evanbalthaza
New Member
Hi hello,
I currently have the opportunity to purchase a non-functioning Kenwood KR-9600 for quite cheap. I'm leaning toward purchasing this for standard repair, but was wondering if anyone had insight into possibly converting it to a bass amplifier.
I think the most apparent issue I see are the dynamics of the input- whereas a standard receiver is primarily designed to work with mastered tracks, live bass has a much wider dynamic range and pushes through a narrower EQ band. Is there any modification I could make to offset this? Like an onboard buffer/pre? I could also use an outboard limiting compressor and graphic equalizer between by signal path and the input of the receiver, but it would be ideal to preserve headroom.
Here are some other considerations I have:
- Unobtainium TA200-W Power Modules - It seems there are a handful of options for building a replacement and at least one aftermarket option.
- Speaker Damage - I would plan on using this with a bass cabinet designed for live music. If I build this myself, I'll look to compliment the receiver.
- Input impedance - I will use a DI box or small preamplifier to convert my signal from instrument level to line level.
- Tone - I see people comment on similar topics mentioning that a HIFI system would likely run into similar issues as a PA system on the tone of an instrument, though I would hope to find a similar effect to Sunn amps, which were repurposed from live PA gear to guitar/bass amplifiers.
- Output Power - At 160wpc @ 8ohms this should certainly suffice. Are there any risks with running it at 4ohms, though, if I were to run it into two 8ohm speakers? I would likely be running at ~75% power at any given time. I see mixed opinions about this, but it's not necessarily a deal breaker for me if it should only run at 8.
- Heat & Wear - I'm unsure the degree that this would overheat in a live-music setting vs at home, but I will likely try to build an enclosure for it to reduce potential damage, so implementing cooling solutions for the unit should be straight-forward enough.
- Skill level - Somewhat new to audio repair (~1yr), but with several projects completed, including a KR-7400.
I understand that this would be an ambitious project and that I may run into setbacks along the way, but does this seem like more work than it's worth? I already have options for intended-use bass amplifiers, so I figure worst case scenario I can list parts to ebay to recoup purchase price.
I currently have the opportunity to purchase a non-functioning Kenwood KR-9600 for quite cheap. I'm leaning toward purchasing this for standard repair, but was wondering if anyone had insight into possibly converting it to a bass amplifier.
I think the most apparent issue I see are the dynamics of the input- whereas a standard receiver is primarily designed to work with mastered tracks, live bass has a much wider dynamic range and pushes through a narrower EQ band. Is there any modification I could make to offset this? Like an onboard buffer/pre? I could also use an outboard limiting compressor and graphic equalizer between by signal path and the input of the receiver, but it would be ideal to preserve headroom.
Here are some other considerations I have:
- Unobtainium TA200-W Power Modules - It seems there are a handful of options for building a replacement and at least one aftermarket option.
- Speaker Damage - I would plan on using this with a bass cabinet designed for live music. If I build this myself, I'll look to compliment the receiver.
- Input impedance - I will use a DI box or small preamplifier to convert my signal from instrument level to line level.
- Tone - I see people comment on similar topics mentioning that a HIFI system would likely run into similar issues as a PA system on the tone of an instrument, though I would hope to find a similar effect to Sunn amps, which were repurposed from live PA gear to guitar/bass amplifiers.
- Output Power - At 160wpc @ 8ohms this should certainly suffice. Are there any risks with running it at 4ohms, though, if I were to run it into two 8ohm speakers? I would likely be running at ~75% power at any given time. I see mixed opinions about this, but it's not necessarily a deal breaker for me if it should only run at 8.
- Heat & Wear - I'm unsure the degree that this would overheat in a live-music setting vs at home, but I will likely try to build an enclosure for it to reduce potential damage, so implementing cooling solutions for the unit should be straight-forward enough.
- Skill level - Somewhat new to audio repair (~1yr), but with several projects completed, including a KR-7400.
I understand that this would be an ambitious project and that I may run into setbacks along the way, but does this seem like more work than it's worth? I already have options for intended-use bass amplifiers, so I figure worst case scenario I can list parts to ebay to recoup purchase price.
