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Kenwood 9050?

iloveitloud

iloveitloud

Active Member
Just saw one of these on Ebay. It says it's rated at 200 wpc into 8 ohms. It also says it draws 1200 watts at full power, so the 200 wpc seems possible. I have had a KENWOOD Eleven II, and now an Eleven III all of my life, and am a pretty big fan of the older KENWOOD TOTL recievers, but I have never heard of the 9050 before. The seller says it's better than a 9600, and better than any Mcintosh as well. It's very heavy, and pretty expensive too. So, is this thing the most bad-ass KENWOOD ever built? Or, is it just being hyped up by the seller? I suppose if AK'ers say it is as good as the seller says it is, I'll have to get it.
 
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Yes, the KR-9050 is probably the best Kenwood Receiver ever built!
Rated at 200wpc into 8ohms, it has discrete outputs (not like its predecessor the KR-9600 with those unobtanium power packs). Being better than any McIntosh is debatable, but it is a great receiver.

So if one of the outputs were to fail, you could replace it. This receiver is very very rare! You don't see but a few sold every year or so. Here is a excert from a kenwood brochure on the KR-9050: http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/newp7-9050-8050rx.gif and here is both brochures for the '77-'79 and '79-'80 model lines: http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/kenwoodbrochures.html
 
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The KR-9050 is the most powerful receiver ever built by Kenwood. I'd say the claim that it is better than the 9600 or 'any McIntosh' is debatable, but it's certainly a decent receiver.
 
Kenwood KR 9050POWER AMPLIFIER SECTION
Power Output
200 watts* per channel. minimum RMS both
channels driven, at 8 ohms from 20 to 20,000
Hz with no more than 0.02% total harmonic
distortion.
Both Channels Driven
into 8ohm at 1.000 Hz.............210W * 210W
into 4ohm at 1.000 Hz............250W - 260W
Dvnamic Powet Output..........600W at 8 ohm
Total Harmonic Distortion
(20 Hz lo 20,000 Hz from AUXI
rated power into 8ohm.............0.02%
1W power into 8ohm..............0.007%
Intermoduration Distortion
160 Hz :7 kHz = 4:1 SMPTEI
rated power into 8ohm...........0.0045%
1W power into 8 ohm............... 0006%
Slew Rate ..........................±110V/»sec
Rise Time............................0.95 «sec
Frequency Response............. DC to 280.000 Hz-3 dB
Signal to Noise Ratio
(A weighted)......................... 115 dB
Damping Factor.......120 to 20 kHz at 81!) ...... 50


Input Sensitivity. Impedance . 1V/50 kohm

PRE AMPLIFIER SECTION
Input Sensitivity Impedance
PHONO 1.2 .................. 2 5 mV/50 kohm
AUX and TAPE...................200 mV/5O kohm
MIC ........................... 2.2 mV/60 kH
Signal to Noise Ratio (A weighted)
PHONO 1. 2.......................85 dB for 2 5 mV input
91 dB for 5.0 mV input
AUX and TAPE................. 110 dB lor 200 mV input
MIC ............................74 d8 (or 2.2 mV input
Maximum Input Level
at 1.000 Hz.....................260 mVIRMSI. T H D. 0.02%
Frequency Response
PHONO RIAA
Standard Curve..................20 Hz to 20.000 Hz ±0 2 dB
AUX and TAPE....................5 Hz to 210.000 Hz - 3 dB
Tone Control
Bass...................................±12 dB at 100 Hz
(50 Hz Boost) ..............110 dB at 50 Hz
Mid.................................±10 dB at 800 Hz
Trabla...........................±12 dB at 10 kHz
Loudness Control
(VOL. -30 dB' 1 +8 dB at 100 Hz
i +5 dB at 100 Hz
Subsonic Filta. ........18 Hz 6 dB/oct
High Filter .......7 kHz 6 dB/oct
Output Level/lmpedance
TAPE REC Out 'Pin.... 200 mV/300B
TAPE REC Out (DIN) 30 mV/80 kD
PRE Out..............................l.0 V/1 kohm

FM TUNER SECTION
Usable Sensitivity.................9 8 dBf (1.7 iiV\
50 dB Quieting Sensitivity
Mono............................ 14.1 dBf (2.8 yV) IL 9 (ll.l^v j
Stereo...............................36 1 dBf (35 pV>
Stereo Sensitivity

position 1 (S/N 40 dB)........25.2 dBf (10 yV) ' !>~
position 2 (S/N 60 dB) .... 45 2 dBf (100 yV)
Signal to Noise Ratio at 65 dBf
Mono..........................83 dB
Stereo........................ 76 dB
77 dB at 10 mV input
Total Harmonic Distortion

Mono.............................007%
Stereo.............................. 0.1%
Frequency Response... 20 Hz to 15,000 Hz ±0.5 dB
Capture Ratio......................... 1.0 dB
Image Rejection Ratio ........ 105 dB
Spurious Response Ratio...... 115 dB
IF Response Ratio..........105 dB
Alternate Channel Selectivity

