KR-11000G, new to me but what's with that timer thang?

I picked up this gorgeous Kenwood KR-11000G today from a local fellow AKer.
A few minor issues with a broken slider with a missing knob that I should be able to address simply enough but had 2 questions:
1 - What's with that M.A.C. circuit? I've read explanations in the SM but what exactly is it's benefits?
2 - The timer; really, what were they thinking? I know that these are fragile but mine seems to work. The receiver won't turn on without the timer being set and while there is a "reset" on the dial it doesn't seem to want to turn to that position and I don't want to force it. How exactly is that supposed to work? My druthers are to bypass the internal wiring to the timer.

Sure is pretty and will make a nice compliment to my refurbed KR-9600 and round out my collection of Pioneer, Sansui, Yamaha and lone Marantz .

I forget what "MAC" stands for, but when you kick it on, that brings in the sliders for your tone control/equalizer. If you have the tone sliders all flat (center), kicking the MAC switch on and off should then not change the sound. I least I think that's what my Eleven GX was doing - it's currently out of rotation not being used until I get into it later this year as I have one weak channel on mine. I was able to set the bias on one side okay, however I was not able to get the other side down low enough to spec setting as the pot bottomed out on adjustment. Although it plays, I have to have the balance knob turned to balance the speakers, so I took it out of use until I can check into things more later.

that sure would look nice in my collection.....the one i dont have

MAC - above the equalizer controls it says "Multiple Acoustic Configurator"

Should be Compensator - blame it on the pictures

sgregor hit the nail on the ...the MAC On/Off is just an EQ bypass.

Let me know what you come up with in regards to the timer. I have a similar (although more basic...no MAC) model in the project stack with a defective timer. Haven't quite figured out what to do with it,

Looking in the service manual they allude to how the MAC circuitry alters the sound. I'm embarrassed to say I have not even hooked up the receiver yet - too many other toys & projects I've been consumed with for the moment.

There are a few threads regarding the repair of the timer. One involves replacing the plastic shaft coupler with a piece of brass tubing (or a brass coupler) with some set screws. The other involves a plastic linkage that is replicated with a small piece of handcrafted metal.

I've found that on my Nine G, if I turn the Timer Clockwise first, I can then turn it back to Reset.

Dave

always clockwise first as relaximus says as if you were setting the timer and THEN counter clockwise! The timer was a great function years ago when audio was a major entertainment center in the home. Many times at night I would set the timer and put on an album and then go to bed. Also, I thought MAC stood for Multiple Acoustic Compensator and not configurator.

There's a thread around here somewhere about repairing broken timers in these units. IMHO, audio timers are very nice to have, and a built-in unit is bordering on genius.

Sam Cogley said:

There's a thread around here somewhere about repairing broken timers in these units. IMHO, audio timers are very nice to have, and a built-in unit is bordering on genius.

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I personally never used mine on my KR-9000GX. Why would you want a time on your receiver?

brandon090 said:

I personally never used mine on my KR-9000GX. Why would you want a time on your receiver?

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The timer is an interesting feature if you regularly like to play it as you go to sleep. Unfortunately mine has a problem where I can only turn the knob CCW to set the time but then I can't turn it to off or reset. This may be a broken link inside the timer assembly. The other issue is that the mechanical timer makes a little noise that I find annoying.
I'll open up the timer assembly and see if it has a broken link inside. If I can't fix it I'll just bypass it so that the power switch is the sole means of power control.

Hooked it up today and it sounds wonderful, everything works smoothly with no dirty contacts. I confirmed that the MAC switch simply serves to turn the EQ on and off - guess the term "EQ" was already taken so they had to call it something special.

I'm guessing there's a recapping in it's future though - I guess I'm just compulsive about doing that!

Some of the indicator bulbs were toasted so I replaced them with LEDs.
Red for the AM & FM, green for the AUX and amber for the 2 phonos. This involved taking the common lead to the bulbs and inserting a 300 ohm current limiting resistor. I had to bypass the resistor and keep an incandescent bulb for the stereo indicator though.

