣 It was my friends’ parents who owned the Pioneers, Matantz’s and the Sansui’s. Garrard turntables also. My friends and I would cut school and listen to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer at their parents’ house.
I walked into a stereo shop in 1977 at age 17 . I was looking to buy the best the first time . Geoff, the owner pointed out one that was on sale for 700 instead of 1000. ( Southern Ontario ) That Sansui 9090 still rocks today! Now it is need of some lovin, and will be going in soon. I'd say I got lucky way back then. :)
That particular series is very good. I think it's the best receiver they ever made. I have many sansui, G series and the 5050 to 9090 and even tube stuff (SM) series that dates back to 1962-63 and the later A series 500A and 1000A and they're quite good too. Sansui started as a transformer company.
i had a sansui pre and amplifier but my father gave me his pioneer when buying a revox, i have to say that the sansui was stoped only some 7 years ago i restored it to sell it by a lot of money, but we are talking of brands that never went bad in 50 years of use ,some new brands will never work for 50 years without problems
almost forget to refer that in late 70´s bought the high-end amplification system from H.H.Scott and works till today with nothing to add, in speakers i have pioneers, JBL´s ,altec lasing,huge studio monitors bought in 1972, tannoy´s, celestion ditton series, Mission, wharfedale and Technics, Grundig, had some cerwin-vegas enjoyed them for 10 years and sold them because someone told me that the red menbrane was getting rotten in a lot of speakers ,mine were ok .
Enjoyed your video interesting subject of the less popular brands. I am in aviation and repair communication and navigation sytems for years now. A buddy from work asked me if I would look at his old JVC AX-Z911 amp. First thing I thought (didn't say it though) was throw the piece of junk in the garbage. Anyway I looked at it and fixed it. This thing was an over built quality class A amp beast. Was even more impressive after it was fixed and hooked up to speakers. I told him I would buy it if he ever decided to sell. His answer was "never selling it way better than any Pioneer or Sansui he had in the past". I have personally owned Marantz, Pioneer and Yamaha all 70s and I have to admit he was right.
Ignore the trolls. The brand loyalty helps them justify their purchase decision years ago. It is insecurity on their part. Another good video. Thank you.
I have a KENWOOD MODEL ELEVEN III receiver, 4 JBL 3 way studio monitor speakers, Technics SL-1200MK2 turntable and an AKAI 77 Reel-To-Reel. I'm not loyal to a brand, I'm loyal to my ears and my wallet. I thank overbuild is just a term to get money on the front and back end. I don't mind spending the money if I have it. I have to hear a difference to justify spending more and it's just not there when you compare the same wattage and features.
I started typing this comment 5 mins before I hit play, 5 mins in and its my thoughts exactly. Ive been dabbling with stereos for 30+ years but only getting into the repair side in the last 3 years. On the exterior they may look the same but once you get under the hood its clear as day, Its always the Kenwood or Technics that may have big watts but then you get inside and your like "Where is everything". Its either a larger than needed case to look beefier, Theres usually no bias/dc offset adjustments on kenwood/technics and some hokey resister setup. Large circuit boards covering multiple functions vs single boards per section. I find Sansui / Pioneer / Yamaha / HK have more discrete components for the same wattage / year, Just feel like a more quality build to me. I havent found a Kenwood yet ( not saying they are not out there ) that I didnt wanna sell after repair, None have wow'd me like the other mentioned brands.
Being a career electronics tech (geared toward two-way and microwave radio, but audio is a passion), I can really appreciate the "tech friendly" aspects of some of these pieces. RF is the same way. By law, they all had to meet certain specs. But some brands were universally hated by every tech I knew. I'll spare you the gory details. I'm curious about the STK darlington packs. I'm seeing the "discrete replacements" that have been showing up. BTW, my favorite receiver I've ever owned is a Kenwood KR-V86R. Bought it new. It's a beast. It's been my main system for most of its life. It's just now gotten to the point that I feel the need to remove the covers. We shall see. I'd also like to ask your opinion of JVC. I own an RX315, that is currently in the rotation. It's... okay. Heavy as hell, if nothing else. Thanks! Subscribed to your channel.
I find this discussion very interesting. I got into the business in 1976 at about 20 years of age. I was already into the hobby by 16 and started hanging out at a "high end" shop that sold McIntosh, Crown, Quad speakers, Advents, B&O etc. That store begat another that also sold Yamaha, Tandberg, B&W along with the others. I remember taking my little 20 wpc Sony Receiver to the Mc Clinic to be tested. So I went to college away from home and got this job at similar shop - Crown, Phase Linear, but our bread and butter was Japanese gear. We sold Yamaha, Pioneer, Anna's Technics. Our relationships for choosing these brands was partially financial. In those days, Yamaha was an exclusive or partially exclusive brand, so we could sell it at retail. Pioneer and Technics were sold most everywhere, so we had to compete. Putting the right combination of speakers, turntables, amps and cartridges could be very profitable. Amps were about 40% profit at retail, speakers were 50% and up, cartridges often even more. Technics may have had an upper echelon for their top tables and we had access. So we were often able to sell them at retail. Cartridges, like speakers (especially if you include private label) were all over the map. I remember a Grado cartridge that retailed for $50 with a cost of $3.50 and a $75 one for 7.50. anyway, I'm just saying it factored in and was always in my head when talking to customers. There are books written about when to implement that in your thinking and when to just recommend the best, or best for them. And very often giving them options. Anyway just another part of the discussion. We thought Yamaha was premium. When they went from the 00 series to the 20 series, we wondered how they got so much more for less. A CR-800 had 50 wpc for $580, an 820 same power for $450. Our repair guy said they HAD made some more cost effective choices but didn't feel in was inferior. I think Yamaha was preparing to go to a different distribution model and felt they had to go head to head with the Pioneers of the world. My co owners thought Pioneer was good especially when the 50 series showed up. One of our speaker companies' CEO, who kind of put us under his wing was always trying to change our minds about these two brands. He not only said what we suspected but encouraged us to listen to the 750 versus the CR 820. He said the 750 was better sounding, and had a more Natural sound than the "Natural Sound" Yamaha. He said the Yamaha sounded too bright, clinical, crisp, hard, fatiguing. Interestingly Yamaha made a couple of statement amp using the transistor co-developed with Sony, called the VFET. They said it sounded more like a tube amp. I agree. They also made a statement speaker called the NS-1000. It was more controversial with people on both ends. The speaker had a revolutionary mid range and tweeter made from vapor deposited Beryllium. It tended toward brightness. But they never sounded better than they did with the VFET B-1 and B2. And real tube amps. I bought a pair of NS-1000s and got Yamaha's top integrated amp of the time. The CA-2010. It was good but they did sound a tad bright in comparison. By the time the 40 series came around and then especially the next, all of which I sold, it was obvious they were going mass market. We quit recommending it. By those early 80s receivers they did not sound close to as good. I always liked the sound of the Pioneers but I had little experience with Marantz and none with Sansui. No one seemed to sell them. All I knew what that a lot of guys came back from Viet Nam with Sansui. But then a few years ago, I helped an old friend put together a vintage system for his office. I have a couple of great vintage equipment repair guys in my city. And I was visiting one. I'm still an active hobbyist and have some vintage equipment of my own. I asked him if he had any receivers he might have to sell that he would recommend. He said I got this Sansui 771. "Really", I said. What about the Yamaha here (CR-820). That's when he told why it was not as good a selection. And that there were a couple of proprietary parts that you really can't get anymore, new. And a couple of other things. So he suggested I take the Sansui home and try it out. No charge. So I got it home and immediately I knew I was hearing the best receiver I had ever heard of. Great warmth, a focus more down in the lower mid range, which brought a great foundation, and warm, wonderful bass. Not the fastest, but it seemed more natural. Only 38 watts per channel but who cared? So, learning from my repair guy, I've changed my whole hierarchy of best sounding receivers of the era. And, like most of the Japanese brands, the mid to late 70's are very good in many ways, construction and sound. But maybe the early mid 70's sounded even better. So kudos to you. I was right there and I had it wrong. Experience and advice have convinced me. I have had a small Kenwood integrated, and still have a Sansui TU-717. Somewhere before I buy the farm, I'm going to find a earlier 70's Sansui amp or integrated and put that into my system. In the intervening years I've owned high end amps from Conrad Johnson, Quicksilver, McIntosh and others, but I don't think I'll be disappointed.
Great video and budget receivers have their place! I recently built my daughter a vintage system in the heart of that is a Kenwood receiver, but I didn’t want to shell out big bucks for something that she might not really be getting into! Probably later if it dies I’ll get her more substantial unit !
Genau! I just built my daughter a vintage system also: Sansui 221, Kenwood KD1033, and some Paradigm book shelf speakers. Added a Bluetooth adapter to the AUX and she’s set. Good on you bro!
