Kenwood KT-8300/KA-8100 Nudes

Bstable

Super Member
I got both of these as a Christmas presents from my brother (Aka Wolverine) I had to address an intermittent left channel and do a general deox. My brother said that he cleaned the controls already, but that he may not have gotten to the pots very well. As you can see, taking off the panel behind the faceplate allows easy access to all of the switches/pots. The intermittent channel issue went away...yeah. Easy layout on the amp as far as getting to things.

I also set the bias current as per the service manual. It was laid out in an easy enough fashion that even I could figure it out. Both channels are set perfectly. The faces cleaned up perfectly as both units were near mint to begin with. I was amazed at the layout of the tuner. I can see why this is a TOTL tuner. Not a single 5" x 5" circuit board and a lot of empty space on this guy.

Anyway I can now start to move stuff around and hook these units up to my real speakers. Everything went well on the test bench. The tough decision now is what goes out of the house. My new rule is for every piece that comes in one goes out.
 

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I have one of the 8300 tuners here and use it daily. It's one of my favorites only under the 600T. Love the extra metering it has. The multipath distortion meter is very useful in positioning antennas.
 
I didn't even really notice the extra meter until I started the clean up. These both came with the original owners manuals, so I will have to read up about how to use that extra meter.
 
The tuner is wonderful, I systematically pull in signals well over 100 km away (and I live in a place where FM is really crowded). Mine is with the KA-8300 (and a broken KA-8300 for spare parts).
I have set myself the same rule: 1 piece in , 1 piece out. You can't listen to everything anyway. If I ever see a KA-7100 show up, this rule will be very difficult to enforce ;).

Enjoy!
 
The tuner is wonderful, I systematically pull in signals well over 100 km away (and I live in a place where FM is really crowded). Mine is with the KA-8300 (and a broken KA-8300 for spare parts).
I have set myself the same rule: 1 piece in , 1 piece out. You can't listen to everything anyway. If I ever see a KA-7100 show up, this rule will be very difficult to enforce ;).

Enjoy!

You mean you wouldn't rather have a KA-9100 or KA-907, or Supreme amp over a KA-7100?
 
Well, the KA-7100 is the best looking of the X100, X300 and the X500 series imho.
Soundwise might be a different story, most of these 35 year old babies have the electrolytics drying out making that a larger issue than intrinsic sound quality. The main advantage of the X100 series over the X300 is the absence of darlington packs making them easier to repair when their outputs blow.
 
^^^ I am now at a point where my gear is better than my ears. In other words, I am not likely to improve my systems at a cost factor that will be warranted. That being said, I am looking to have someone recap some of my gear. I know there are very qualified people here on AK, but the thought of shipping a 60lb amp scares the hell out of me. I wish Echo or Mark the Fixer would move to Fredericksburg. :thmbsp:
 
The KA-7100 is a sexy amp, I love that vol. knob - reminds me of a fancy wristwatch.
 
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