Kenwood L-07C II Preamp questions - recap/refurbish ?

chapps

Well-Known Member
HI all,

I got a Kenwood L-07C II for a pretty decent price. Like all Kenwoods amps/preamps etc.that I have listened to it is very neutral. Compared to my Yamaha C-4 preamp, it is less sparkly, which could be mistaken for clarity. Is it supposed to be light on the highs?

The question is whether this preamp should 'automatically' be recapped ? I cannot find any problems with any inputs, the sound is still very good, no scratchiness, distortion etc....Has any anyone had obvious night-day differences from recapping?

And is anyone willing to undertake the recap if needed ?

Thanks for any comments.
 
but...
If it work, and works well, don't fix it.
I recap all my vintage gear, generally with mixed results, mostly very good, some just ok.
Picked up a CX-1000, sounds very good. I can't justify recapping it just yet.
 
I replace caps that show signs of being bad: leakage, both physical and electrical, other symptoms of failure such as as 10 uF cap measuring 2 uF. Otherwise, IMHO, there is no reason to replace a good part. But this can drift into a religious discussion and I'm not going there.
 
Thanks, guys, for the comments!


Light? Nope, it's ruler flat to over 600Khz.

Seriously, don't mess with the LO7cII if it's working fine. Get it tested by a competent tech before you consider doing anything to it.

Yes. Its a clear neutral sound. And yes it works fine. I always wonder if I am hearing the sound that was supposed to be heard when the preamp was younger. I presume getting the specs actually checked out by a tech would tell me if it has drifted way too much. I always feel I am getting rid of a winner because I did not listen to it properly.
 
The LO series preamps are realistically beyond any sonic criticism. Visually, they are a bit ugly, they lose their nice finish easily and the controls are a bit weird, but on the bench, they are amazing. They are virtually instrumentation level in performance.

I used one for years as a reference to which all other preamps were compared. That was, until my bench got too cluttered and I was offered a stack of money for it. :)
 
The LO series preamps are realistically beyond any sonic criticism. Visually, they are a bit ugly, they lose their nice finish easily and the controls are a bit weird, but on the bench, they are amazing. They are virtually instrumentation level in performance.

I used one for years as a reference to which all other preamps were compared. That was, until my bench got too cluttered and I was offered a stack of money for it. :)

Thanks for the reassurance...because, I forgot I had my tracking force on the TT turned down for a test run, and forgot readjust my cart. With that reset to what it should, this preamp is AWESOME! Really, the speed of the preamp is amazing. There is so little noise and the note separation is awesome.

Thanks for the morale booster !! And yes, so far there is nothing buggy at all about any functions.
 
The LO series preamps are realistically beyond any sonic criticism. Visually, they are a bit ugly, they lose their nice finish easily and the controls are a bit weird, but on the bench, they are amazing. They are virtually instrumentation level in performance.

I used one for years as a reference to which all other preamps were compared. That was, until my bench got too cluttered and I was offered a stack of money for it. :)

I couldn't agree more, and I am in the same situation: my other 70's/80's reference preamps (Yamaha C-2(a/x), Sony TA-E88, Victor P-L10, couple of Onkyo's, and what more...) are merely shelved at my home.
This pre-amp is truly a sonic and engineering master piece.

Second in line would be a Kenwood as well: the L-1000C
 
The LO series preamps are realistically beyond any sonic criticism. Visually, they are a bit ugly, they lose their nice finish easily and the controls are a bit weird, but on the bench, they are amazing. They are virtually instrumentation level in performance.

I used one for years as a reference to which all other preamps were compared. That was, until my bench got too cluttered and I was offered a stack of money for it. :)
I have to also agree completely. The L-07Cll paired with the L-09Ms is in my humble opinion simply stunning.
 
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