@@Tr1hawaii got mine a Kenwood receiver, Yamaha YPD4 turntable and put a Grado blue cartridge, a thunderbolt plug for iPhone steaming and floor-standing Polk Audios! It’s so great to pass on the knowledge to my daughter I received from my dad and now we share music! Amazing 🤩
i was selling all these makes mid 70.s and often asked which was best,i took the top off the pioneer sx434 i had bought myself and still have and saw that pioneer had wrapped wires in a coil on a post before soldering,i was blown away by this quaility of idea so no poor joints in years to come,over here i always aquanted kenwood with food mixers rather than hi fi,im in the uk
Personally, from a vintage standpoint, my top 3 brands are Sansui, Yamaha, and Harman Kardon. That being said, my favorite integrated amp is a Technics Su-VX10. Build quality aside, it just sounds better than any non separates system I have ever heard. Marantz always sounded muddy to me, and Pioneer is fine, but from a sound standpoint, there Ok at best.
Ha! I never realized how well built the Pioneers were. The thing is, the exterior matches the interior. I've always preferred the Pioneers because the knobs are milled aluminum, not hollow, the toggle switches thicker and have a much nicer feel. They just look better.
Am a fan of the HK x30 series. I can't say enough about my 730 on my primary system and my 330C on my secondary system. I know both of those units are tech favs!
Excellent !!!!! Very well said !!! I find it hard to believe that there is any vintage gear is much better than McIntosh ! Expensive - but still affordable for most. Nice video as always !!!!
You didn't mention the Kenwood KR-6600. Good build quality, not empty inside. very well featured for a receiver in that power range. It has 60 watts per channel and it has turnovers. Not found on many receivers of that range. The 600 series was excellent. Probably the best line they had. Even Pioneer engineers admired its circuitry and build quality. Kenwood should have used a dual power supply on the KR-6600 since they used dual blocks.
I bought a Technics SA500 receiver when I first got into vintage. Loved it. I wanted to upgrade so I bought a Pioneer SX980 from the same (well respected) shop. I hooked it up and it was nowhere near as good as the Technics. I returned the Pioneer and then found a Technics SA700 and play both regularly. I am not a technician, so I can't comment on that, but I know what sounds better to me.
I’ve purchased new mid 70’s Marantz. I’ve also purchased mid 70’s Technics. Still using a Technics SA-600 45 years old today. I’d put it up against anything comparable.
I just got a sa600 last week off original owner. Hope I did good. All I had to do was spray some deoxit in the volume pot. Everything works. I just ordered some leds, warm white. Hooked them up to some avid audiophile 100 speakers I just got from an old lady she had since 1975 all original with rubber surrounds so they don't rot. They sound awesome . Also have cerwin vega vs150 I switch back n forth with the sa600. Denon turntable. Hopefully the sa600 gives many more years of joy.
Good video and I agree. By the same token, some of Marantz' other components like turntables and cassette decks weren't great relative to other brands. Kenwood's high end turntables (like the KP-9010) were excellent and they some of their highest end integrated amps were great too (like the 600), but the receivers weren't. I think Pioneer might have been the most consistent across the different component types. Their receivers and amps were obvious, but their turntables and tape decks were also very good.
In the 1970s and into the early 1980s, Pioneer was indeed the best EVERYTHING brand for those who demanded the one brand approach. We used the phrase "mix and match" to show customers what they could optimize in a stated budget.
Just bought my fifth Hitachi for $35, an SR-703. The faceplate was dirty, the lamps shot. No leaking or vented caps...I put in on the dim-bulb, all good. Let it warm up and checked offsets (both A&B; 18~19mV both channels). Blew/dedusted the interior, cleaned the face plate with warm/soapy water, cleaned all the knobs...and wrapped the black matte "veneer" with a nice drift-wood grained high-quality vinyl. The case was already in decent condition but I hate that black-matte OEM wrap Hitachi used on some units...it shrinks away from the heat vents with age and although it's smooth and robust...I either remove it entirely with a heat gun (if peeling is bad), else simply clean it and wrap it. The Tuner knob had deep scores/scratches...which I sanded out with fine grit polishing sticks, to get the same grain/reflection as the other knobs. Put it on a taped drill bit in slow speed to get the perfectly circular fine brushed grain of the other knobs ( 400 grit up to 2000 grit). To bring back the beveled edge high polish I used 5000 then 7000 grit. I already have an extra LED kit for another SR-903 and will use that to MOD the lamps. Gave it a sound trial and was surprised that it really performed well, even before a recap. Frankly, for a local auction, I was surprised to land it at only $35. A steal, imho.
For those who live in areas with good FM stations, Kenwoods had great tuners. They drew on the expertise they gained in making communications and ham radios. Some of the higher-end Kenwoods had really hot tuners.
High-end Kenwood tuners from the late 1970s, such as the KT-917, KT-815, KT-8300 and KT-7500 are considered to be very competitive quality-wise with Pioneer, Marantz and Sansui. The Kenwood L-02T from 1982 is probably the best analog tuner ever made.
Still have my KA-701 & KT-815, I bought new in 79!
I got tired of looking for someone who might have made the comment before me - so here goes.
The Pioneer SX-1050 you picked was made from 1976 to 1978. That is the same time period as the Kenwood KR-X600 series. So for a comparable to the Pioneer we have to look at a KR-7600 (at 70WPC) or a KR-9600 (at 160WPC). That is not fair to the smaller Kenwood or the Pioneer the other way. So we bump up to a Pioneer SX-1250 versus the Kenwood KR-9600. Conveniently, these are both the TOTL for their respective manufacturer. The KR-9600 is definitely NOT an empty box.
Looking at the specifications, the Pioneer claims their wattage from 10-50KHZ, the Kenwood only from 20-40KHZ. Keep in mind that human hearing is usually 20-20KHZ at best. The Pioneer does so with a claimed .1% THD, while the Kenwood does it with .08%. Now, I am not claiming that is a big difference numerically - and BOTH are below the threshold of human hearing (3% for most, down to 1%) - but the Kenwood is better. Just like the Pioneer does a wider range.
The damping factor is 55 for the Kenwood, but a mere 30 for the Pioneer - this translates to poorer control of the load (speaker).
The line signal to noise ratio of the Pioneer is 90dB, while the Kenwood is 95dB - a significant improvement. Let's not pretend that both are not excellent, though. I mention line only because most are not dropping needles or plunking in cassettes nowadays.
You repeatedly talk about the size of the filter capacitors and the toroidal transformer versus the standard or traditional (D? or is it El?) transformer. While a toroidal transformer was the thing that made the Pioneer stand out (they were very early of not the first to use them) - the benefits are not so clear as one might believe from the hype. They are more efficient, and they have less magnetic "leak" or stray. So they are more efficient, meaning more for your size and input or a smaller package for the same performance. They are also less likely to vibrate due to more uniform construction, but I suspect that is more theoretical for mass production units. On the flip side, the El is less prone to immediate or sudden saturation, and better about DC rejection or smoothing of noise on the power line. Most do not use a line conditioner. While I agree that larger filter capacitors are generally better practice, there is also a point where you are not gaining anything. I will not say that Kenwood did a great job on the size, but it was obviously more than adequate as this was never a weak point on them and they did hit their specifications.
I will give topology aesthetics to the Pioneer. It looks a lot better with it's top off than most manufacturers would bother with. The Kenwood is still not bad - but not really comparable.
I am not trying to say that Pioneer's stuff was not great - it really was quality. I am not saying that Kenwood was a giant killer that was under rated and remains so - they were not. Both played a similar game in the same field - I just think that we ought to discuss the same era.
They have me almost ashamed of ever having owned a Kenwood. I no longer have my Kenwood but I remember how much I loved it.
In the early 70s working at a gas station when I was 16 and going to high school if it wasn’t for Kenwood’s practice of not overbuilding and pricing I would never have been able to have a quality sound system, to this day I have Kenwood in my collection, there beautiful and sound great
Sound is subjective, and the canon of the time was that receivers mattered little for sound, in contrast to speakers and audio cartridges. 18 wpc was 'good' for 'easy listening' music of the 1970's if you had Technics, but it was good for little else. Everything else had more dynamic range (and has not completely disappeared from what has been offered as music. Other brands, like Pioneer, had more reserve power.
@@PaulBrower-qr8hf Great Point.
@@PaulBrower-qr8hf 18 watts is plenty if one has efficient speakers. I personally find that those early low watt solid state amps/receivers sound more laid back/tubey (If I can say that?) than the later power monsters. I'm guessing that the early solid state was designed by old tube designers and therefore they have that tube type sound.
Yup, the KR6030 and KR6600 damn nice receivers.
@@PaulBrower-qr8hfIf he says Kenwood is the best for him, you and your idea of subjectivity don't matter. What someone likes and enjoys is what matters.
