Kenwood 700C Restoration

Meh, can anyone attribute a particular sound to a particular cap? Jeez, next we'll have people believing that cables make a sonic difference.

Till then, some pics to keep you going:

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You got a nice one. Congrats!! Guess you'll be getting a 700M soon ay?
 
Beautiful photos.

I don't use my EW modded 700C anymore(it's still there under my current preamp), but I love its looks. They are Kenwood's sexiest preamp. However, way more important than looks, the EW 700C is a very very nice sounding preamp.

It'd be my first recommendation if someone wanted all of the ability to adjust the sound, plus wonderful sound quality.
 
The case is done professionally. I don't even bother trying to do cases myself anymore -- its not worth the time or effort, what with messy stripping, then etching, then several spray coats. I drop them off at the powdercoaters -- the cases get acid stripped, washed in iron phosphate, then coated. You get a beautiful even finish with a surface that is supposedly harder and more rust resistant than the original.
 
The case is done professionally. I don't even bother trying to do cases myself anymore -- its not worth the time or effort, what with messy stripping, then etching, then several spray coats. I drop them off at the powdercoaters -- the cases get acid stripped, washed in iron phosphate, then coated. You get a beautiful even finish with a surface that is supposedly harder and more rust resistant than the original.

The 700c's top cover has a slightly hammered texture. When you do that, don't you remove that texture as well? :scratch2:
 
Get rid of the 2SC1451's on the buffer amp. Replace with a decent TO-126 tranny (getting tough to find, but Mouser has some new 2SC3902T devices on order from On-Semi...these and the 2SA1507T should be used to replace any 2SA809/810 and 2SC1451/1452 devices you find in any gear you service).

Glenn, do these trannies ALWAYS have to be replaced in the 700Cs? Why, do they drift over time? :scratch2:
 
They're simply failure-prone. Intermittent crap is always a PITA to track down, so ridding a circuit of known bad-actors is good practice.
 
The relay that worked as a drop-in replacement has been discontinued, unfortunately. There were also two styles of output boards, one where the relay shorts the signal to ground (rare), and one where the relay connects the output to the RCA jacks (common). In any event, I've not yet researched a replacement.

I usually shoot the trimpots on the PS board with Faderlube, and if they appear to do the job OK, I let 'em stay.

Glenn, is it this one?

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=Pjd0UV7BHP8x1Q3nVd1B1A==
 
Hi Cchean. Yes, there is a slight textured effect on the original 700c case and, yes, this process strips it off. I do get a textured finish put on with the new powdercoat but I don't try and match the colour. I'm more interested in preserving the case than matching the colour.

That relay you've linked to is the correct one for the main relay but there's another one on the underside that we were talking about that is unobtainable.
 
That relay you've linked to is the correct one for the main relay but there's another one on the underside that we were talking about that is unobtainable.

That got me worried. :sigh:

Is it the green relay soldered to the PCB?
 
The soft-start relay is fairly easy to source...your link is correct. But the output relay is a small reed-relay soldered to the PC board. US Relays had a replacement for a while that was a drop-in for the non-shorting style of output board, but it is discontinued. But, there's always a way to make something work, if need be.

For the 'shorting' style of output board, I never found a drop-in. Had to get creative.
 
The soft-start relay is fairly easy to source...your link is correct. But the output relay is a small reed-relay soldered to the PC board. US Relays had a replacement for a while that was a drop-in for the non-shorting style of output board, but it is discontinued. But, there's always a way to make something work, if need be.

For the 'shorting' style of output board, I never found a drop-in. Had to get creative.

How do I know if my board is the "shorting" or non-shorting" style?

Do you know the part number of the discontinued relay?
 
With the preamp off, unplug the RCA cable from the amp that the 700C is driving. Use an ohmmeter to measure resistance between the center pin(s) and the preamp chassis.

Wasn't that simple? ;)

RE: The relay. Discontinued by mfgr, I believe. US Relays #20-2241-30 (I think).
 
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