Kenwood Supreme (500/600/650/700) informal user's group?

700M, 700C, 600T, 650, KA-907 here!

Bigstereo: I was wondering how the knob job was progressing! Keep me in mind!! THX.

He-he, knob job eh? Guess I set myself right up for that one.

As I said earlier, Brad is a very busy man. He's had the part that I gave him to copy for a long while but has had to deal with some unfortunate circumstances in the past 6 months. Death in the family, the recent flooding in Kansas where he lives, and now he's running the company so these days he has a lot more on his plate than what he did when he was just a machinist and one of the company rep's. Last but not least, company work comes first. They are a tool and die maker that supplies extrusion plants around the world with molds, dies, and calibration tools and they stay busy. He called me in July and assured me that he has'nt forgotten and that the part is in his desk.
I replied that I did'nt care how long it took, as long as he does'nt lose the part because it's worth it's weight in gold to me. As you all know these knobs are pretty much unobtainium, so my 700M has been sitting here missing two knobs including the one to be copied. I even bought a KA 4006 because the knobs appeared to look the same in the auction pics but when I received it and pulled off one of the knobs I found that they are just plastic ones, and to top it off, one channel is dead.

Patience is key here, it will be worth the wait. Brad is a top notch machinist and a close friend who is doing me a huge favor. He'll get to it when he has time.:thmbsp:

Sorry if this is considered a hijack. Carry on.
 
Hey, it looks like we may have a Kenwood Supremes owner's mailing list (provisional) forming up. I'll wait till this weekend, then I'll collate the info sent so far and email a copy to everyone in about a week (hopefully). Anyone who has relevant literature might let me know so it can be added. Thanks.

Question for bully. Is there some sort of problem? Why do you seem interested in pushing us to the Yahoo Kenwood group (or out of AK)? I'm already a member of that group, but rarely bother to check it, it's moribund IMHO. What is the matter with forming a mailing list of people with similar units/interests. I am certain we'll all remain loyal members of AK. I'd venture all of us have audio interests besides the Kenwood Supreme series. I don't understand what your concerns are about this. I don't see a problem. If there is something I've missed, please enlighten me.
 
My personal view, as a long time Kenwood owner who aspires to have Supremes in the stable one day, is that I would like to see as much as possible of this collective experience and knowledge stay here at AK rather than have it spread out with various hosts.

I can see some rationale for keeping a list of owners somewhat privileged, as that can include personal information that perhaps shouldn't be in public view, but I would hate to see discussions drifting away from AK.

As for Yahoo... I suspect Bully is not trying to drive anyone in that direction, but is merely pointing out that an alternative forum already exists, and this group is potentially considering forming yet another splinter.
 
Last edited:
Hnery is right.
I think AK and the VSS forum is the best place to discuss solid state gear.
I admit I am on several Yahoo! groups, some busier than others. I "own" the Yahoo! Concept group--but it is kinda slow, although many members were former Pac Stereo techs and have a great wealth of info. I've tried to entice them to join AK. Maybe some have and lurk.
Personally, and this is only my opinion and not that of AK, I wouldn't have parcelled out Pioneer, Sansui or Marantz. But I understand why. So, to keep my buzz, I check them, too.
 
Bully,
I loathe the different brand forums.There is only a little merit in discussing brands.Every brand made at least one outstanding product,and they all made their share of stinkers.That rarely gets mentioned.
I love the Vintage Solid State forum because we get exposed to valuable information about every brand,and especially about gems within many brands which we wouldn't know about if we were brand fanatical/brand specific.
This is the reason I've posted against the establishment of(let's say)Yamaha forums or Kenwood forums,when I'm an avowed fan of the Yamaha PX-2 and B-2,and an avowed fan of the Kenwood Basic M2(an absolute gem)and the 700C.
I'd probably lose interest in those forums after a while.
By all means let's maintain a discussion and a loose affiliation of Kenwood Supreme series units/owners.It will always be somewhat of an elite group by nature of the fact that these units are thin on the ground,but please let us not veer into elitism.
My system has taken another corner sound wise and now I'd like to invite individuals to visit me in Australia and post their impressions on AK because I think it important that credence be given to just how good certain vintage components are.My ears tell me that what I'm listening to here at home sounds better than the AudioResearch,conrad-johnston,Krell,Apogee,VTL,Linn,Michell,ProAc,Musical Fidelity,Mission,Meridian gear I heard at the time that the components in my system were released(i.e the components from the brands mentioned which I heard at the time when the units in my system were new).
That might seem to fly in the face of what I said about not discussing brands,but I've got a collection of components which largely went unheralded at the time of their release,which I believe to be better than the components which went on to become Iconic through repeated world-wide reviews.
These unheralded components may be amongst the best which were made in their time and they are largely unknown.That deserves to be rectified.
 