I have owned a Kenwood KR-8010 for 35 years, bought it second hand in the original box for $50.00. It has 125WPC and has never been touched for repairs. Everything works perfect. I do not know how you could get much better than that. Sounds phenomenal to my ears. I absolutely love that thing. My dad is an Electronic Tech and has been since the tube days. he opened it up and was surprised how well it was built. Granted, he did not work on it, just looked at it. I completely understand what you are saying and actually agree with you but sometimes things do not have to be "overbuilt" to be great. Maybe Kenwood engineers understood what good enough meant. I would not trade it for a Pioneer or Sansui if I had to keep them. One thing seems to be evident, if you want a great deal in a vintage receiver, buy a Kenwood, they are not overbuilt/overpriced, they are just right.
In the market for one of those! Beautiful piece of kit. Wish me luck!
A friend of mine has a Marantz He has owned new from the early 1970's and he has repaired it on average once every 12 years, he uses it daily while I still have a 1970's realistic I bought used in 1983 I use daily in my garage (by Daily I mean I just never shut it off) that is still playing and never been serviced, My High end reciever gets used on average 2 times a month.
On my computer I have a Audio Refinement Complete that I would not trade for a marantz The sound is awesome, and extremely Rare when you find them listed for sale it is usually in Japan.
I agree, my brother brought home a Kenwood System from Okinawa in 72’ he passed in 74’ so my Dad kept it. That was the best stereo system in the neighborhood. My friends all had top ( midrange ) like Marantz, Sansui, Technics, Pioneer & Realistic to name a few. I loved our Kenwood
I have 2 8010's, one I purchased new and one I purchased at a yard sale for nothing. The one I bought new is minty today and has been used very hard, man the party's we had, you could cook on that thing! Never thermally shut down never failed never recapped (I know I should) to this day it runs perfectly.
The one I got from the yard sale looked like it was dragged through the mud! Every knob and switch was bent but all the knobs and switch pices were there. So I tested it and it worked! Some static from the knobs and switches so I took the chance and bent everything back into shape and cleaned them washed the circuit boards and face plate, hooked it back up and it works perfectly everything! I can't imagine it was used harder than mine but who knows!
This dude's tripping, had many friends who went the 2270 route and I had to fix them all. Most blew channels in the outputs, several had preamp issues in the tone circuits, Strange I thought. All I'm going to say about Sansui is they had problems with circuit boards loosing traces and poor soulder joints. Pioneer receivers early 70's ones would also pop the outputs but by the mid 70's they fixed that and I didn't have any friends to have problems after that. Technics was good until they started using modular circuits.
Like he said everyone makes good and bad products but over the decades I just didn't see failures in the Kenwoods, Pioneers, and such like the formentioned issues. Also simpler circuits are usually better sounding, you know "the closer to a wire you get the better the sound".
I bought a KR6030 back in 81, aside from the power/spkr sw switch and a few
transistors This rcvr has been and still is a damn nice receiver, I am still using it.
The KR6600 is a fine looking receiver, a little more control, this is built like a panzer
tank rugged yet handsome with beef, I have that in the den. It really depends on
what you want and I think many go for the very attractive silver face, I did, multiple
inputs and able to take 2 or 3 pairs of speakers. A vintage Kenwood built in the 70's
to me, beats the ass out of a Kenwood built in the 80's.
My Pioneer Sx 780 still rocks since 70’s, will outlast me
EE audiophile, repair tech, and former stereo shop owner here: I agreed with you on Technics and Kenwood receivers. Kenwood, however, made some excellent, well-made serious stereo tuners in the 70's utilizing their RF know-how from making 2-way radios which they still famously do today. Technics had their Pro Series line of separates, a big step up from their receivers. This included their excellent reel-to-reels, as well as preamps, power amps, and tuners. Of course their turntables were legendary, taking the market by storm.
OMG dude nobody cares about what you did to electronics in the 70's jesus total Kenwood jock sniffer here!🤣
My father had a full Technics component system with Warfdale speakers, sounded great and still works I inherited it.
I like your honesty, and the fact that you are not condescending to those who disagree with you. Kudos!
I bought a Technics receiver when I graduated high school. It was less expensive than some of the other brands with similar power and features. It worked great for over 30 years till one day it stayed in protection mode. Bummer. You could tell it was not as cosmetically refined as some of the other receivers but still very clean and nice looking. Price was a big factor back then for a kid just out of school. It served me very well.
some of the larger later SUV amps also had a protection fault i cannot remember which of the flagship suvs I had but it had the power transformer wound with OFC the protecion fault with all the suvs is simple they ran high current the protection relay got hot my one you tap him on his head bang bang and then he works it was the soldered joints of the relay that got hot and caused the connections to be dry joints after 10 to 20 years dry joints you can only realy see with a manifying glass like little carbonated rings on the terminals use a solder sucker remove solder and re-solder the joints good for another 20 years the one i i had was i think suv8x ofc tranformers and black gate supply capacitors
@@christopherhines2718 I wish I knew enough about the circuitry layout in that old receiver. I'd try to track down the problem, but I'm afraid I would cause more damage than good! May have to send her in for a revamp!
I'd expect that the relay contacts got dirty enough at one point, replace the relay or clean the contacts and then see and while you are at it, replace all the elektorlytic caps
My first HiFi was the SU-8022k with it's tuner and an SL-Q2 attacked to Mini 2-ways HERU LS. The LS are still working in the Médoc, the turntable was spoiled at May sisters family and the amp with a RS63M tape deck is still running fine on my balcony attached to F1 LS. As a student I upgraded to High class DENON stuff attached to Cabasse Sampan 311. Still running fine unserviced and the sound is satisfying.
I do own a lot of other historic (even High End) audio gears and I always focused on a clean efficient design with good finish quality until late 80s, and some stuff mid 90s. So Technics is on my top list regarding sound and build quality. Of cause they did die because they started to be more focused on cheap consumer marked, but this happened in late 90s.
All brands offered high quality but also budget lemons. But also expensive high end I always would stay away from because of being error prone and idiotic and unrepairable and or servicable design. E.g. Sansui, nearly all german/ european stuff but first of all I stay away from Pioneer & Co. what U.S. Americans basically think it is of value.
Of cause a Dodge or a Viper has got some kind of fun, but I always would prefer a Volvo or any "german" car brand, including an european Ford or even an Opel (ex GM Europe). 😊
🎉
I wouldn't trade or sell my 3 Kenwood 7600's, Awesome power, sound ,tuning,looks, multiple speaker out puts, one in the bar, one in the garage one in the house. If your looking for something that sounds incredible and beauty, made in San Diego USA, Get you a Kenwood 7600, had the one since 1979.
At the end of the day we listen to the amp we bought. Nobody buys an amp and open it and relax by staring at the big transformers and capacitors the whole day.
I do.
I have a late 70s Kenwood 55 watt unit I believe, I think its a KR5060 or something like that. It has a rotary on and off switch which fried, I couldn't get it repaired or replaced so I bypassed it and now when you plug it in it has power so I put it on a remote on and off switch you plug into the outlet and has a remote to turn it on and off which is a great option anyway. I love the receiver, it sounds great and is all original.
Kevin, you did a great job detailing sound and adequate engineering differences, and, you as a repair & business owner made excellent points.
I am not a brand snob, I own a Pioneer, Sansui, Kenwood, NAD, and Yamaha. With that said, in my stash of receivers is a Kenwood KR-4600 matted up to Yamaha NS-344 speakers. Over the past few years, many other brands and price points have come and gone like a Yamaha CR-620. Don't get me wrong the 620 is a great receiver but the KR-4600 sound is bolder and warmer, and the tuner is amongst the best also. I have owned this for more than 20 years and as there is no real $ value this receiver makes any speakers I hook up to just sound better.
For those on a budget and who find a KR series from the mid-70s cheap and in perfect condition, I say go for it.
Love you, Kevin, and keep up the good work.
Thanks, Randy!
i forget to mention Yamaha but once i saw a receiver from late 70´s where all inputs in the back had a tiny volume knob ,this to make all sources output sound at the same level, this feature i never saw it again in other brand and a very wise feature , but never found one for me, regards
I respect your justifications here. Vintage audio is a journey and quality is objective to a point. I have owned many vintage receivers over time and enjoyed the ownership experience with most. In the end, I have kept what sounds good to me in my room with my sources despite what others may opine. I’m not sure what you think of Scott receivers but my Scott 385r will never leave my room.
"Sound is dependent oh how you hear things" = words so true. Inner and outer ear are the mechanisms which receive air pressure changes. The nerves to brain are the transmission lines. The brain is where the magic happens where the previous becomes sound, speech, and what we call music. The brain can be trained to "hear" more small intricate details in "sound". The more you concentrate on listening in a quiet, non disruptive environment, over time the more intricate you can hear and that ladies and gentlemen is a key ingredient component in becoming a true audiophile.
