Not to bring back old memories from 2009, but I just read this blog and had to add my two cents.
I have the original assembly manuals for both the KG-50 and KG-400 scanned into my computer. You are welcome to a copy if you still need them. Let me know and I will post them here...
The KG-50 / KG-400 pair was an excellent matched system for the few bucks it went for in its hay day. I don’t remember exactly what it all cost me, but I think the amp was around $60 bucks and the tuner was around $73 bucks. A lot of cash for a 14 year-old with only a paper route back in 1964, but worth it since this was Allied Knight’s best all-around stereo kit for that year. The wooden mahogany cases were around $ 9 bucks extra each. I bought them later after I raised the extra cash.
I got both kits with my paper route money and built the amp and the tuner both in one week, back in the summer of 1964.
With a good set of speakers connected to the system, it had a great full warm tone. I was amazed the first time I turned it on and heard it play.
Not the most powerful system on earth – (with only 32 watts RMS per channel), but enough power to drive a pair of 12 inch speakers with a really nice warm full tone. After 52 years, I still have and use the system. I have it in my radio restoration work shop and turn it on every time I’m in there working. I still have the original assembly manuals to both units too and they are in great condition. As I mentioned, if anybody needs a copy, I have them scanned into my PC and would be happy to post them both.
Of course I had to recap both the amp and the tuner a few years back, but that’s to be expected --- kind of like a brake job on your car.
The amp is a full two channel stereo with push / pull circuit technology and the tuner has full multiplex technology, giving it great sound comparable to anything out there today. For $125 bucks, you would have gotten a good deal and been very happy with it, even if you had to recap them both before you could use it, which would have been very cheap$$...
You would have liked its performance and the simplicity of maintaining it. The engineers designed it to be as simple as possible allowing both units to use simple inexpensive components, making a full restoration cheap, cost-effective, and easy to do. It only cost around $30 bucks to completely recap them both.
Sorry you passed on that one. Maybe you will get another chance to get one some day.
I posted a picture of my two units as they are today – after restoring them.