I still don't understand what you think the problem is. We will still be posting away here. There will be many Supreme owners who don't join a mailing list and new ones who don't know about it. A mailing list just allows Supreme owners to get to know some of their fellow owners, ask specialized questions to those who might know, and share whatever literature they might have among each other easily. I won't be visiting or posting on AK any less frequently (probably less than 10% of my postings have anything to do with Supremes), and I doubt neither will any of the others that eventually get on a mailing list.

AK now has over 20,000 members, and the bigger it gets the harder to stay abreast of all the info. Despite the search function a lot of info quickly gets buried or can be hard to find. A small, interacting core of people with a particular interest can help each other from being inundated by info overload and prevent many redundant types of inquiries (ie, anybody got a user's manual for ...). AK is already splintering towards smaller groups. There are McIntosh, Pioneer, Sansui, Marantz forums, and eventually there will probably be Kenwood, Yamaha, Sony, etc due to pressure for them (the "why isn't there a Kenwood or Yamaha forum" seems to be asked with increasing regularity).

The moderators must decide what direction they will take. Will there be more and more small forums or a return to fewer forums? Is there any need for a Linn forum? If so, why don't the Thorens people have their own forum? Why isn't there a Kenwood Supremes forum (I'm willing to bet there are more threads about Supreme units then there have ever been about all Linn products), and what about a Pioneer Specs forum or a Marantz Esotec forum? I'm not advocating for anymore forums (and definitely not a Kenwood Supremes forum). I'm just pointing out that the moderators open themselves to criticism when they claim they don't want more splintering then start tiny Linn and Klipsch and Infinity forums. Where will it end? Who gets left out (what no Dual forum)? You can't have it both ways guys. Splinter of don't, but make a decision based on some sort of common sense. If the members want a Kenwood forum here, don't say "no, Yahoo has one, join it." For one thing, it's a crap forum, AK members want to come to AK. For another you just piss off several thousand Kenwood owners (who then whine about the 100 AK Linn owners having their own forum). Think it's time to stop equivocating and make a decision about this.
 
Not to derail the postings about the efficacy of a mailing list for Supreme owners, but....as a potential new Supreme owner (Model 500) I would like to ask one question. Are the Supreme series, particularly the 500, reliable? Or in the event of component failure, are they repairable? I've read that certain parts of Kenwood amps are unobtanium and I'm a little nervous about shelling out $500 or so for a potential boat anchor. Has anyone come up with a workaround for the unobtanium parts of these amps? Sorry, I guess that's three questions but all to the same vein, at least.

p.s. I'm in for the list if I get over my trepidation.
 
I've read that certain parts of Kenwood amps are unobtanium and I'm a little nervous about shelling out $500 or so for a potential boat anchor.

I'm not a tech but I try to follow this issue. From what I have read it seems like you are ok as long as the cosmetics are good. The switches for these units are impossible to find. There are a few vintage pieces I want to have as a "collection" but the parts issue moved some off the list, however the supremes have yet to be bumped.
 
I'm in...although I only have one Supreme series machine (sold both my 700m amplifiers years ago) and lean more to the L-Series gear :)
 
Hi westend, hope you get that 500. I'm not a techie, but as far as I know the Supreme series uses all discrete parts (ie, no unobtainium, except for the knobs & switches). I think you're confusing the Supremes with the KA-9100, which (to the best of my recollection) has an unobtanium power module. EchoWars can probably give you a definitive answer about this. As to reliability (remember, they are 30+ years old), it's likely that some parts may need replacing to bring it back to specs, but from what I know they were constructed like Mercedes (high quality parts, high quality construction, built to last). If any vintage gear is worth collecting, the Supreme series is right at the top. Check TheVintageKnob for a lot more info about them.
 
Last edited:
Well, you're all so right about the Supreme series being built well. The 500 has quite a bit of heft.

I haven't had even a minute to hook it up yet but thought I'd post a pic (excuse the qualty, I'll get around to better pics, later).
 

Attachments

  • Picture 1.jpg
    Picture 1.jpg
    27.3 KB · Views: 194
Congrats westend! When you get a chance, can you describe it including what't inside? I have the later KA-907 and I'm very happy.

From what I've read, the later L series monoblocks have unobtanium. I remember taking my L-09M in for service and my tech telling me the ring emitter outputs are a problem sourcing.
 
From what I've read, the later L series monoblocks have unobtanium.

The L-07MII is probably the amp you are thinking about. Glenn has a thread on it. You get make the amp work but the replacement parts are not up to the originals specs.
 
Back
Top Bottom