Kenwood Eleven Mark I, II and III are nice sounding receivers. They are also very similar in looks to the KR-7600 and KR-9600 receivers that usually don’t have a wood case.
Technics 5570 fairly rare and sweet and bassy sound. Excellent phono stage too.
Mid to late 70's Kenwood intergrated amps are nice......to look away from receivers for a second.
Budget in the 70's compared to anything today has my vote.
I'm on a budget, just bought a Kenwood KA-3500 amp, sounds great, and that's what matters to me.
Agree 💯
Absolutely loved the dog with the Kenwood football. Enjoyed the video and your thoughts, I'm an analog circuit designer and verify your message about quality components and power supply size.
Late reply. But a lot of Technics stuff had very large power supplies. Aside from their cheapo range. A 1KWT power consumption allied with very large reservoir capacitors. However they didn't sound that good for some reason. Flat & dull for most part
I had a Technics SA505 receiver and a Technics PL 100 turntable in the 1980’s and I was completely happy with the performance of both.
I never had any problems and I wish I had them both now
I missed out on the silver disco era receivers; too young and poor.
For a few months prior to the COVID lockdowns, stereo gear ranging from R2R and cassette decks to receivers were donated to thrifts.
I bought an SA 500 and SA 505 for $4.99 each.
Still functioning though I should rebuild them.
Never found decent speakers for a reasonable price so the receivers sound good but presumably would sound even better with expensive speakers.
Kenwood amps from the early to mid seventies were beautifully made and sounding products. They hired the same designers that made high end Accuphase separates. The same quality was also put into many of Kenwoods integrated amps. Kenwood's Supreme series was a good example.
Kenwood KT-917 one of the all-time great supertuners, especially with upgraded components.
@@stillastillsfan Most people do not know that Trio/Kenwood had three product lines. Audio, two way radio and test equipment. Because of being a world leader in two way FM radio, their tuners were 2nd to none! They used basically DSD technology by turning the FM signal's pulse density into PDM audio. I gave lectures on it. I still have a KT615 sales sample from back then.
@@glenncurry3041 Today, Kenwood sucks, instead
@@pippocalippo2447 Today most of them do. Most are just names from the past bought and sold many times over the years. Denon, Marantz, Pioneer and Onkyo used to be separate companies in full competition. Now one company owns them all and makes sure cover different markets and do not compete.
@@glenncurry3041 then, Onkyo Is now dead
Glad you did this video, maybe folks will understand more now. You guys see these everyday. You know what works, what lasts-what doesn’t. Most don’t understand or know these things.🙏🏻
Yeah but he's blowing a lot of smoke. I have a Super 11 and got on eBay to see if what I need is available and it's ALL available. Sometimes these guys will diss on certain units to drive the prices down so they can buy them up for cheap. Not sure this guy's intentions but my guess is that they might be a teence more difficult to work on. So not ezpz as they say. 😢
I'm listening to this right now on my Kenwood receiver that I bought new from Circut City back in 1993. And I have used this stereo continuously since I bought it every year too. I bought the Kenwood not because it was cheaper, I bought it because I thought Kenwood was the best.
That's where I got my kenwood in the 90's it lasted till 2014 just redid the whole car audio all Kenwood & kenwood excelon
I watched this and decided to stay away from Kenwood, but then a buddy wanted a Kenwood amplifier. I found him a KA-305 and listened to it against my Pioneer SX-780 and was very impressed with the bass. I then found a Kenwood KR-5600 reciever and it gives bookshelf size speakers more bass and warmth than my Pioneer SX-780. All these came out around the 78 and all are around 40W so I think its a good comparison. The KR will stay in the garage, and the Pioneer will go in the living room because I paid $400 dollars more for the Pioneer. My tech worked on all three and he specifically said that the Kenwoods were nice unit's.
ya this reveiw picked kenwood when they had cheap out some. Earlier kenwood units were just as good as pioneer
So were you actually there back in the '70's? I had the very unique opportunity of being in the middle of all of this. I was in HiFi retail starting in '70. Our stores were one of the first Panasonic/ Technics dealers. In fact we received a batch of Panasonic labelled receivers and were quickly told after putting them out to pack them up. They were being returned because Panasonic had come up with the Technics brand instead. Same models, different logos.
In '71 I became a Manufacturers Rep in the S.E. for Marantz, Cerwin Vega, Empire, Maxell, Pioneer Car Stereo, ... My customers included the most highly respected Audiophile level dealers because of Marantz. The Marantz 1060 and a pair of large Advents was the defacto basic system. Then I started to lose business to this other line, the Kenwood 3500 was replacing the 1060 in all my dealers! Less expensive, more power and every of my Marantz dealers said better sounding! Because of my relationship with those dealers and their move to Kenwood from Marantz, I was offered the region for Kenwood and became the Kenwood, AR, AT, .... rep position. I travelled up to 6 S.E. states giving clinics and seminars.
Some of my dealers were also Mcintosh. They never promoted it as the superior sounding line. Audio Research, perhaps! Krell! But one explained to me (college town) that a professor would walk in with elbow patches, briar pipe, ... they'd take him into the showroom and lightup and big blue meters. The guy would pull out his check book and sign. Yes the Mc was made better. You could pull the covers and show how all the caps were so neatly all facing exactly the same way! Massive output transformers not needed by others. Yes Kenwood offered a compromise to keep costs down. e.g. the 3500 was lighter than the 1060. Thinner chassis, face plate, ... but parts quality design and build was not compromised. I ran a regional Kenwood repair facility in Atlanta for a while.
But pull the covers on a Kenwood KA-907 amp and tell me you can find a more powerful design and parts construction! It blew every integrated amp of the time away. I proved it with a travelling High Speed clinic taking on any amp anyone brought in for full power 10khz squarewave into 8 ohms!
Harry Pearson Absolute Sound said the Kenwood L-O7M's were the best amps made and owned them as reference for years! I provided his demo units. I will still put them up against almost any equal powered amps made today.
Yes unfortunately as TV/Media started to move in, they were one to start cheapening out.
Today almost none of these companies exist. Just names bought by some larger company. Often the same holding company intentionally creating marketing differences between their own lines.
Wish I could have experienced it like that. I am sure they were amazing times.
@@skylabsaudio I've partied with Joe Tushinsky, the founder of SuperScope which first imported Sony and other than a few original components, was the Marantz company. SuperScope was actually a lens technology company that competed with CinemaScope. Howard Hughes, RKO used it. Joe was friends with Hugh Hefner, it was a private party with Hugh at the California Playboy mansion. Got lots of stories!
Kevin knows nothing about quality Classic Audio Gear.
@@jackflackatari :)
I have the Kenwood KR-6600 rated at 60 WPC . What I liked about it was the "Acoustic " controls (like turnovers), which is something not found in many receivers. There are 2 amplifier blocks (DC), but they placed them so close, it looks like a single block. The amplifier blocks are located in the front behind the tuner. A set of heat sinks and output transistors, we call it a block. Just like an engine and spark plugs.
My dad bought his Jumbo Jet new in Thailand and it still works perfectly in 2023. This was my first intro to this space, and we had many house parties with that receiver, some Pioneer speakers and Thorens turntable. He also has a Teac reel-to-reel. He’s had other gear, but that’s the piece that started it all.
I’d love to see a video discussing the highest build quality in modern amplifiers. As a technician, you must have some perspective on this. Thanks for the great content!
Pass Labs is what comes to mind for me. Simple execution built to a high standard and serviceable.
Im 56 and have always been into audio...but its mostly car audio. I used to install amps...speakers and tape decks back when I was 14. I just took interest in vintage stereo receivers and my first must have unit was the one my parents had in our family room that I would push to its limit playing Kiss Alive 1 on vinyl. I just found a working Fisher CA-880 that is in perfect condition that I plan to use in my garage driving some old Pioneer speakers with a Cerwin-Vega powered sub. My local repair guy called it a "department store stereo " when I asked him about parts for it if needed (it looks hardly used...no vented caps..lights...knobs switches all work fine). I get what he said...but when you want to relive your youth...you look for that piece of history. Buying this unit and watching your videos has me itching to start a collection of the more quality units from the 70's and 80"s. By the way..my Mom still uses that same Fisher rack stereo that is in the same spot in her family room that I cranked up till the garage doors vibrated in the early 80's. Thanks for the awesome videos you post!
Interestingly, designers for Kenwood were so frustrated with Kenwoods penny pinching and design shortcuts that they left and formed Accuphase.
Beautiful made and engineered and the SOUND is just WOW [i got a E 306 MODEL]
Accuphase is high end audiophile grade stuff. If they weren't happy making consumer mid-fi equipment is says more about them than Kenwood. Nothing wrong with either as they both have their market.