WIOE............................35 dB at 300 kHz
NARROW.........................60 dB at 300 kHz
AM Suppression Ratio...........65 dB
Stereo Separation Ratio ....... 50 dB at 1.000 Hz 40 dB at 50 Hz to 10.000 Hz
Subcarrier Product Ratio........73 dB
Antenna Impedance..............3001! Balanced and 76R unbalanced

FM Frequency Range........... 88 MHz to 108 MHz
AM TUNER SECTION

Usable Sensitivity ...............10 »V (250 PV/m)
Signal to Noise Ratio.............55 dB
Image Rejection..................50 dB
Selectivity..................... ........45 dB
GENERAL

Power Consumption ......... 1.200 watts at full power
AC Outlet...........................Switched 1. Unswitched 2.
Dimensions............................W: 602 mm (23-11/16"l
H: 177 mm (6-31/32") D: 465 mm (18-5/16")
Weight (Net).....................24.0 kg (52.9 tbs)
(Gross)......................26.0 kg (57.3 los)
 
SoCal Sam said:
I can safely say the KR-9050 is better than the 4100, which usually sells for several hundred more!
Click to expand...

Not even close. Overall, the 4100 is a better receiver. Maybe not quite as sensitive in the FM reception. And certainly not as powerful. But it's superior in construction and sound. Not to mention reliability. And the very awesome power guard feature.
 
Damage said:
Not even close. Overall, the 4100 is a better receiver. Maybe not quite as sensitive in the FM reception. And certainly not as powerful. But it's superior in construction and sound. Not to mention reliability. And the very awesome power guard feature.
Click to expand...

The 4100 is dull sounding and the cheap vinyl top is an assault to the senses. That's my opinion but I'm glad you like yours.
 
I've got a KR-8050 its not so distant brother rated at 120wpc and 150wpc with red boost button pressed in. The high end late 70's/early 80's kenwoods are well built theres no question. The thick aluminum faceplate and switch gear with nice heavy knobs and solid detents both look and feel like quality. I think the fact that mine is almost 30 years old with the original caps and I can turn the volume all the way up with no input and the unit remains dead silent is a preetty good testament to build quality.

However I'm not sure the $450 buy it now price on ebay is a good value or not. Yeah they are pretty rare and if you really have to have it great but it does seem a bit much for an ebay buy IMHO.
 
TNorth22 said:
However I'm not sure the $450 buy it now price on ebay is a good value or not. Yeah they are pretty rare and if you really have to have it great but it does seem a bit much for an ebay buy IMHO.
Click to expand...

Actually, units have sold for much more in the past. I think the highest being $850(?).
 
TNorth22 said:
However I'm not sure the $450 buy it now price on ebay is a good value or not. Yeah they are pretty rare and if you really have to have it great but it does seem a bit much for an ebay buy IMHO.
Click to expand...

I've seen KR-9050s sell for double the amount this KR-9050 is selling for on that auction site IMHO.
 
kenwood 9050

I love my 9050,I paid 300 for mine but it was pretty scratched up.I restored it with real red oak side panels and refinished the top,its all stained in a mahogany finish.GREAT tuner by the way.
 
The KR - 9050 is a sleeper among vintage TOTL. The tuner is super nice, quiet with excellent separation. The amp is well designed and fast with good dynamics and 200 wpc. I just sold a MAC 4100 and there is no comparison, the 4100 is not even in the same room and the build quality is a joke. Nothing against MAC gear, just an objective evaluation of the 4100 vs KR-9050.
 
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Damage said:
Hardly objective.
Click to expand...


Apparently any evaluation ranking the MAC 4100 behind a Japanese receiver from the same era could not possibly be objective. I've had many vintage receivers apart on the bench and the 4100 shows clear evidence of cost cutting. Hard to understand for a receiver that sold for $2,000 in 1981.

I don't have a romantic relationship with a given brand or manufacturer, all my gear has to stand up to real world use and blind A/B comparisons are far more objective than a closed mind that believes certain manufactures cannot build crap.
 
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Bigears said:
Apparently any evaluation ranking the MAC 4100 behind a Japanese receiver from the same era could not possibly be objective. I've had many vintage receivers apart on the bench and the 4100 shows clear evidence of cost cutting. Hard to understand for a receiver that sold for $2,000 in 1981.
Click to expand...

What example of cost cutting do you have? Until you can show/explain that, it's not objective. And I'm not talking about the vinyl case.
 
Damage said:
What example of cost cutting do you have? Until you can show/explain that, it's not objective. And I'm not talking about the vinyl case.
Click to expand...

The MAC 4100 uses two rows of 5 pushbuttons for speaker and tape monitor selection. The pushbuttons are soldered to a PCB and that PCB is secured to the front chassis by two screws, one on each end switch, leaving the remaining 3 pushbuttons mechanically unsupported. When the buttons are used, especially the buttons in the middle, the PCB board flexes and this flexing leads to solder joint failure, which is a typical failure on the 4100 selector board.

Mcintosh should have used 4 additional screws (one between each pushbutton) to secure each push switch to the chassis rather than relying solely on the PCB to support the 3 pushbutton switches in the middle.

Using additional screws would have prevented the PCB flex that leads to solder joint failure. Incidentally, Sansui and Pioneer use similar push switches and always use at least one screw per switch, which prevents the PCB from flexing.
 
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