Here's some nudies:

brandon090 said:

I personally never used mine on my KR-9000GX. Why would you want a time on your receiver?

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I use an external timer with my Sansui 3000A every night.

70WR said:

I forget what "MAC" stands for, but when you kick it on, that brings in the sliders for your tone control/equalizer. If you have the tone sliders all flat (center), kicking the MAC switch on and off should then not change the sound. I least I think that's what my Eleven GX was doing - it's currently out of rotation not being used until I get into it later this year as I have one weak channel on mine. I was able to set the bias on one side okay, however I was not able to get the other side down low enough to spec setting as the pot bottomed out on adjustment. Although it plays, I have to have the balance knob turned to balance the speakers, so I took it out of use until I can check into things more later.

Click to expand...

Was trying to say the same about the MAC switch
And now add -
I think I recall regards to the timer if you can't set it to the "reset" position, it can be bypassed via jumper wire to take the timer out of the circuit meaning the on/off switch then functions like other receivers - on & off.
If I recall - I too have (or can only) turn the timer one way (from off) to set time first before I can turn it to the "reset" position.

Without looking (again) - I think it was here in AK where someone redone the timer shaft coupler joint. Looking at it, it looks like there can be several ways someone can make the connection from plastics to metal tubes.

Note - If I turn time on the timer (lets say a hour) and before time is up I decided to shut off the receiver via the power switch, the timer continues to run til its timed out. Mechanical

Mine can't be turned to the "RESET" position.
The coupler shaft on mine is intact.
I think to bypass the timer circuitry I just jump between the 2 white wires in the photo below.

LEDs or incandescents? I like them both, but I decided to replace the dial and meter bulbs with LEDs.

I took two wideangle (flat top) white LEDs, wired them in series and bridged them with a 240 ohm - 1/4 watt resistor. I splade them out a bit to get a wider dispersion.

The result is a much crisper, bluer and brighter display.

First picture shows the standard bulb and one modded with the LEDs.
Second picture shows the top row with the LEDs and the lower row with the (soon to be replaced) bulbs.
Third picture is the end result.

^ Nice job on the LEDs - like it

Some more nudies -
I pulled off the face (2 screws top, 2 screws bottom and remove the knobs) to do some cleaning and to repair the missing left most slider. It was broken off and I'm trying to JB Weld in a replacement made from the arm taken from a toggle switch salvaged from a xx50 series Pioneer receiver.
I made it with an extra "nub" that extends into the plastic slider so hopefully :scratch2: it will hold.

I also wired in a jumper to bypass the timer.

that's a kickbutt unit, I used one in the bedroom, the sound of the timer annoyed me if not using headphones but I really couldn't hear it w/ headphones, great reception, great tuner, great sound...I'm curious if you put this on your A/B switcher if it sounds different from a 9090db.

Nice unit - only problem was it didn't work when I got it. The seller cheaped out and didn't include the 2 jumpers on the back! Jeesh, some people!

I'm thinking of having a comparo at the GTG.
I'm thinking of the KR11000G vs 9090db vs 2325 vs SX-1010.
Not sure how I'd hook them all up since I can only compare 2 at a time with my remote switcher so it would probably only be 2 at a time.

Oh, the timer's been electrically bypassed.

Although I have the Eleven GX, I also have a Eleven III available locally but I haven't pulled the trigger for it yet - (debating). Seems the difference is my GX has the tone/Eq sliders with the MAC switch, and the III has knobs (bass/mid/treble). Other difference is although the meters are in the same place, the arrangement is different. My GX power meters are both paired to the left, while the III has them paired on the right.
The seller for the III says he was having one channel dropping 75%, then it would come back fiddling with the knobs (balance knob I think he said). So he has done the Deoxit treatment, then all seems fine, but he played it only a couple hours since the Deoxit, but feels confident because it wouldn't play that long before the Deoxit without dropping out.
So I keep my GX (which has a weak channel) and look into it later this winter, or jump on the Eleven III to add to the pile and still look into the GX later. The III may be fine, but we know how that goes sometimes.