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integrated amp as power amp?

post #1 of 13
6/26/07 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
sorry for the noob question:
I have a Kenwood KA-691 integrated amp (200w) that is sitting in the attic collecting dust.
Can I add it to my existing system as a power amp?
Thanks.
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post #2 of 13
6/26/07 at 11:10am
Yes if it has jumpers on the back for pre-power sections or else lab in sockets? failing that you can use it via the tape return although then you are not bypassing the pre-amp...
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post #3 of 13
6/26/07 at 11:20am
Yes, but keep in mind unless you can decouple the preamp from the power amp your signal will go through the the added path of the Kenwoods preamp section.
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post #4 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks but all that is beyond me.
Maybe I'll just sell it. Anyone know if it's worth anything?
Couldn't find any mention of it online.
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post #5 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:08pm
Just look at the sockets on the back and see if there are any marked pre-out, power-in or lab in. If not you can't by-pass the pre amp section. But you can still connect it to your preamp by taking tape out from the pre amp into any line input like aux on the Kenwood.
Some of those old Kenwood amps are really good and if it's really 200wpc it may have been quite an expensive one.
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post #6 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:17pm
Thread Starter 
Bought it used. I don't know how much it was new. It's not that old - early 90's model.
But it is pretty heavy, so I'm guessing the 200w rating is correct.

When you say pre-amp, do you mean my receiver (Yamaha HTR-5440)?
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post #7 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:25pm
You mentioned using the Kenwood as a power-amp so there I assumed you had a pre-amp
What sort of reciever have you got? eg 5.1 or just two channel, if it's a recent model of the latter then the Kenwood may well be better anyway.
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post #8 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Yamaha HTR-5440 (5.1)
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post #9 of 13
6/26/07 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BDub View Post
Bought it used. I don't know how much it was new. It's not that old - early 90's model.
But it is pretty heavy, so I'm guessing the 200w rating is correct.

When you say pre-amp, do you mean my receiver (Yamaha HTR-5440)?
All amplification systems involve a pre-amp and power amp stage. In old designs these were always separate boxes, apart from high end stuff most modern systems have the two stages in the same box hence integrated.

In most integrated amps there is no way to separate the two , however in some you can. For instance many NAD integrated amps have an external link between the two sections, this looks like two metal semicircles bridging the two parts. If you remove these metal links you have two sets of RCA sockets one for the pre-amp and one for the power amp. This would let you replace either section with a different component.

In your case you are talking about using one integrated design (The receiver) as a pre-amp and the second as a power amp, unless you really think the power section on your receiver is rank there is little point in doing this, 200W may be a lot of power but it is also probably far more than you will actually need unless you are driving really inefficient speakers. I drive my speakers with a 11 wpc amp and never need it past 12 O clock. Plus you lose the multichannel (5.1) doing this.

Can you enlighten us as to why you want to do this ?

EDIT: As far as I can see the Yamaha only has pre-amp out for subwoofers so the question is moot
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post #10 of 13
6/26/07 at 1:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hciman77 View Post
Can you enlighten us as to why you want to do this ?
I was just trying to find a good use for this thing.
Looks like it goes in the yard sale pile.

Thanks for the info.
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post #11 of 13
6/26/07 at 1:41pm
On the whole integrated amps will sound better than recievers though so I'd say listen to the Kenwood before you give it the heave-ho.
I would certainly think it would be superior to a Yamaha multichannel amp like you are using, which is designed primarily for home cinema rather than 2 channel duties.
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post #12 of 13
7/10/07 at 4:55am
For my HT system, I've got an old Arcam 8 integrated amp (2x50 watts RMS) set up to drive my front speakers.

I have an old Arcam AV250 (5x50 watts RMS) integrated amp to drive the rears and centre speakers. The subwoofer is active. This Arcam amp used to drive the five non-bass speakers, then I realised the old integrated amp sitting in the cupboard could be used.

Now I have my G08 analogue L/R outs connected directly to the integrated amp and manually switch to that input (CD) to play music. Then for HT, I switch to the AUX input to receive L/R front audio from the surround decoder. This leaves the surround amp to handle only three speakers. I can also mix and match the subwoofer inputs from the decoder .1 channel for HT, the front channels, or a combination of the two.

To my ears I got a purer L/R sound both for music and for HT using the two-channel integrated. I have two amps now being driven from the one double-wall power socket (three including the subby), but I'd consider what I did a nice upgrade compared to everything going via one five channel amp.

The only hassle is keeping the volume levels the same on both integrated amps, since the 5.1 decoder and Arcam remotes both drive them. A minor pain....luckily that I don't have flatmates who would get totally confused.

Hope that all made sense.
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post #13 of 13
11/16/11 at 7:06pm
If you are interested in selling your kenwood KA-691 please email me at Bearclawz53@yahoo.com. I just lost mine to a power outage after 20yrs....Thanks
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