Kenwood KA-5700 - sound questions

201bk

Member
Hey guys. I bought this Kenny and I always thought it would have more bass it's rather light sounding amp (people were saying it has dark and warm signature sound but I didn't find it that dark and often its gets kinda light) yes, its pretty warm sometimes and sometimes there's plenty of bass but in some songs it's like the bass line is like really far away and bass is there but barely noticeable, slightly accented I would say (sometimes its giving a flat bass effect at least for me). I just switched from really small amp (15Wpc) which I borrowed from a friend and on it the songs mentioned earlier were like really dynamic with bass line on front. On my previous amps it was like on this small amp - maybe not as dynamic but the bass lines were always on front. Is it just me or this amp is supposed to sound like this? It's not that I don't like this sound at all but sometimes it's annoying because in electronic music the bass is really good and goes so damn low but in rock music bass guitar is often barely noticeable (not always of course) and I didn't have that problem on my previous amps and that small unit I borrowed but then suddenly on jazz and funk its good (sometimes even it gets so warm its jaw dropping) but not always. I know that I can use loundness feature but maybe it needs some cleaning and adjustments? Or maybe it's the sound source because preamp in this Kenny is passive could that be the issue? I think that everything inside is intact it has even the orginal light bulb which lights up VU meters. Thanks for the answers.
 
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Hey guys. I bought this Kenny and I always thought it would have more bass it's rather light sounding amp (people were saying it has dark and warm signature sound but I didn't find it that dark and often its gets kinda light) yes, its pretty warm sometimes and sometimes there's plenty of bass but in some songs it's like the bass line is like really far away and bass is there but barely noticeable, slightly accented I would say (sometimes its giving a flat bass effect at least for me). I just switched from really small amp (15Wpc) which I borrowed from a friend and on it the songs mentioned earlier were like really dynamic with bass line on front. On my previous amps it was like on this small amp - maybe not as dynamic but the bass lines were always on front. Is it just me or this amp is supposed to sound like this? It's not that I don't like this sound at all but sometimes it's annoying because in electronic music the bass is really good and goes so damn low but in rock music bass guitar is often barely noticeable (not always of course) and I didn't have that problem on my previous amps and that small unit I borrowed but then suddenly on jazz and funk its good (sometimes even it gets so warm its jaw dropping) but not always. I know that I can use loundness feature but maybe it needs some cleaning and adjustments? Or maybe it's the sound source because preamp in this Kenny is passive could that be the issue? I think that everything inside is intact it has even the orginal light bulb which lights up VU meters. Thanks for the answers.

Might it be the Kenwood is just more accurate and less colored thus revealing the true sound of your music like you never heard it before?
 
I just switched from really small amp (15Wpc) which I borrowed from a friend and on it the songs mentioned earlier were like really dynamic with bass line on front.

If you tell us what you were using before than maybe we can be more helpful. By the way, adjusting the bass with tone controls or enabling loudness doesn't give you the bass you want?
 
Might it be the Kenwood is just more accurate and less colored thus revealing the true sound of your music like you never heard it before?

Hmm I kinda thought about it, but read my answer below.

If you tell us what you were using before than maybe we can be more helpful. By the way, adjusting the bass with tone controls or enabling loudness doesn't give you the bass you want?

It was an old Polish amp made by Unitra Fonica (I doubt you will now it), a few amps which I had before like Pioneer SA-606 and Yamaha A-960II (Natural Sound Series - "True sound") - quite high model so I want complain that KA-5700 may have not as wide sound stage as that Yamaha but it had always bass lines in front. KA-5700 on the other hand doesn't. I kinda like it its not bad but honestly I thought that I would get Pioneer SA-606 pounchy bass but with warm mids and highs. Of course it can produce that bass but not in all songs, SA-606 could do that in all songs but was rather cold sounding. Yamaha gave natural not coloured sound with bass lines on front as Pioneer too - and it wasn't cold sounding at all. And yes, enabling loudness can give me the bass I want sometimes but I'm kinda disappointed. But with bass tone controls it sometimes is not enough and I'm not talking here about insane amounts of dynamics or really large amounts of bass I'm talking here about it that in this songs on previous amps there were bass lines in front, here they are sometimes barely there. It just isn't on front in some songs like in previous amps. I know I have crappy sound source, so if passive preamp is not as forgiving as active ones are then maybe the issue is here that in some songs Kenny sounds like this. I will plug some different sound sources in a short time and find that out. BTW. Do you think I should deoxit this Kenny, check solder joints and bias current etc?
 
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Unless you were in the room when the music was recorded you don't really know what it was meant to sound like, how much bass, etc. They put all the knobs and such on amps so you can adjust the sound to your liking.
 
I know I know. The more I listen to this amp the more I like how it sounds :) Btw guys I just looked inside and power transistors have a slightly higher numeration than in KA-5700 manual. Mine amp has NEC B618A / D588A power transistors and in manual there is mentioned that it should be NEC B617A / D587A power transistors - is that bad or did Kenwood used those power transistors in some KA-5700s?

And I have a question I've been experiencing random crack sound on both channels on headphones and loudspeakers while I'm listening to music or when amp is just on and nothing plays at that moment. It's not loud but it's not quiet either. Anyone has any idea what could cause that? I had weird feeling that when loudness was turned off then I wasn't experiencing that anymore but I will check that if I will have a moment.
 
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