Kenwood KA-7100 Integrated Amplifiers

Kenwood KA-7100 Integrated Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION


60 wpc integrated amplifier

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 11  
[Mar 28, 2024]
maryrosesss


Strength:

Many vintage solid state amps are uber warm because they use capacitor coupled output. This is the sound many expect from a vintage system.

OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jan 11, 2023]
ampva301


Strength:

The sound is well-balanced and detailed, and the components are of the highest quality. It is a pleasure to possess and listen to, but it requires a high-quality source to sound its best. | Jacksonville Drywall Contractors

Weakness:

none so far.

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jan 10, 2023]
davidson02


Strength:

Very reliable amplifier as per https://www.roofbaltimore. It's very durable and energy efficient.

Weakness:

None so far.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Feb 08, 2022]
Jelai Ande


Strength:

if they did no one would ever buy another stereo system. Built like a tank and plays beautifully, mids and highs are very nice. I have run TT, MP3 and CD through it and no matter what she plays beautiful. Waterproofing Nashville, Tennessee

Weakness:

None so far.

OVERALL
RATING
5
[Dec 27, 2021]
roxannpfwpo


Strength:

Perfect balanced and detailed sound, built well using high class components. Pleasure to own and listen, but it needs high class source to sound really good.

Weakness:

Heavy and dust gets inside, have to clean every 5 years.| concrete contractors rochester ny

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jul 16, 2021]
stussy


Strength:

Concrete can be used for just about anything. It is durable, affordable and beautiful; as well as practical advantages over brick or wood. You can decorate it in so many ways like by using stamps which produce a unique design that no two pieces will ever have the same pattern on them or you could stain it to give yourself endless color options. Concrete also has an advantage of being strong enough not to break easily but still cheaper than other materials because this way your construction budget won't go all at once!

Weakness:

none so far

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jul 15, 2021]
shemikasoraya


Strength:

This amp is hands down the best looking amp I have ever seen, the recessed volume knob, stamped lettering on the face all reek of quality, mine is paired with the matching tuner. -- Tree Care Services

Weakness:

None so far

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Oct 02, 2019]
johnvintageluvr


Strength:

Holographic FET phono stage, true 60 watts into 8 ohm speakers, powerful headphone jack suitable for 600 ohm headphones (Beyer Dynamic dt880's are optimal), Clean neutral sound on line stages without coloration, minimal grain, beautiful industrial design, bargain priced only because they sold many of them not because they they do not sound "hifi". Would put the FET phono stage up against any vintage piece of gear including Mcintosh/Marantz/Sansui etc..its that good. If you love vinyl this is a no brainer given the affordability. I've experience with 4 vinyl stages: Graham Slee ( lots of audible ticks and pops due to poor electronic design ), Sansui 2000x, Pioneer SX650. None are even close in quality to the Ka 7100's phono stage. I do prefer the Sansui for line level CD input most of the time The key to this Amp is to mate it with speakers/cans that complement its neutral output. Designed by the same Engineers who founded Accuphase. They were seeking low levels of distortion and as such removed some of the coloration found in the capacitor coupled designs currently in vogue back in the mid seventies. A different sound. A clearer sound. A quality sound. Not an "inferior sound". Many vintage solid state amps are uber warm because they use capacitor coupled output. This is the sound many expect from a vintage system. I find these capacitor coupled designs often to be "ethereal" "languid" and "slow" due to their excessive treble rolloff and ridiculously low Damping Factors. Sometimes I want this. Other times I do not. Up to you to decide what you prefer. I've had this KA 7100 for a long long time and still use it almost every day. Reccomended.

Weakness:

Crappy speaker terminals as alluded to in other reviews. Wait, let me go one step further; abominally bad speaker terminals and a major P.i.t.a to work with. Almost worth the time to convert these to banana plugs. The cool looking rack handles are very difficult to find and expensivee even if you locate a pair to purchase. A shame because it adds much to the industrial design appeal of this classic.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Apr 20, 2018]
John_Ess


Strength:

I really had to rewrite this after spending some more time with this amp...after some of the fascination wore off. And after figuring out how I ended up with one of these. I had purchased the companion tuner..a KT-7500 that had some potential. And it has lived up to the potential after doing some of the common mods...power supply recap/new diodes and replace the output opamp. Thinking that the matching silver faced beauty with the KA-7100 might bear some fruit, and after reading on a particular forum that this should be the case, I fell for it. At first, I was struck by the amount of detail I found after the bias and offset were adjusted properly. But there was always this nagging level of grain...it just wasn't smooth. And this was still after doing a major chunk of recapping. Finally it decided to go into fail mode, doing more damage than I really wanted to fix or invest in...one of the issues with direct coupling in circuits. This just turned out to be bad experience.

Weakness:

A pretty face that hides 70's solid state sound. I'm starting to think all these guys that dig the sound only tolerate it because they use speakers from the same era. Won't get fooled again.

Price Paid:
more than I should have
Purchased:
Used  
Model Year:
2018
OVERALL
RATING
3
[May 15, 2013]
Marcus
Audio Enthusiast

This amp is hands down the best looking amp I have ever seen, the recessed volume knob, stamped lettering on the face all reek of quality, mine is paired with the matching tuner and I LOVE how it looks.

The sound...., well let me tell you they don't make them like this any more, if they did no one would ever buy another stereo system. Built like a tank and plays beautifully, mids and highs are very nice. I have run TT, MP3 and CD through it and no matter what she plays beautiful.

If you happen upon this unit don't pass it by, the Kennies are VASTLY underrated and you can still get them comparatively cheap in relation to comparable's by other brands. The bass is a little shy but that may mean a tune up and servicing. Very nice amp.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 11  

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