Hey Kevin we’ll done an honest and truthful video, I currently own a pioneer SX1250, Kenwood KR9600, Kenwood KR8050,
Toshiba 7100, Sony V5, all have been totally restored , it’s taken around two years to get them done, when I picked one up from my tech I would drop the next one off, they all sound great , if it wasn’t for Kenwood’s practice in pricing I wouldn’t have been able to put together a decent sound system when I was in high school back in the early 70s, I have listened to a lot of your videos more than once when seeking reliable advice, much thanks
Regards
Russell Cardwell
Appreciate it, Russell!
I was in stereo retail in the 1980s. Sold Kenwood and Technics units by the truckload. But they did indeed struggle to get the comments we heard for Yamaha and Onkyo. Once Kenwood discovered the profits in CAR audio gear, they worked well into car radios and not as much into home gear.
Great honest review! I feel like so many people in the comments didn't actually listen in the video. You never said Kenwood or Technics receiver would "never last longer than 10 years" or "Will never sound as good to your ears as Marantz" or anything like that. You simply stated that they were NOT MADE with the same level of components as some other brands. I had a 2007 dodge charger. Bought it brand new with 17 miles on it. Just sold it last year with 368,000 miles on it. It was a GREAT car. Loved and it gave me few if any problems. That doesn't mean a Mercedes or Cadillac may not be built better with better quality components.
I owned a Kenwood KA-6006 and matching tuner myself back in college in the early 70’s and loved it. I think that may have been the last time they made decent stuff as by the 80’s it was clear they were declining and I turned away from them myself. I would gladly have anything they made in the 60’s or 70’s but would not tough anything from the 80’s on.
They were going strong then, that series of integrateds is great. In general, I rate their integrated stuff very highly, better than their receivers. The KR-9400 has excellent build quality, I think this guy would have to agree, but perhaps the build quality started to decline with the KR-X600 series.
I have a pair of Technics speakers (120W) made in
Puerto Rico
. Still rocking today!
I love how you bag on Kenwood then say you're not bagging on them.....😂
Very much agree with this video. Through working on all of these brands, there's a huge difference between the craftsmanship of Pioneer, Marantz, Sansui vs. Technics or Kenwood.
excellent review Kevin.
your contribution to vintage stereo is significant. no BS from an expert at the ground level in the service & resale end of the biz (bonus: a tech who can run a biz). tastes in audio, music & aesthetics vary widely, but the finite characteristics of hardware over time CAN be determined. it's also important to note you pontificate only on hardware you know quite well, while also distinguishing what you know w/ adequate certainty from the gray areas subject to opinion / preference / received wisdom. the point you made that most companies who make problematical products will undoubtedly turn over an occasional ace (& vice versa!) is important.
on attachment to brand... yes, that is a major goal of modern corporate marketing (amplified by behavioral science), but also learned by consumers (even generationally - that handed-down Rolex, etc.). these days, the science of brand loyalty has been refined to the point that the image is often more substantial / influential than the content ("signature editions", fake rarity, etc). cheaper than investment in product development, + the execs get to hang out w/ infamous "ambassadors". it's getting worse, & will continue to do so until folk get a far better education in the better isms: rationalism, utilitarianism, skepticism & pragmatism (faint hope). anyway, thanks for the walk-through.
Wow. I gotta tell you... this video was an eye opener. I'm a novice to the engineering of these products. I own two Kenwoods; a KR-4070 and a KR-3090, bought with my hard-earned scheckles when I was a teenager in the mid-70s. I also own an Onkyo TX-4500 MK 1 that I absolutely love. But you are dead-on about the empty box thing and the reason why I have been ignorant for so long is, while I was able to crack open these receivers, I never saw the inside of a Pioneer. Never too late to teach an old dog. Great stuff on this channel !
Thanks, Steve!
I still have 2 Kenwood models bought in the 70’s, that are in beautiful working order. A 20watt version and a 50. Regular cleanings are all they’ve ever needed.
Hi. I just found your channel and, as a 66 year old audio fan, am loving it.
Hope you look back at comments on older videos. Strikes me that people don't understand the difference between watts and current, and why those big power supplies and torridal transformers make a difference. May be a topic or another video?
As a poor HS kid buying my first receiver with grass cutting money, the Technics SA-300, I appreciated the price. Thanks for the video. My Technics got me through college and I passed it on to a friend who still has it, but I know my current gear is better. Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for my old Technics. It kicked ass. 😃
Have you seen the new high end Technics Receivers/amps that go for around $10,000? That blew me away they made such high end audio components. But like you, when growing up my first stereo was a Radio Shack. And when I saved up and bought my first Technics receiver, I thought wow I finally made it to the high end of stereo components. lol. Worked fine for many wonderful years connected to my Cerwin Vega speakers.
My first receiver from delivering the newspaper and mowing grass was a Sansui R-30. Tons of problems.
@@mtgreenwoodbustout that's a pity, when you don't have a lot, every penny really counts
Thanks for the honesty. I had a kenwood in the early 70;s. After all the kids I;m thinking of getting into it again. Thanks again for the insight.
This was an informative topic. I began my hi-fi journey after college back in 2008 - I loved the idea of vinyl & vintage stereos, but didn’t know where to start. As chance would have it I moved into an old apartment, and the previous tenant had abandoned a pair of AR7’s! I loved the look, but had no clue about the brand 😂 The same week I found a silver Technics SA-103 for $5 at a thrift store. I paired them together with an old Technics turntable I was given, and I spent more money on wire than I had on the rest of the system!
But it was a warm, inviting sound and I loved it… until I blew one side of the Technics. While doing some research on replacing it I found my “hifi feelings” being hurt when everyone on the forums poo-pooed the Technics. I thought they were saying my ears were bad, or that my taste was poor. In time I realized they were essentially saying the unit was unreliable and you could find much better build/fidelity quality for not much more $$.
I enjoy the Top 5 lists because it always gives me some new unit to research, or makes a comparison to something I’ve never heard of.
I just ran across this video and must agree with you completely. In 1975 I bought a Marantz 2250 loved it and had it for a couple of years. In maybe 1978 or 79 I was friends with a Kenwood dealer and I wanted some more power He gave me a great deal on a Kenwood 7050. I sold the Marantz for almost enough to cover the price of the Kenwood. Taking the cabinets off of both and looking at the components and build quality there was NO comparison as you state in the video. The Kenwood as you also state was a big empty box. I had the Kenwood till about 2005 was a great sounding receiver and I ran it hard all those years and enjoyed it very much.
Very well said! For Kenwood receivers I actually do not mind servicing the KR-9600 now that discrete replacements for the power packs are available. Small filters but really pretty unit, SX-1250 walks all over it in same wattage class but hey, sometimes you need handles!
Again, well said. Keep up the good work.
All of the brands had some lower end models. My Technics SA-1010 was made in 1983 it cost $850 new and is still all original and works like new and has one of the biggest power supplies and pair of filter caps I have ever seen and is a beast of a build internally. Technics made the most powerful receiver ever made the SA-1000 (330 WPC 8 Ohms) I wouldn't part with it for anything and the same goes for my higher end Kenwood gear. I also love my vintage Pioneer gear as well.
Brings back a lot of memories. I was selling for World Radio in the late 70's and early 80's and concur with your quality assessments. Marantz was the acknowledged quality king with Pioneer and Sansui close behind. Kenwood was for promo and loss leaders in ads.Easy to upgrade .
I remember going to World Radio in Omaha a lot as a teenager. I bought my first pair of speakers there. They were 3 ways with a 12" woofer. I think they were a no name house brand. For the life of me I can't remember what they were called. I sold them to a friend over 30 years ago.
As a teen my dad had a Kenwood receiver with a pair of larger Kef speakers. He still has the speakers. At some point the Kenwood died after many years service. sounded GREAT!
The truth sometimes hurts, but when you tell it, it's a hoot! Great video and cheers!
Been in this game since 1972. I have purchased a wide variety of gear over the years. I've talked with many a technicians also. But I have never heard any "technician" trash Kentwood the way you did. Grant it there are different levels with just about anything. But you sir, are a first for me!
Agreed. Have owned quite a few integrated amps since the early 70’s, and like you I’ve never heard anyone shit on Kenwood or Techniques.
Both technics and kenwood put their high end into integrated amps and separates. Receivers sold well at the mid range; kenwood kr-9600, kr-9050 and technics sa-800, sa-1000.
I agree, Kenwood made a few great items, but most of their products were ho-hum. Their L-07 series was really good as was the KD-5xx/6xx turntables. They made pretty good FM tuners. I have an L-07TII tuner that sounds and works great. I've always regretted selling my L-07M amps. I worked at a hifi store back in the 80's and Kenwood was never a big mover. Like you said about Technics.... turntables and reel to reel tape machines were the best from them.
