Ok an update on these speakers. We all know they had a list price of $2600 and are a 4-way speaker. These things are huge for a big rectangular speaker. They make my A-25s look like pre-schoolers. I need to move them (anyone want to come over and help or have a hand truck I can use) into the living room where they can look up to a pair of Maggies.
I went to check these out and they had a couple drivers out. No big deal, we'll check out the rest of them and go home with Teron's money in my pocket and start a negotiation. Well the seller got them a few weeks ago from the son of the original owner and needed money since he just spent a bunch on an interview suit. I talked with the seller and got Teron's go ahead on pricing. Seller needed to know that parting them out will not get new replacement driver prices. He needed to know that this pair is going to a collector and that these speakers...damn they are big...did I mention they are heavy?...are not really what someone should own if they move a lot. So Teron owns a set of Kenwood Model Seven speakers.
The drivers are listed on the web at a parts supply house. They are very costly, but I am under the impression these speakers were designed and built to be the best of the best Japanese speakers in 1976. Look at how they TOWER over the other members of the Kenwood product mix back then.
http://telefunken.te.funpic.de/kenwood76/kenwood76-11.jpg This is really a joke because these speaker at 3 feet tall are not truly 3 feet tall, they have a 30mm base under them so the box is only 2'10"+ tall.
here is the rest of the speaker lineup from that brochure:
http://telefunken.te.funpic.de/kenwood76/kenwood76-12.jpg
Now can someone translate this for us?
I would put these speakers in a class with the Yamaha NS-1000, easily. I have heard the 1000s years ago so I am interested in hearing these. Don't know if I will hear them fully functional due to the cost of the drivers and Teron's desire to evaluate them before putting money in them. Very understandable. These are special speakers, it would be nice to see them back in top form again.
Axel has them listed on his site The Vintage Knob, with no data. These are Teron's speakers so he should be the one to provide and receive credit for information about them, but Axel could steal some info from this thread as a start. I noticed the later LS-1900 speakers on TVK sold for a converted to US$4470 using today's date in 1987 the year the owner said he bought them new. Wow. So these were less, but TOTL at the time, 6 years before the LS-1900 came out. This LS price in 1976 is only $3130 as the $/DM changed a lot back then, but still a very dear price for a set of speakers.
I am going to listen to them. I might modify my maggies to use the ribbon tweeter of the maggies and these kenwoods to see how a pair might sound. Right now one tweet and super tweet do not work, but I will look into it.
A bit of wood work, a bit of money and some driver swaps and these things will be fantastic speakers. Anyone want to haul over a pair or NS-1000s for a little a/b listening?
But on a more important point, anyone wanna pony express these from SE PA to the Toledo OH area? No hurry on my end I want to listen to them, but big hurry on Teron's part, he wants to listen to them!!
Oh did I say that the tweeter feels like it weighs more than the woofer in the ADS 810? I'll report more to Teron and let him update this thread as he sees fit.
