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Kyocera amp/receiver?

P

plan9

Active Member
I have a Kyocera cell phone but I have never heard of them making stereo gear. Anybody know anything about these guys? Specifically a R-661 amp/receiver. There is one at the local pawn shop. It looks to be a very nice, heavy unit, but having never heard of it I am skeptical. Any info would be appreciated. also any specs? Thanx

Jeff
 
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I have a Kyocera PL-601 turntable that is well made and sounds good. I believe Kyocera made some nice mid-fi gear. If the price was right I would pick up an amp or cd player to go with my turntable.

Good luck
Bruce
 
They tried very hard (and failed) to compete and become viable in the audio market. If memory serves (it's fuzzy), they made the standard set of products, though I don't recall if they ever made a cassette deck. I remember them being well-made and decent-sounding, but not much else.
 
Kyocera made a series with champagne finishes and real wood end caps etc.. that was very nice. They just couldn't compete in their price range but the gear was nice. I have a Kyocera receiver and CD player in the basement somewhere that I picked up with a set of Allisons but never used.

Mike
 
The R-661 has 70 WPC @ 8ohms and 100 WPC @ 4 ohms. Built from 1985 to 1989. These are built very solid. If the price is right I would grab it. They also made cassette decks and CD players that matched those receivers. Most of those were actually made by Nakamichi and were quite nice too. The only downside is that they are kinda rare and hard to get parts for. But, like I said, if the price is right you can't go wrong. The sound is great. They also have a very interesting Bass and Treble control, two pots per control. They are designed like an EQ, measured in Hz or kHz on one pot and the other controls the amount of Bass or treble. Pretty cool.
 
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I just bought an R-861 with matching CD player and cassette deck last week, though I haven't had a chance to test them out. The 661 would be its smaller brother. The research I have done on here and elsewhere on the web, though scant, seems to suggest that these are quality units. The seller, who had a number of other receivers/amps that I ended up buying (among them, a Luxman R-1070, a Kenwood KR-6600, and a Pioneer SX-3700) said he felt the Kyocera was the best of the bunch.
 
I had a R-851 for about 10 years and never had any problems with it. It had plenty of power. A friend is still using it.
 

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I have a couple of their receivers; a 451 and a 651 (I think :scratch2:). #1 son uses the 451 in his room. He says it sounds great.
 
just sold my R-661 locally yesterday. Really nice looking reciever with the champagne finish and the wood sides. I think the R-X61 series was somewhat preferred to the R-X51 series as they had the pre in/out (I could be wrong on this) I've owned one of each series and I know my 661 had the pre in/out and the X51 series didn't. Other than that they are well built, the only thing I didn't like (small thing) was the sliding volume. The are remote capable with the addition of a remote unit. Kyocera was just as good as any else I've owned, well worth picking for up for a good price.
 
Hello Folks,

I'd get that R-661 if you can. It is a great receiver. :thmbsp:

I have a few Kyocera components. I have slowly been working on piecing together their models of that era. They are extremely well built; cassette decks by Nakamichi and some of their CD players were done by DBX.

Kyocera 600 Receivers

Top Left – DA-410CX CD Player
Middle Left – D-801 Cassette Deck
Bottom Left – R-651 Receiver

Top Right – RC-101 Remote Control Center
Middle Right – DA-710CX CD Player
Middle Right – D-601 Cassette Deck
Bottom Right – R-661 Receiver

Kyocera600Series-01.jpg


Kyocera600Series-04.jpg


Kyocera600Series-02.jpg


Kyocera600Series-03.jpg


Kyocera 900 Series Components

Top – T-910 Tuner
Middle – DA-910 CD Player
Bottom – A-910 Integrated Amplifier

KyoceraGear-01.jpg


Regards,
TB
 

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I remember seeing their ads in stereo magazines. Never saw them in the usual variety stores selling Pioneers and Sonys. So I always had the impression they were high end stuff found at audio stores.

A few months ago I got a Kyocera D-801 tape deck for $20 off craigslist. The guy said he was originally asking $85 but got no calls. I guess the real Lost Forgotten Audio Brand.

Very impressed by its weight and sound. Has 400Hz test tone and rear manual level calibration controls.
 
Tower Boss said:
Hello Folks,

I'd get that R-661 if you can. It is a great receiver. :thmbsp:

I have a few Kyocera components. I have slowly been working on piecing together their models of that era. They are extremely well built; cassette decks by Nakamichi and some of their CD players were done by DBX.