I’m glad you showed photos of the guts of these receivers. It says everything about the build quality. I wish more people in audio cared about build quality and repairability as opposed to straight looks.
As an owner of a Kenwood model 11, I chuckled about the timer, the comment is correct. The other issue is the long connecting shaft for the timer to the knob, I was lucky mine is alum but most were plastic and broke and can't be found. When I had it service and bad parts replaced I asked him to service the timer and he sorta chucked and said he was not a clock repair person. I have Pioneer/Yamaha/Luxman/Technics/Onkyo receivers and amp/tuners and I would agree the Pioneer and Yamaha are better than Kenwood or Technics. I only have the Onkyo A-10/T-9 and would say the T-9 is a bit of a empty box my most early to mid 70's tuners are that way but would say the A-10 is a well built or overbuilt int amp. I have a Technics SA-500 50w receiver that I bought new and it does the job but I would not put it up against my Pioneer 850 or a SX-750. I have a Fisher RS-2010 which looking at the inside I wonder why they are not sought after. I like the looks of the JVC tuner/amps or the Sansui tuner/amps but I have never gotten lucky enough to get either.
My first receiver was a Kenwood KR-100 that I bought just before my junior year of high school (would have been 1970). I'll confess that what I knew about audio then was what I could learn from an Allied Radio catalog; mostly features and specs. I'll also confess that I chose it as much for the number of dials on the front. There was lots to play with. It was a great first receiver for me and I also loved the cheap Advents (not the small ones, the cheap ones) that I had at the time, but I was soon leered away by the new and fabulous Harmon Kardon 930 that I used for almost 20 years. I noticed that Harmon Kardon couldn't even get a mention in this video for bad or for good. What gives? Is there an older video about H-K?
HK was one of the best brands but from the 90´s till today their quality decreased a lot but always a brand to mention
@alm5693 Thank you for the information regarding Kenwood! I would have done the same thing if I could have afforded the same equipments back in the 70's. Later in early 80's I bought a Kenwood system but it was an amplifier, KA 30 and not a Receiver.
@@janath9118 still good , i bought a radio cassette player from kenwood in early 80´s when each brand had a diferent look and kenwood released maybe the best radio cassette player for cars at the time after changing one time the belts i used it till 95 ,it had treble and bass knob dolby switch volume with balance and fader included and auto-loudness when arriving with volume to half the scale the loudness came off and 4 crystal liquid displays for the fm frequency just by the cassette insert ,in early 90´s i bought the at the time new escort rs2000 and asked a friend to install on it the radio and asked him to put new speakers either than the 4 places from ford he put four speakers in the back from cobra and a equalizer from pioneer with fader and volume ,it was like a discoteque but i never liked that but i asked him and paid, when selling it the buyer asked me if i could leave there the radio ,i said yes
but the wing on the back was a head turner ,i didn´t knew thay had such a spoiler and from what i´ve heard was supposed to have an extra wing as the engenier designed
and cobra, the same brand from cb radio´s also antenas
Kenwood Basic M2A power amp owner here. Have owned this amp since the mid 80's and it is still working perfectly today in my home theatre set up. I actually used to DJ parties and that amp was the work horse.
I bought Technics back in the day because I could afford it. It sounded good, and I paired it with good components like a Technics turntable and Pioneer cassette deck.
Well said Kevin. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
About 15 years ago I picked up a Kenwood silver face at a garage sale for $25, i forget the model number. Once home the first thing I did was open it up. I was suprised at how light duty the internals appeared to be. It was supposed to be a 30-ish wpc receiver but my 15 wpc Pioneer sx 450 had an equivalent power supply and even bigger filter caps. It sounded ok and cleaned up nice but the whole experience left me underwhelmed and a bit confused because Kenwood was supposed to be, in my mind, equivalent to Pioneer, Marantz, etc. I ended up gifting it to a friend, who was happy to get it. A better friend got the Pioneer, lol.
I really enjoy your approach to these topics. Straight no BS but respectful always. Wish I lived close enough to visit your shop. I know I would love it. Happy healthy holidays to you!!
Thank you for your honesty. Having had a certification in electronics, everything you have said is spot on about components, their quality or lack of quality and the price point objective they were trying to reach. In other words, in most cases you get what you pay for.
Kenwood receivers had some of the best tuner sections. As a matter of fact, Kenwood tuners are highly sought after even today. Technics stuff was good, but they excelled at turntables.
Excellent turntables.
i remenber when the tuner was one of the most important features in a system, that was the source of new music and styles that we could never had listen to, FM stations were the source of new music ,today it´s sad don´t even have a tuner conected to my system and in the 70´s i had a tube tuner with multipath and other filters to make FM sound perfect and record new compilations in cassette or reels ,today that is lost, today internet as everything but not personalised shows in FM stations that one could not miss or even have a timer to when not at home the shows were recorded entirelly into reels, than search for the records on several stores
@@RUfromthe40s Local FM is ruled by oligarchs these days. Internet radio is much better. I don’t miss what FM has become.
@@billd9667 if internet radio had at least half of the FM stations quality in content and sound quality and anyone could have a radio station ,in my country the best were all pirates ,mine was only legalised after 20 years
I had one of the first run 1200's. It was amazing. I could set the head weight/tracking force(it's been a LONG time)? to it's lowest setting and actually hit the body and it wouldn't skip a beat, and mean a solid thump.
just found this channel and i''''''m 65 got my 1st. componant system when i was 11 it was a midland am/fm 5w.pch. 3'' wood pulp box's was nice 1/3 the formal stereo size w/ inputs for my realistic cassette a brand new form of tape .. even now i feel the pride i had in ownership an wet corner in my eye but yea what you know is always how you will go .. love work site you guys i bet just kinda live it , psthat midland was a sears brand in 1968 ..peace and keep it real.. istic , i told you.. peace out - a fan
Not to contradict the video, but back around 1974, my brother bought a Kenwood receiver. Pretty sure it was 85 wpc. It was absolutely gorgeous. The heavy flywheel on the tuner was so cool. We loved it!
Interesting analysis. I have had in this order, starting in 1977.... Pioneer SX650, Kenwood KR770 (bought in military in Japan), used Mac 6100, Nikko Gamma 1, Mac MA252, Kenwood KR4070, and a Vector Research VR5000. The last two bought used for $50 a piece on CL in almost mint condition, just for me to play with.
The KR4070 only needed a controls cleaning and one side tuning dial fuse bulb. The tech was surprised it all tested to spec otherwise, and extremely clean inside. I rotate it out with my old original Pioneer for a second room system and both sound just as good to me in non critical listening, with all sources. Both share similar features, and with same power and speakers selection on same knob, but the Pioneer does have one extra tape monitor. At this model tier, I don't think either one looks overbuilt inside and both look very close components-wise.
However when I see my big brother's Pioneer SX1250, it along with the similar SX850-1050 models are of course very overbuilt! Still, I like the simple Kenwood look with amber backlit dial, all metal build quality, and sprayed on dark gray texture surface. My Pioneer started peeling off of some of the wood color vinyl surface after many years of use, and has the particle board sides. No biggie, but I think the Kenwood is slightly nicer in that respect, and has knurled twist knobs for speaker connectors.
So many choices of great vintage gear out there, for little money, so this and your other videos are quite informative to new buyers of vintage. Keep it up. Thanks!
I agree. Having had several 70s vintage Pioneers, Technics, and Kenwood units, I agree Pioneer holds up better. I have had NO capacitor failures on the Pioneers - 1976,77 and 82 receivers - and have had filter capacitors fail on 70s Kenwoods. Kenwoods of that era almost always have the power switch fail and arc. With Technics, they circuitry holds up better ( 80s - SU- V 5 and &7) the problem has been with the ribbon type multi selector switches. They are poorly designed and can actually fall apart. The Technics SU - V7s a really nice sounding amp - clean and powerful, BUT my old SX 750 has a warmer, sweeter tone, and won the contest. The Kenwood also had a sweet, natural sound
Well spoken. "Vintage" doesn't equate to "Better," as so many Craigslist posts seem to infer. There were levels of quality (and price) in 1978 too. It's good to know what's under the hood.
I've had Kenwood integrated amps and I've had Technics receivers all of it was good if you ask me anything that comes out of the 1970s is super good and I'll tell you another thing that's outstanding and that was the Kenwood tuners those things kick ass. The same goes for Sansui Pioneer all of them were good back then.
Nice video.
In terms of, "The inside looks empty", I think can can be an unfair statement. The (Technics?) receiver that had the power supply mounted to the side of the case, did it have to be much larger if it was only delivering 18w x 2 channels? And I'd say much of the size was driven by the front panel. If you want a decent size tuning dial, and not miniature knobs, then the front and chassis will need to be larger to support that; not necessarily to contain the not many components for the unit.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are today's components (audio, video, computer) which I so tightly integrated and crammed together, that they are almost serviceable (and become more of replace vs repair).
