Kenwood made a huge impression on me in my teenage years - I had a small Technics SA-5170, 25wpc, which I managed to blow up three months after purchasing it. back in those days the hi-fi shops were happy to take care of their customers - as it was still under warranty, they took it to repair and gave me a 20wpc Kenwood as a loaner, the model number I do not know. What I do know is that little receiver was my first introduction to warm sound, and I liked it - rich, deep, lovely. I hated seeing it go when I got my Technics back.
When starting back in this hobby last year my first vintage purchase was a Kenwood KR-6030. Great receiver with plenty of punch, cleaner sound than the old 20 wpc I remember, but still a great unit. I've also owned a few BPC pieces, an HT receiver and a cassette deck from the nineties, , but hardly see them as truly being Kenwood components.