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Brand new to vintage audio and gifted two receivers

Garret86

Garret86

Member
Being 19 and new to vintage audio I was gifted a Rotel RX-603 and a kenwood KR-6030 by my father. I am not sure what the better choice to keep long term would be , I plan on using it with my turntable hooked up to my Q - acoustics 3010I speakers. Just looking for some advise on if either of these receivers are high quality and worth keeping long term?
 

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Welcome to AK! The Rotel is 40 watts per channel, the Kenwood is 80 watts per channel.
That being said, choose the one that's in the best shape, listen to both and decide for yourself. They both look nice. Or, keep both. Its always good to have a backup sitting in the closet incase the one your using develops an issue.
I even have a backup for my backup. :D
 
Lavane said:
Welcome to AK! The Rotel is 40 watts per channel, the Kenwood is 80 watts per channel.
That being said, choose the one that's in the best shape, listen to both and decide for yourself. They both look nice. Or, keep both. Its always good to have a backup sitting in the closet incase the one your using develops an issue.
I even have a backup for my backup. :D
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Does the brand make a difference? As in like would a rotel carry more of a reputation and value because of the name brand alone or vise versa , or is it that the value and desirability goes up with the watts?
 
Garret86 said:
Does the brand make a difference? As in like would a rotel carry more of a reputation and value because of the name brand alone or vise versa , or is it that the value and desirability goes up with the watts?
Click to expand...

If it comes down to deciding which one to keep, keep the one which sounds best to you. Who cares which is more prestigious or valuable - it's the music which matters :-)
 
On the subject of watts per dollar, only someone with no clue what so ever would pay more for a receiver based on its quoted output power. There are many low wattage amps which sound way sweeter than big output units. Often, big outputs were used as a marketing ploy more than anything.
 
Both Rotel and Kenwood were good brands. Depending on the efficiency of your speakers, you may need the extra wattage of the Kenwood, maybe. If you listen to FM, how well the tuners pickup stations would be another thing to consider. Listen to both, check all the controls and switches to make sure they all work properly on both. If everything works on both, just pick the one you like. But keeping backup is a good idea. These are older, and one or the other may develop a problem later on. Then you have the second one to use until the first one gets sorted out. :thumbsup:
 
Both are good. Kenwood made (and still makes) all the radio measuring and setup gear, they made (and make) VERY good tuners. May not be something you need if you don't listen to much FM radio, but Kenny's are GOOD.

I'd keep both unless you are REALLY squeezed for space -- it' nice to have a backup if something goes wrong. Both are getting along in years, after all.
 
You haven't any investment in either so keeping both hopefully shouldn't be a financial challenge. Listening to music through a full sized stereo system may be a new experience to you? and it may take a little time for you to develop your thoughts on what you feel sounds best.

A little further down the road you may find some different sets of speakers. If that happens, you might think the Rotel sounds better with one pair and the Kenwood better with another.

I suggest you play with one for a few weeks and then swap in the other for a few weeks. After that switch back and forth even in a single listening session. See if you have a preference. It absolutely does not matter to anyone other than you.

And there isn't anything wrong with more than one system. Go and ask anyone on Audio Karma :rolleyes:
 
Tiver said:
You haven't any investment in either so keeping both hopefully shouldn't be a financial challenge. Listening to music through a full sized stereo system may be a new experience to you? and it may take a little time for you to develop your thoughts on what you feel sounds best.

A little further down the road you may find some different sets of speakers. If that happens, you might think the Rotel sounds better with one pair and the Kenwood better with another.

I suggest you play with one for a few weeks and then swap in the other for a few weeks. After that switch back and forth even in a single listening session. See if you have a preference. It absolutely does not matter to anyone other than you.

And there isn't anything wrong with more than one system. Go and ask anyone on Audio Karma :rolleyes:
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Thanks for the advise , I will keep both , do you think the Q-acoustic 3010I are a bit too small for a living room setup with these receivers? I seem to be pushing them too loud and am afraid of damage even at under half volume.
 
They should be good for around 75 watts, ya? But ya, they are on the small side. Are you having to turn them up louder than you normally listen at to get a fuller sound out of them? I'm guessing not much low end? You could try a powered subwoofer. Maybe find a sub used and affordable for now? I have a small set of Polk's with 5" or 6" woofers that sound good in my living room with a sub. Without it, not so much.
 
Definitely keep both, and try them both with your speakers and TT, then use what sounds best to you as your main rig. If you have a few bucks to spend I would definitely find larger speakers for a living room. You won't regret it.
 
Garret86 said:
Thanks for the advise , I will keep both , do you think the Q-acoustic 3010I are a bit too small for a living room setup with these receivers? I seem to be pushing them too loud and am afraid of damage even at under half volume.
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I have no experience with that speaker, but smaller speakers can be quite capable. The suggestion above for a sub is sensible. If you feel they may be strained then back off the volume, but it's hard to say whether you are pushing the limits of the speaker or the amp.....or possibly the room. Based on the specs chances are the sound will start to be fatiguing before the limits of the speakers or the receivers have been reached. What I mean is, it can play loud without distortion or clipping, but still doesn't sound too good. It makes you want to turn it down or off even.

The Q speakers are spec'd 65hz - 30Khz +3db/-6db. No graph so hard to say whether the -6db part of the response has much significance. Are the speakers on stands or a shelf? There is a lot of improvement that can be made with placement and room treatment.

While the speakers are rated to handle the power output of either receiver, they will only produce the sound they are capable of producing. Without having a strong low end, they may seem to get out of hand when you push the volume up. You may be getting very good reproduction above a certain frequency while the sound below that frequency is missing. When you up the volume the lack of lower frequency reinforcement (audibly missing) contributes to the perception that the speakers are being pushed too hard. IOW, if the lower frequencies were supported at a similar volume level, you would probably be turning the volume down.

That's where the sub comes in (or room treatment). The sub helps fill in the audible spectrum that is on the recording that the speakers can't reproduce. Turning up the volume to try and fill in what's missing doesn't work. The speakers can't do it on their own so a sub is added to augment the system. BUT even without a sub, room treatment can possibly do something to help. By reducing higher frequency reflections (think of it like sound glare) the speaker's lower frequency output has more of a chance to be heard at a given output. The speaker's environment (placement and room treatment) can have a lot to do with their ability to satisfy even if the actual speaker isn't doing anything different.

Final thought....you said, "even at half volume". Half volume doesn't really mean much. Having the knob at 12 o'clock is just a position. It's really about sound pressure level. 12 o'clock with one set of speakers may not be as loud as a different set. Speaker efficiency and amplifier power work together to create sound pressure levels. Use your ears to determine what the system can do and turn it down if it's unpleasant or if you hear clipping or distortion.
 
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