Very cool stuff Kevin. I had a KR-7400 receiver in 1976. It felt and looked like a well-made, well laid out, aesthetically pleasing receiver. Like most buyers, I didn't pay attention to what was inside the cabinet. I'd say it sounded "good" with a pair of efficient "good" speakers. That would be my assessment of most receivers of the day. Unlike you, I consider sound to be the most important factor in judging hi-fi equipment. Of course, build quality can be directly correlated to sound quality. Yamaha and NAD were a modest step up in audible sound quality, and so capable of taking advantage of moderately better speakers. I bought a pair of pricey (at the time) KEF 104 large bookshelves. The KR-7400 wasn't up to the task. I don't think ANY receiver would have been. I clipped and blew out a couple tweeters. I replaced the Kenwood with a Dynaco ST400 amp and Nakamichi pre-amp, and o....m....g. Saying it was night and day doesn't go far enough. Was it the power and headroom of 200 w/channel? Yes, but I'm sure that even a 200 w/ch receiver would not have come close to the sound of these separates. My main point being - at least on a pair of high end speakers like the KEF's I had, I don't think there would be a big audible difference between comparably spec'd receivers of the early-mid '70's - whether Kenwood, Marantz, Sony, Sherwood, HK, Onkyo, Fisher. Technics did look and feel cheaper to me, and had the stigma (fairly or not) of being a subsidiary of Panasonic. I think all of these brands took a turn for the worse in the later 70's and 80's.
It cheapened out very hard after the 1980s. The home audio necessity was eclipsed by cable TV and all the video explosion of the 1990s. Younger generations got away from clunky material investments and mini systems were good enough.
I feel fortunate. My Kenwood KR-V6040 discrete power amp receiver has been a work horse. I bought it in 1992, and it jams to this day. One benefit of this receiver is that it doesn't get hot. It barely stays warm, even after hours of blasting it loud.
I freakin love your videos man! The innards always tell the story of a unit. You just relay what I have been thinking for year(s).
I had a Technics SA-404 50 watt receiver thru college and beyond. Perfect for two big speakers with 12”s! It worked great for 8 years before it was stolen. The late 80s Technics digital receiver replacing it was definitely lesser built. Today I have a top Yamaha receiver.
Kenwood was the first manufacturer to "de-content" their products in the mid-70's. Their early solid state models such as the KA-2000 and KA-2500 were well built and had a warm sound.
Another great informative video! Thanks and agreed 100% You know, somewhere back in 1969, my dad bought a JC Penny’s stereo component system that came with what I believe was a 6 watt per channel receiver, a BSR turntable and a couple of low watt-handling bookshelf speakers. He had a high-paying job and could’ve easily afforded a Pioneer SX series or a high wattage Marantz or a Sansui. And believe it or not, he was a lover of music! What was he thinking? I never forgave him for that. 🤣
It was my friends’ parents who owned the Pioneers, Matantz’s and the Sansui’s. Garrard turntables also. My friends and I would cut school and listen to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer at their parents’ house.
I walked into a stereo shop in 1977 at age 17 . I was looking to buy the best the first time . Geoff, the owner pointed out one that was on sale for 700 instead of 1000. ( Southern Ontario ) That Sansui 9090 still rocks today! Now it is need of some lovin, and will be going in soon. I'd say I got lucky way back then. :)
That particular series is very good. I think it's the best receiver they ever made. I have many sansui, G series and the 5050 to 9090 and even tube stuff (SM) series that dates back to 1962-63 and the later A series 500A and 1000A and they're quite good too. Sansui started as a transformer company.
i had a sansui pre and amplifier but my father gave me his pioneer when buying a revox, i have to say that the sansui was stoped only some 7 years ago i restored it to sell it by a lot of money, but we are talking of brands that never went bad in 50 years of use ,some new brands will never work for 50 years without problems
almost forget to refer that in late 70´s bought the high-end amplification system from H.H.Scott and works till today with nothing to add, in speakers i have pioneers, JBL´s ,altec lasing,huge studio monitors bought in 1972, tannoy´s, celestion ditton series, Mission, wharfedale and Technics, Grundig, had some cerwin-vegas enjoyed them for 10 years and sold them because someone told me that the red menbrane was getting rotten in a lot of speakers ,mine were ok .
I bought a Nakamichi TA -3A in 1985-86. Its SLAMMS ! I still have it 😁
My Sansui R-7 still works with a pair of Bose 601's .
Enjoyed your video interesting subject of the less popular brands. I am in aviation and repair communication and navigation sytems for years now. A buddy from work asked me if I would look at his old JVC AX-Z911 amp. First thing I thought (didn't say it though) was throw the piece of junk in the garbage. Anyway I looked at it and fixed it. This thing was an over built quality class A amp beast. Was even more impressive after it was fixed and hooked up to speakers. I told him I would buy it if he ever decided to sell. His answer was "never selling it way better than any Pioneer or Sansui he had in the past". I have personally owned Marantz, Pioneer and Yamaha all 70s and I have to admit he was right.
Ignore the trolls. The brand loyalty helps them justify their purchase decision years ago. It is insecurity on their part. Another good video. Thank you.
I have a KENWOOD MODEL ELEVEN III receiver, 4 JBL 3 way studio monitor speakers, Technics SL-1200MK2 turntable and an AKAI 77 Reel-To-Reel. I'm not loyal to a brand, I'm loyal to my ears and my wallet. I thank overbuild is just a term to get money on the front and back end. I don't mind spending the money if I have it. I have to hear a difference to justify spending more and it's just not there when you compare the same wattage and features.
I started typing this comment 5 mins before I hit play, 5 mins in and its my thoughts exactly. Ive been dabbling with stereos for 30+ years but only getting into the repair side in the last 3 years. On the exterior they may look the same but once you get under the hood its clear as day, Its always the Kenwood or Technics that may have big watts but then you get inside and your like "Where is everything". Its either a larger than needed case to look beefier, Theres usually no bias/dc offset adjustments on kenwood/technics and some hokey resister setup. Large circuit boards covering multiple functions vs single boards per section. I find Sansui / Pioneer / Yamaha / HK have more discrete components for the same wattage / year, Just feel like a more quality build to me. I havent found a Kenwood yet ( not saying they are not out there ) that I didnt wanna sell after repair, None have wow'd me like the other mentioned brands.
Agree 100%
Being a career electronics tech (geared toward two-way and microwave radio, but audio is a passion), I can really appreciate the "tech friendly" aspects of some of these pieces. RF is the same way. By law, they all had to meet certain specs. But some brands were universally hated by every tech I knew. I'll spare you the gory details.
I'm curious about the STK darlington packs. I'm seeing the "discrete replacements" that have been showing up.
BTW, my favorite receiver I've ever owned is a Kenwood KR-V86R. Bought it new. It's a beast. It's been my main system for most of its life. It's just now gotten to the point that I feel the need to remove the covers. We shall see. I'd also like to ask your opinion of JVC. I own an RX315, that is currently in the rotation. It's... okay. Heavy as hell, if nothing else.
Thanks! Subscribed to your channel.
I find this discussion very interesting. I got into the business in 1976 at about 20 years of age. I was already into the hobby by 16 and started hanging out at a "high end" shop that sold McIntosh, Crown, Quad speakers, Advents, B&O etc. That store begat another that also sold Yamaha, Tandberg, B&W along with the others. I remember taking my little 20 wpc Sony Receiver to the Mc Clinic to be tested.
So I went to college away from home and got this job at similar shop - Crown, Phase Linear, but our bread and butter was Japanese gear. We sold Yamaha, Pioneer, Anna's Technics. Our relationships for choosing these brands was partially financial. In those days, Yamaha was an exclusive or partially exclusive brand, so we could sell it at retail. Pioneer and Technics were sold most everywhere, so we had to compete. Putting the right combination of speakers, turntables, amps and cartridges could be very profitable. Amps were about 40% profit at retail, speakers were 50% and up, cartridges often even more. Technics may have had an upper echelon for their top tables and we had access. So we were often able to sell them at retail. Cartridges, like speakers (especially if you include private label) were all over the map. I remember a Grado cartridge that retailed for $50 with a cost of $3.50 and a $75 one for 7.50. anyway, I'm just saying it factored in and was always in my head when talking to customers. There are books written about when to implement that in your thinking and when to just recommend the best, or best for them. And very often giving them options.
