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Two Old Amps

post #1 of 9
6/5/11 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 

Hi, I find myself in the situation where my grandparents are giving away two different stereo amplifiers and are allowing me to keep one. Now I am a complete newb to amplifiers, especially full-size ones. What I want to know is if they are any good and which is the superior amplifier. The two amplifiers are:

 

1. KLH KL-2400 Stereo Receiver Amplifier

2. Kenwood KA-88 Stereo Integrated Amplifier

 

The Kenwood appears to be of higher quality in my uninformed opinion but I won't pretend that I know anything about amplifiers. Now I have Sennheiser 595s and am planning to add AKG K501s soon too. The Senns may not need them, but I know that the AKGs need amplification. Would any of these be sufficient to power them?

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Sennheiser HD 595 Headphones
post #2 of 9
6/5/11 at 7:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by juantendo8 View Post

Hi, I find myself in the situation where my grandparents are giving away two different stereo amplifiers and are allowing me to keep one. Now I am a complete newb to amplifiers, especially full-size ones. What I want to know is if they are any good and which is the superior amplifier. The two amplifiers are:

 

1. KLH KL-2400 Stereo Receiver Amplifier

2. Kenwood KA-88 Stereo Integrated Amplifier

 

The Kenwood appears to be of higher quality in my uninformed opinion but I won't pretend that I know anything about amplifiers. Now I have Sennheiser 595s and am planning to add AKG K501s soon too. The Senns may not need them, but I know that the AKGs need amplification. Would any of these be sufficient to power them?


Use your portable to connect to each and hear how they sound with your cans. My guess is the Kenwood will sound better.
Edited by Happy Camper - 6/5/11 at 7:47pm
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post #3 of 9
6/5/11 at 8:03pm
Thread Starter 

Thank you for your reply. I would truly like to be able to test them myself, but this situation arose suddenly and unfortunately I don't have my phones with me. I will have to make the decision quickly as my grandparents live quite a ways from my home and I risk losing the better receiver if I wait. If I have to just choose, I will pick the Kenwood but this would be a blind decision and I hope to avoid that. If anyone has any knowledge on these amps, please reply. It would be greatly appreciated.

 


Edited by juantendo8 - 6/5/11 at 8:04pm
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post #4 of 9
6/5/11 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by juantendo8 View Post

Thank you for your reply. I would truly like to be able to test them myself, but this situation arose suddenly and unfortunately I don't have my phones with me. I will have to make the decision quickly as my grandparents live quite a ways from my home and I risk losing the better receiver if I wait. If I have to just choose, I will pick the Kenwood but this would be a blind decision and I hope to avoid that. If anyone has any knowledge on these amps, please reply. It would be greatly appreciated.

 

 


 

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post #5 of 9
6/5/11 at 9:49pm
KLH was, mostly, a discount brand. I'd pass on it.

But I like the old Kenwood receivers. I bought one in (IIRC) '89 new and it still soldiers on as my parents' amp. From what I found in a brief search, this one runs in class A. That's a good thing, since most receivers run class AB. You should get class A off the headphone jack, too.

Another reason I like Kenwood is that the company is the only audio company that also makes amateur radio gear. Hams are very much "just the facts" types who believe in engineering. I don't know if that carries over to their consumer audio line, but I like to think Kenwood has a serious engineering approach.
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post #6 of 9
6/6/11 at 6:19am
Kenwood it is.
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post #7 of 9
6/6/11 at 7:30am
defiantly the kenwood. i love kenwood amps. it runs class A so keep it well ventilated. class A amps run extremely hot. large heatsink might greatly help dissipate heat but i still be precaution about it and make sure it's in a well tempature room. i have a big yamaha around that same era and it gets insanely hot running in class A but luckily it has s switch to turn off class A and have it run in class A/B instead to keep temps down... a lot. i see no switch on the kenwood so avoid putting it in an enclosed stereo cab or somewhere will it won't get enough breathing room.
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post #8 of 9
6/6/11 at 9:14am
Thread Starter 

I'll confidently take the Kenwood then. Ventilation should not be a problem since I won't keep it in an enclosure. Just one more quick question. Do you think it will be able to drive the AKG K501's to at least satisfactory volume?

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post #9 of 9
6/6/11 at 10:36am
the kenwood would drive them with ease.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Sennheiser HD 595 Headphones
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