Just brought home a pair of DLK 1 1/2 (4-ohm) speakers to go with the NAD 3020 I found on Craigslist. I demoed the combo tonight when checking out the speakers and liked the sound. Now just waiting on my Monoprice 16AWG all-copper wire to ship! Thanks again for the input everyone, it's been an interesting few weeks.
Starter Stereo
- Thread starter cpenn
- Start date
Curious if you also tried those speakers with the Kenwood unit. It does look to be quite a beast.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/kenwood/ka-770d.shtml
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/kenwood/ka-770d.shtml
Rockin the NAD and DLKs as I write this. The fancy wire's not supposed to arrive until Tuesday so I went to Home Depot, got the house 14 AWG speaker wire, and strung them up tonight.
First impressions of this combo:
- Sound: Clear and crisp from high to low. The DLKs are 2-channel, 4-ohm. Compared to other speakers I listened to, the dual 8" woofers provide a combo of good low end while being small enough to fill in the mid-range. I originally thought I'd want 3-ways. I can tell these are 2-ways, but I like them.
- Volume: More than I expected. Wikipedia says the 3020 tops out at about 58 watts with 4-ohm speakers. After listening to it this will definitely give plenty of volume for my bedroom and any other room I might move the system to. Max recommended amp power for the speakers is 80 watts; they seem to be a good match with the amp.
- Budget: $250 for the NAD; $90 for the DLKs; $10 for wire. My initial budget was $250, but stretching a bit for the NAD seems like it was worth it.
Unfortunately, the Kenwood amp currently has no sound in the left channel; might be why I got it so cheap ($20). So I could probably listen to the right channel in both speakers using A+B mode (i.e. mono only), but I've got the NAD set up so I'll dig into the Kenwood at a later time. I think I've already run across threads of people who have had this type of issue, so maybe I can fix it myself. Regardless, it's definitely a dinosaur.
First impressions of this combo:
- Sound: Clear and crisp from high to low. The DLKs are 2-channel, 4-ohm. Compared to other speakers I listened to, the dual 8" woofers provide a combo of good low end while being small enough to fill in the mid-range. I originally thought I'd want 3-ways. I can tell these are 2-ways, but I like them.
- Volume: More than I expected. Wikipedia says the 3020 tops out at about 58 watts with 4-ohm speakers. After listening to it this will definitely give plenty of volume for my bedroom and any other room I might move the system to. Max recommended amp power for the speakers is 80 watts; they seem to be a good match with the amp.
- Budget: $250 for the NAD; $90 for the DLKs; $10 for wire. My initial budget was $250, but stretching a bit for the NAD seems like it was worth it.
Unfortunately, the Kenwood amp currently has no sound in the left channel; might be why I got it so cheap ($20). So I could probably listen to the right channel in both speakers using A+B mode (i.e. mono only), but I've got the NAD set up so I'll dig into the Kenwood at a later time. I think I've already run across threads of people who have had this type of issue, so maybe I can fix it myself. Regardless, it's definitely a dinosaur.
Got the Kenwood up and running tonight. A thorough cleaning of the balance pot with CRC QD (quick dry) Contact Cleaner (deoxit, basically) and then lubing with CRC 2-26 Multipurpose Precision Lubricant did the trick. All while working the balance knob back and forth about 100 times, of course. Hooked it up to the DLKs and actually really like the sound of it. My first impression is that it fills the midrange a little better than the NAD (DLKs are 2-way, two 8" woofers and a small tweeter). It's probably not quite as clear as the NAD, but pretty hard to discern the difference. Power-wise, it seems a great match for the DLKs. Amp is rated at 80wpc (probably goes higher given the 4-ohm speakers) and so are the speakers. For a total $120, a solid-sounding system.
Ultimately, though, the Kenwood's home will probably be the garage. If I see another pair of DLK 1 1/2s for the right price I might pounce. I like how they sound in my room. That said, I'd also consider a 3-way speaker. What speaker suggestions ($50 - $100 budget) do you guys have for the garage?
Again, thanks everyone for pitching in to this thread along the way!
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Not surprised your liking the Kenwood, then again I am a bit biased lol.
Living rm equipment
Bedroom equipment
Equipment waiting in the wings
It's not all Kenwood here, the media rm has more than all the above pics and only the TT is Kenwood lol.
gasolin75
Well-Known Member
Something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BQC7GNL/ref=emc_b_5_t a pair of used klipsch or mabye dali zensor 3 connected to your pc,laptop,tablet or phone you don't need more for a loud affordable system