Anyway just another part of the discussion. We thought Yamaha was premium. When they went from the 00 series to the 20 series, we wondered how they got so much more for less. A CR-800 had 50 wpc for $580, an 820 same power for $450. Our repair guy said they HAD made some more cost effective choices but didn't feel in was inferior. I think Yamaha was preparing to go to a different distribution model and felt they had to go head to head with the Pioneers of the world. My co owners thought Pioneer was good especially when the 50 series showed up. One of our speaker companies' CEO, who kind of put us under his wing was always trying to change our minds about these two brands. He not only said what we suspected but encouraged us to listen to the 750 versus the CR 820. He said the 750 was better sounding, and had a more Natural sound than the "Natural Sound" Yamaha. He said the Yamaha sounded too bright, clinical, crisp, hard, fatiguing. Interestingly Yamaha made a couple of statement amp using the transistor co-developed with Sony, called the VFET. They said it sounded more like a tube amp. I agree. They also made a statement speaker called the NS-1000. It was more controversial with people on both ends. The speaker had a revolutionary mid range and tweeter made from vapor deposited Beryllium. It tended toward brightness. But they never sounded better than they did with the VFET B-1 and B2. And real tube amps. I bought a pair of NS-1000s and got Yamaha's top integrated amp of the time. The CA-2010. It was good but they did sound a tad bright in comparison. By the time the 40 series came around and then especially the next, all of which I sold, it was obvious they were going mass market. We quit recommending it. By those early 80s receivers they did not sound close to as good.
I always liked the sound of the Pioneers but I had little experience with Marantz and none with Sansui. No one seemed to sell them. All I knew what that a lot of guys came back from Viet Nam with Sansui.
But then a few years ago, I helped an old friend put together a vintage system for his office. I have a couple of great vintage equipment repair guys in my city. And I was visiting one. I'm still an active hobbyist and have some vintage equipment of my own. I asked him if he had any receivers he might have to sell that he would recommend. He said I got this Sansui 771. "Really", I said. What about the Yamaha here (CR-820). That's when he told why it was not as good a selection. And that there were a couple of proprietary parts that you really can't get anymore, new. And a couple of other things. So he suggested I take the Sansui home and try it out. No charge. So I got it home and immediately I knew I was hearing the best receiver I had ever heard of. Great warmth, a focus more down in the lower mid range, which brought a great foundation, and warm, wonderful bass. Not the fastest, but it seemed more natural. Only 38 watts per channel but who cared? So, learning from my repair guy, I've changed my whole hierarchy of best sounding receivers of the era. And, like most of the Japanese brands, the mid to late 70's are very good in many ways, construction and sound. But maybe the early mid 70's sounded even better.
So kudos to you. I was right there and I had it wrong. Experience and advice have convinced me. I have had a small Kenwood integrated, and still have a Sansui TU-717. Somewhere before I buy the farm, I'm going to find a earlier 70's Sansui amp or integrated and put that into my system. In the intervening years I've owned high end amps from Conrad Johnson, Quicksilver, McIntosh and others, but I don't think I'll be disappointed.
Great video and budget receivers have their place! I recently built my daughter a vintage system in the heart of that is a Kenwood receiver, but I didn’t want to shell out big bucks for something that she might not really be getting into! Probably later if it dies I’ll get her more substantial unit !
Genau! I just built my daughter a vintage system also: Sansui 221, Kenwood KD1033, and some Paradigm book shelf speakers. Added a Bluetooth adapter to the AUX and she’s set. Good on you bro!
@@Tr1hawaii got mine a Kenwood receiver, Yamaha YPD4 turntable and put a Grado blue cartridge, a thunderbolt plug for iPhone steaming and floor-standing Polk Audios! It’s so great to pass on the knowledge to my daughter I received from my dad and now we share music! Amazing 🤩
i was selling all these makes mid 70.s and often asked which was best,i took the top off the pioneer sx434 i had bought myself and still have and saw that pioneer had wrapped wires in a coil on a post before soldering,i was blown away by this quaility of idea so no poor joints in years to come,over here i always aquanted kenwood with food mixers rather than hi fi,im in the uk
Personally, from a vintage standpoint, my top 3 brands are Sansui, Yamaha, and Harman Kardon. That being said, my favorite integrated amp is a Technics Su-VX10. Build quality aside, it just sounds better than any non separates system I have ever heard. Marantz always sounded muddy to me, and Pioneer is fine, but from a sound standpoint, there Ok at best.
The old Onkyo stuff Is great, too
The suv10x has a great reputation. Hard to find.
My amp, tuner, and cassette deck are 1979 Pioneer units, love them and won't change. Good discussion.
Ha! I never realized how well built the Pioneers were. The thing is, the exterior matches the interior. I've always preferred the Pioneers because the knobs are milled aluminum, not hollow, the toggle switches thicker and have a much nicer feel. They just look better.
You are so right! For my ears the sound of the Pioneers (that's what matters most) is also the best.
Love your honesty. Say what you think and don't worry about who you might offend. Keep up the good work!
If they built new Kenwood KA amps and KT tuners from the 70s, I'd buy em in an instant.
I still have my KA-701 & KT-815. I purchased them in 79. Just had the 701 recapped and it sounds as good as the day I bought it!
I had a SU V9 , it worked really well. Specs were way better than most, back then, and it showed when comparing.
Where does Harman Kardon fall in the pecking order of Receivers?
Had a kenwood sa-1000 only 20 watts per channel but was a great 1st Intergrated amp
Am a fan of the HK x30 series. I can't say enough about my 730 on my primary system and my 330C on my secondary system. I know both of those units are tech favs!
HK rocks with sound. Good sound. I just never warmed up to the looks until the later models
Excellent !!!!!
Very well said !!!
I find it hard to believe that there is any vintage gear is much better than McIntosh ! Expensive - but still affordable for most.
Nice video as always !!!!
Thank you!
You didn't mention the Kenwood KR-6600. Good build quality, not empty inside. very well featured for a receiver in that power range. It has 60 watts per channel and it has turnovers. Not found on many receivers of that range. The 600 series was excellent. Probably the best line they had. Even Pioneer engineers admired its circuitry and build quality. Kenwood should have used a dual power supply on the KR-6600 since they used dual blocks.
I bought a Technics SA500 receiver when I first got into vintage. Loved it. I wanted to upgrade so I bought a Pioneer SX980 from the same (well respected) shop. I hooked it up and it was nowhere near as good as the Technics. I returned the Pioneer and then found a Technics SA700 and play both regularly. I am not a technician, so I can't comment on that, but I know what sounds better to me.
I’ve purchased new mid 70’s Marantz. I’ve also purchased mid 70’s Technics. Still using a Technics SA-600 45 years old today. I’d put it up against anything comparable.
I just got a sa600 last week off original owner. Hope I did good. All I had to do was spray some deoxit in the volume pot. Everything works. I just ordered some leds, warm white.
Hooked them up to some avid audiophile 100 speakers I just got from an old lady she had since 1975 all original with rubber surrounds so they don't rot. They sound awesome
. Also have cerwin vega vs150 I switch back n forth with the sa600. Denon turntable.
Hopefully the sa600 gives many more years of joy.
Excellent perspective. Thanks for your candid and extremely educated opinion. I've always been a vintage Marantz guy with lots of reasons why....
Good video and I agree. By the same token, some of Marantz' other components like turntables and cassette decks weren't great relative to other brands. Kenwood's high end turntables (like the KP-9010) were excellent and they some of their highest end integrated amps were great too (like the 600), but the receivers weren't. I think Pioneer might have been the most consistent across the different component types. Their receivers and amps were obvious, but their turntables and tape decks were also very good.
I think so... as well...
In the 1970s and into the early 1980s, Pioneer was indeed the best EVERYTHING brand for those who demanded the one brand approach. We used the phrase "mix and match" to show customers what they could optimize in a stated budget.
Just bought my fifth Hitachi for $35, an SR-703. The faceplate was dirty, the lamps shot. No leaking or vented caps...I put in on the dim-bulb, all good. Let it warm up and checked offsets (both A&B; 18~19mV both channels). Blew/dedusted the interior, cleaned the face plate with warm/soapy water, cleaned all the knobs...and wrapped the black matte "veneer" with a nice drift-wood grained high-quality vinyl.
The case was already in decent condition but I hate that black-matte OEM wrap Hitachi used on some units...it shrinks away from the heat vents with age and although it's smooth and robust...I either remove it entirely with a heat gun (if peeling is bad), else simply clean it and wrap it.
The Tuner knob had deep scores/scratches...which I sanded out with fine grit polishing sticks, to get the same grain/reflection as the other knobs. Put it on a taped drill bit in slow speed to get the perfectly circular fine brushed grain of the other knobs ( 400 grit up to 2000 grit). To bring back the beveled edge high polish I used 5000 then 7000 grit.
I already have an extra LED kit for another SR-903 and will use that to MOD the lamps.
Gave it a sound trial and was surprised that it really performed well, even before a recap. Frankly, for a local auction, I was surprised to land it at only $35. A steal, imho.
For those who live in areas with good FM stations, Kenwoods had great tuners. They drew on the expertise they gained in making communications and ham radios. Some of the higher-end Kenwoods had really hot tuners.