• Please note that Audiokarma will be offline briefly for updates early on Monday morning, September 28th.

Kenwood KW-60

Yours is a multiplex set, just like my KW-55. The two coils on top of the chassis that are not shielded near the centre of the unit are multiplex coils. The heaters for the preamp tubes are powered by the cathode resistor of the output tubes on mine but later versions had a separate DC supply, so that may account for the rectifiers on top of the chassis.
 
primosounds said:
What are the power tubes used in this amp? Also what are the 2 tubes in a line close to the power trans? Not too many amps llike this one if EL84 powered, used fixed bias (7189 amps excepted) so usually only need to adjust the hum balance control. To do that, turn the selector to phono and turn the volume control to the point where the hum is very audible then adjust the hum pot to get the minimal hum. Don't expect a big difference as tubed phono stages from that era were somewhat noisy when wide open. If you have not tried a new set of power tubes, doing so might make a world of difference. cheers
Click to expand...

The power tubes are 7189 and the two tubes you mention are rectifier tubes 6ca4. Thanks for the tip on how to do the hum balance, I will try that soon. I actually have no hum, it is more like semi quiet static when a song is ended or quiet.
 
amptramp said:
Yours is a multiplex set, just like my KW-55. The two coils on top of the chassis that are not shielded near the centre of the unit are multiplex coils. The heaters for the preamp tubes are powered by the cathode resistor of the output tubes on mine but later versions had a separate DC supply, so that may account for the rectifiers on top of the chassis.
Click to expand...

So no need to adjust those coils I suppose... Multiplex, meaning fm reception? This unit is WEIRD. I am told that rather than stereo fm, it was to coordinate an am station playing the other channel of stereo for it. Go figure.
 
Yes, don't touch those coils, just the hum balance. Multiplex is the name of the system used to transmit FM stereo. My old Trio W38 has a multiplex unit added as an aftermarket extra. Before FM stereo, stereo could be simulcast with FM mono for one channel and AM mono for the other.
 
It's funny that this thread was necro-ed. I gave my KW-60 to a friend about 8 years ago. Now he is giving it back.

Not sure if this is allowed here, but do any of you know the best repair shop in Cleveland?

And my room is about 12' by 12' with maybe 8' ceiling. medium carpet, small bed, dresser, chest, desk. I like: chamber music, symphonic music, folk, old country, rock and roll, reggae, techno, house, jazz, ambient, soul . . . and more. Not metal. Would the Philharmonic Affordable Audio Monitors be a good choice? Seems an odd pairing to me w/o knowing much or hearing their synergy. I won't be able to play the music at high volume.
I'll be looking around for old, used speakers too.

thanks.
 
Once they have been gone through carefully, these Trio units do sound good. I'm thinking of wiring up one of the tape sockets to go direct to the power amp.
 
Hello AKers,

I just purchased a Kenwood KW-60 for $25. I would like to have a nice, functional tube receiver [all my other gear is SS] so I have been looking up info about this receiver and landed here. AKer Beatcomber gave me a repair place near Hartford, CT that specializes in tubes. So my question is what would be the maximum that I should invest in this unit to bring it up to snuff? I don't mind spending some coin if the end result is worth it. But I don't want to invest to the point where I could buy a better serviced unit for the same investment.

Thanks
 
I took some pictures of the inside top and bottom.

P1010001_7.jpg

P1010003_2.jpg

P1010004_1.jpg

P1010002_2.jpg

P1010005.jpg
 
I bought mine for $50 , put about $50 of parts in it , but could never get it to compare w my fisher 400 or 500 units. So put it for auction and sold it to someone in Japan for $750usd plus shipping. It is probably one of the prettiest units I have worked on for sure.
 
Hi Mr White, yours looks like a nice clean unit, but all those grey caps, electrolytic and paper usually need to be replaced with modern equivalents. It could cost quite a lot to get someone else to do it, but you can do it yourself if you work systematically and carefully. Don't disturb the solder joints; just clip the caps out and attach the new ones to the leads of the old ones. The cost of parts should then be reasonable.

The transformers sound nice, but there is a lot of circuitry that can degrade the sound and there may be pots, switches or resistors that also need to be replaced. Unless you want such a receiver, it might be worth selling it on and getting a less complicated US-made integrated.
 
Someone has changed out the coupling caps on the output tubes and done you a big favor , most likely the output transfomers are good .

Have the output transfomers checked , before you have it rebuilt , also the volume and tone control pots go bad and are hard to find .

I had two of these with broken dial glass and one bad output transfomer each and parted them out long ago .
 
What is the danger, if any in attempting to power this unit up as is? Obviously I would clean up the bit of dirt inside first.
 
I've been enjoying mine also. It really made the Rectilinear Lowboys come into a place of their own. I don't believe I'll ever pass it on to another, so my son will have to do that after I'm gone from the material world.
 
I wanted to post an update. I have found that a very nice speaker to pair with my KW-60 is the Klipsch RB-81 II's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Kenwood Trio stereo receiver KW20
Replies
9
Views
2K
Dandy
Dandy
V
Kenwood KW-70
Replies
6
Views
3K
CarlV
CarlV
Mr.White
Replacing the volume pot on a Kenwood KW-60
Replies
7
Views
509
TriodeLuvr
TriodeLuvr
Axilla
Kw-44
Replies
0
Views
642
Axilla
Axilla
Ziradog
Kenwood/Trio/Lafayette models?
Replies
3
Views
579
Ziradog
Ziradog
Back
Top Bottom