[moodyrn]

No sarcasm at all. I had not thought about opening it up because it never crossed my mind that someone would sell a recapped amp that wasn't recapped. I appreciated your response very much and yes, I am not very tech savvy. I always pay someone to look an my amps.

And I can see how my post would look sarcastic. My apologies.

No problem, I was just wondering. Like I said in a previous post, not everyone is comfortable opening up an amp. But I can tell you from experience, some people will say whatever just to make more money. It's sad but true.

I see gear on the bay all the time list as recapped and restored but the pics say otherwise. Hopefully this isn't the case with yours. If it was restored, maybe it wasn't a good one, such as using cheap components or bad soler joints. It's crucial to find someone who really knows what they are doing when it comes to vintage gear. I've talked to a few people about doing mine and could immediately tell based off what they were saying that I wouldn't trust them to do it right.

Matt I'm sending you a text right now, thanks for that pm.

 

[claybum]

Good luck with finding a recap moodyrn. The guy who sold me the KA 8100 did a great job based on how it sounds and being able to meet him at his house. I don't know if he takes on outside jobs. He is repoman2k1 on ebay.
 
The guy who sold me the KA 907 had great ebay feedback and had sold many vintage amps. Always a risk though.  I will get the amp looked at soon. Thanks!!!

 

[moodyrn]

Thanks.

 

[harrinj]

Quote:

I'll say this - my KA-5700 integrateds have very strong bass.  May be something amiss with your unit as you suspect. 

I just have to say my KA-7100 is truly excellent and with KEF 103/4's? WOW! it's very open and detailed even with headphones, my KR-7400 is not but it needs re-capped badly. 

 

[gikigill]

Dammit, now I want a Kenwood.

 

[PhoenixG]

Just to throw in my two cents, I've had two Kenwood TOTL receivers and they have a very similar signature - detailed and clear, but distinctly warm. Not annoyingly so, but it's a presence that's just there on the edge of perception and you either like it or you don't. The KR-9600 was a super cool monster with a very refined quality, and the KR-790 had a similar sound with slightly less power and more updated looks.
If y'all had to characterize me, I'd be an east coast fanatic. Pioneer TOTL with McIntosh speakers and I'm in frikkin' nirvana, so I've passed on my Kenwoods to people who like a more "west coast" sound.
 
***
And if you ask nicely, I still have the KR-790 in the back room - if anyone wants it send me a PM. I don't mean to put in a shameless plug, but I reeeealy don't want to move it.

 

[mhamel]

His work is outstanding.

One my SA-9100s was completely restored by him, and it is one of the best sounding pieces of gear I own..

Lol echowars is the one of the ones I spoke of earlier who is backed up two years. He's pretty much an icon over at ak right now, and for good reason. He does amazing work. Cdkands is the other one. His website has some great pics of a 907 restoration process.

 

[ssrock64]

I'll have to go back to the shop and see what Kenwood gear I tried out; I must've heard the wrong stuff...

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Just to throw in my two cents, I've had two Kenwood TOTL receivers and they have a very similar signature - detailed and clear, but distinctly warm. Not annoyingly so, but it's a presence that's just there on the edge of perception and you either like it or you don't. The KR-9600 was a super cool monster with a very refined quality, and the KR-790 had a similar sound with slightly less power and more updated looks.
If y'all had to characterize me, I'd be an east coast fanatic. Pioneer TOTL with McIntosh speakers and I'm in frikkin' nirvana, so I've passed on my Kenwoods to people who like a more "west coast" sound.
 
***
And if you ask nicely, I still have the KR-790 in the back room - if anyone wants it send me a PM. I don't mean to put in a shameless plug, but I reeeealy don't want to move it.

I've owned the 9600 too. And although a very nice sounding monster receiver, the supreme series is a different animal. But I do agree with what you said about the 9600. It's warm without being marantz type warm, and a very refined musical sounding machine. Although I do like the pioneer sx1280 better. It's a little more refined and dynamic. But once you step up to the supreme line, the who sound signature changes. Very neutral, without being analytical. The transparency is just outstanding. But that line is a very rare breed though and hard to come by.
 
With the kennys I've listened to so far, I would classify the brand as a whole as being very good, and right up there with the pioneer, marantz, and sansui's of the world. But the supreme series is just state of the art, and don't even sound like kenwoods in general.

 

[moodyrn]

Other gems are the ka-9100/8100 integraged, kr-9050, and ka-801 in addition to the others that owners discuss here. But the bottom line is, there are so many vintage gems from many brands. It's the thing that makes vintage audio so fun.We can start a similar discussion with so many different vintage brands. Some don't even get talked about here much at all.  I've owned a ton of vintage gear, and I've only scratched the surface. And many of them hold their value very well. Everytime I've decided to move on to something else, I've had no problem getting my money back.

 

[joehalo]

One brand I never hear mentioned on this thread is Yamaha. I love my CR-820, build quality and sound are top notch. I feel the sound is very neutral and detailed. Anyone else have any vintage Yamaha?

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

One brand I never hear mentioned on this thread is Yamaha. I love my CR-820, build quality and sound are top notch. I feel the sound is very neutral and detailed. Anyone else have any vintage Yamaha?

*****Raises hand*****. I own a Cr-1020.  I agree with you. I also own Pioneer SX 950 and I prefer the Yamaha to the Pioneer. 
 
My dark horse is my Lafayette LR-5555A by far my favorite receiver (with head phones)and it was 35 bucks!

 

[joehalo]

Cool! I hope to score a CR-2020 one day. Funny.. I also have a Pioneer SX-950 and prefer the sound of my Yamaha. I've never heard or seen any Lafayette gear.. interesting! Any Pics?

 

[Fearless1]

 
 
Quote:

Cool! I hope to score a CR-2020 one day. Funny.. I also have a Pioneer SX-950 and prefer the sound of my Yamaha. I've never heard or seen any Lafayette gear.. interesting! Any Pics?

 
Not the prettiest receiver I have in the collection, but man can she drive Head phones.

 
 

 
 
 

 

 

[joehalo]

Nice! Looks very clean!