Kenwood KM-X1000 THX amp (w/ nudies) + pics of my den

Hello,

Friday night I get a call from a friend tipping me off that a local pawn shop has a rather nice Kenwood power amplifier for sale. Just earlier that day I decided not to stop at this same pawn shop because they always have the same old crap for sale and rarely anything new on the shelves. D’oh!

Very heavy amp for its apparent size, more so than my Yamaha M-45. Two big power transformers, a nice and big extruded heat sink, four output devices per channel, two big 10 000µF ELNA power supply capacitors. THX certified, 130W per channel, bridgeable via a switch on the back panel to 270W mono. Vanishingly low distortion and, especially, noise specs. The thing is a beast and I think it sold for a steal back in ’96, something around 450$US new.

It also sounds better than it’s price point would let believe, unless it’s just the initial impressions and joy talking here. Versus my M-45, I find bass slightly more solid and an overall increased presence in what most would call soundstage.

I like it a lot so far, we’ll see what more involved listening will reveal.

az

pics of my den

And now some pics of my listening/study/hobby room.

Yes I know, I need stuff on the walls!

az

The KM-X1000 (and its replacement the MX-5000) are WAY better than they got credit for...nicely put together, plenty of power, discrete outputs and even the ability to turn on with your Kenwood gear (KM-X1000) or a 12V trigger (MX-5000)

The two amplifiers are essentially indentcal, although the MX-5000 got a cosmetic redo to match the Kenwood Sovereign gear, and the output transistors were Kenwood's newer K-STAT types where the thermal sensor is built right into the transistor package instead of a separate device mounted on the heatsink...neat idea, but I'm sure they're a bear to replace.

Good find! Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of it!

redcoates7 said:

The KM-X1000 (and its replacement the MX-5000) are WAY better than they got credit for...

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I think that with the dwindling market for hi-fi and rise of home theater around the time it came out, most people looked at this amp for it's bridged mode to drive subwoofers, which I bet it does very nicely with its 270W. I could barely find any info on it online. I think it qualifies for mini-sleeper status.

az

The KM-X1000 was really marketed as a subwoofer amplifier to go with the SW-X1 passive subwoofers.

The MX-5000 was oddly used as an add-on option to the Kenwood Sovereign receivers to drive the "Surround Back" channel loudspeakers, as these receivers only have a five-channel amplifier built in. WOuld have sold MUCH better if you could have used the big Kenwood 2-Channel fo the mains, and the smaller onboard ampifiers to drive the surround back speakers!

I bought a used KM-X1000 from a local audiophile last year. I am driving old AR-3 speakers that are rated at 4 ohms, even though the Kenwood's output is rated at 6 to 16 ohms. I've had no problem with the amp and it runs cool. It doesn't take much output to get the fan running on the amp though.

TJardine said:

I bought a used KM-X1000 from a local audiophile last year. I am driving old AR-3 speakers that are rated at 4 ohms, even though the Kenwood's output is rated at 6 to 16 ohms. I've had no problem with the amp and it runs cool. It doesn't take much output to get the fan running on the amp though.

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I'm guessing these speakers are not too sensitive and the lower than rated impedance gets the juices flowing and the fan turning. I usually run high-sensitivity speakers in a small-ish/medium sized room and have yet to have the fan turn on. I still have the amplifier and currently use it to run the TD15M woofers in my bi-amped setup. Works great! :thmbsp:

az

Wow! old thread.... I just aquired a Kenwood KM-X1000 and I truly think it rocks!! I paired it with an Adcom GTP-500II and they really like each other. I am powering 4 ohm speakers as well, but the amp doesn't seem to mind one bit, dont think i have heard the fan running yet even! Nice product for the production year.