Hey Doc Brown, Let's go stereo shopping in the 70's - A comparo @ OctoberFrankenFest

[w1jim]

Hey Doc Brown, Let's go stereo shopping in the 70's - A comparo @ OctoberFrankenFest

Time to break out the restored classic in the museum and set them up at our New England "OctoberFrankenFest" on October 15th for a comparison.

My goal is to compare the early "Monsters" although the Kenwood is from ~1978. These are all in the 100-120 watt range.

I built a simple switcher that allows me to connect 5 receivers to a single pair of speakers and one signal source for comparison.

What the switcher will do is allow for these to be all connected one at a time without shorting anything out nono.

Basically, the signal (speaker and line level) passes through the switches when they're not selected but diverts the signal when switched. If two or more switches are selected then the one with the lower number will be selected and the others will remain isolated.

Speaker leads and the receiver amplifier outputs are connected to the barrier strips on the top and the RCAs are plugged into the back.

To select a unit the 2 switches (side-by-side) must both be selected. One is a 4PDT for the speakers and the other is a DPDT for the signal source.

For speakers I'm thinking of either my Ohm Walsh2 or Polk Monitor-7 speakers.

I'm thinking of a questionnaire for people to fill out. Things like what do they like the sound of better, bass-mids-highs-detail, features, aesthetics, etc.

All of the "contestants" have been recapped and restored:

Kenwood KR-11000G

Marantz 2325

Pioneer SX-1010

Sansui 9090DB

Yamaha CR-1000

Switcher:

 

[dumptruck]

Neat! Any chance of doing it with better speakers? Oh, and while I'm complaining, the Kenwood should probably be a KR-9600. Are you going to do it blind?

 

[w1jim]

I don't want to bring the KR-9600 - that would pair up against the SX-1250.
There are other speakers I could bring but I don't own a truck (or a fork lift).
Besides, those speakers are just fine!

 

[68custom]

even though it has sliders I still choose the Yamaha.

 

[Almost There]

let the games begin...

 

[w1jim]

even though it has sliders I still choose the Yamaha.

Well, the Kenwood has even more sliders!

There was a problem with the attachments on the first post which I've fixed.

 

[timofred]

Just on looks, I like the Kenwood.

 

[ZebraBlvd]

Just on looks, I like the Kenwood.

As they say - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

[w1jim]

As they say - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I don't think there's an ugly dog in the lot.
All different but all beautiful - we'll have to see where they stand in the performance category, that's the real test :yes:.

 

[Rod Beauvex]

Love the kenwood, though I wish the lighting were in green.

 

[ZebraBlvd]

I don't think there's an ugly dog in the lot.
All different but all beautiful - we'll have to see where they stand in the performance category, that's the real test :yes:.

Couldn't agree more Jim, just a biased opinion on looks and performance on my part.