Kyocera 600 Receivers

Top Left – DA-410CX CD Player
Middle Left – D-801 Cassette Deck
Bottom Left – R-651 Receiver

Top Right – RC-101 Remote Control Center
Middle Right – DA-710CX CD Player
Middle Right – D-601 Cassette Deck
Bottom Right – R-661 Receiver

Kyocera600Series-01.jpg


Kyocera600Series-04.jpg


Kyocera600Series-02.jpg


Kyocera600Series-03.jpg


Kyocera 900 Series Components

Top – T-910 Tuner
Middle – DA-910 CD Player
Bottom – A-910 Integrated Amplifier

KyoceraGear-01.jpg


Regards,
TB
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Those are nice! Kyoceras are about the only newer gear that I would be interested in. You are lucky to have found the matching CD players and tape decks, or any of it really. These don't seem to show up very often.
 
TB, nice collection. I particularly like the A-910...it looks just like my B-910 but with all of the pre controls:thmbsp:

J.R.
 
In a somewhat related vein, my Kyocera set (receiver, CDP, cassette deck) also has another box which is for the remote control, but the seller didn't have the remote. Is there any chance of tracking one of these down? I'm thinking it must be slim to nil, but perhaps someone might have some ideas....
 
AltecDarpa said:
Tower Boss, WOW! you have quite a collection of very impressive stuff!
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Hello AltecDarpa,

Thanks for the kind words! I guess some people collect cars (Used to) and wine (Still do), but I like to experience some of the audio gear I would see or read about in Audio, Stereophile or Stereo Review back in the day. I still have many of those publications and love to read the old reviews on our gear. I like to experience the pieces the same way I listen to music, not necessarily stuck on one brand or genre, as within each can be found some gems.

I also love discovering the lineage of some of these, take for example the DA-710CX CD Player as seen below as released in the Japanese Market and the DBX version.

Kyocera DA-9CX

DA-9CX.jpg


DBX DX900

DBXDX900.jpg


getright99 said:
here's some other info.
Click to expand...

Hello getright99,

I’ve talked to Tom on those he has. They are nice, just that the price is somewhat steep, but I know that these can be had for slightly lower. :thmbsp:

SOTA said:
TB, nice collection. I particularly like the A-910...it looks just like my B-910 but with all of the pre controls:thmbsp:

J.R.
Click to expand...

Hello J.R.,

Yes, they are both very nice amps and both rated at 150 watts. I have been looking for the B-910 and C-910 for sometime. I hope to eventually find a nice pair to finish of the 900 series.

I also have a DA-510CX CD Player and a their first generation DA-01 CD Player that is still going strong after 26 Years.

I recently added an A-710 (Bottom Right) to go along with another DA-910 and T-910 I had, so I’m set on the integrated systems. The A-710 is rated at 100 watts and has a slightly different panel arrangement as you can see.

Kyocera900Series-01.jpg


Kyocera A-910 Faceplate

Kyocera900Series-02.jpg


The only components I do not have yet and still looking for are any nice;

R-461, R-851, and R-861 Receivers
DA-310CX, DA-610CX, and DA-810CX CD Players
D-611 and D-811 Cassette Decks
Additional RC-101 Remote Control Centers

BTW, if you ever decide to part with the B-910, remember to give me a shout!

Maestro_T said:
In a somewhat related vein, my Kyocera set (receiver, CDP, cassette deck) also has another box which is for the remote control, but the seller didn't have the remote. Is there any chance of tracking one of these down? I'm thinking it must be slim to nil, but perhaps someone might have some ideas....
Click to expand...

I have a spare NOS RT-102 hand held remote that is used with the RC-101 Remote Control Center that I’ve been holding onto. The X61 Series had the ability to operate the receiver, cassette and CD through the RC-101 System. I have a few other remotes stashed about here also. Let me know the model # on the box and maybe I can help you out. BTW it you ever decide to part with R-861 and related gear, I would be interested.

terra1 said:
Great info. That would have me running down to the pawn shop now.

The FM stats would be icing.

Damn, now everyone will want one. :grumpy:
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I was trying to keep that one under my hat, but I guess the words out now! :yes:

I hope that plan9 has jumped on that R-661 by now.

Regards,
TB
 
Love mine

I have R-861 receiver, a D-811 deck and a 710 CD player. Some of the best sounding equipment I have heard.
 

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