AnalOg Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 I have a Kenwood KA 880D, Integrated Amp I purchased back in the late 80's I believe. My eight year old son has been bugging me to set it up in his room with the KSB 1.1's and a cheapo RCA 5 disc cd changer. This evening I cleaned all the pots with dialectic cleaner, gave it a good look over, hooked everything up in my listening room. Wouldn't you know it, it sounded pretty damn good mated to those Klipsch. Granted it sounded better with the loudness button activated, but considering it was 11:30 and I couldn't turn it up, low level listening was a pleasure. What gives, does anybody have any info on this amp. At the time I bought it in the blind, not really a wise audio consumer, just young, dumb, and full of ..., well you get what I mean. Is this unit one of the better buys in amplification, of the eighties, much like the HK 430 of the 70's. Or am I just deaf, and it all sounds good to me. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I thought you couldn't go back! Gary?? fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 23, 2003 Author Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 8:24:43 AM fini wrote: I thought you couldn't go back! Gary?? fini ---------------- Taking it all for what its worth, amp, player, for eight year old ears, this thing sounds NICE at low levels. Tonight him and I will give it the high SPL test. I hope it sounds like sh!t or I'll be bummed out, if that makes sense. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 8:24:43 AM fini wrote: I thought you couldn't go back! Gary?? fini ---------------- Very timely, heh? Sorry Fini but you can't compare the 80s models to those gigantic 70s beasts. They were very different animals. Tom, I have no idea how the 80s models were rated but if it sounds good, what the heck? Give it a good listen during the day when you can turn it up and see. You'll probably get rid of the loudness though. Mine has 2 levels of loudness. I know there are many still in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Should be great for him. My two year old has an Onkyo TX-906 Pro-logic receiver, DBX DX-5 CD Player w/DAIR, a Pioneer CT-S88R Auto-Reverse Cassette Deck, and just recently a Slyvania TV/DVD combo that is connected to the receiver. The speakers are the nice RS Optimus PRO X88AV's with the smooth sounding Lineaum tweeters, she has quite the little system and loves watching her movies on it. Beats the heck out of a boom box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 My wife has pretty successfully brainwashed my 2 girls into despising visible audio equipment. I could set up awesome systems for them both (and most of their friends), but they will have nothing of it. I must have done something wrong. I cleaned pots last night, too, but they were in the sink. I will be knitting some Cornwall "cozies" today while watching Oprah. I've got to go get a tissue...excuse me... fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgb Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Hmm. My 6 year old has a Fisher Price cassette deck. He does like listening to music on the big stereo though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 23, 2003 Author Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 9:00:46 AM fini wrote: My wife has pretty successfully brainwashed my 2 girls into despising visible audio equipment. I could set up awesome systems for them both (and most of their friends), but they will have nothing of it. I must have done something wrong. I cleaned pots last night, too, but they were in the sink. I will be knitting some Cornwall "cozies" today while watching Oprah. I've got to go get a tissue...excuse me... fini ---------------- Fini, You girly man, watching Ofrah & cleaning pots, now I've heard it all. No REAL man watches Ofrah. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 9:08:05 AM dgb wrote: Hmm. My 6 year old has a Fisher Price cassette deck. He does like listening to music on the big stereo though. ---------------- I bought a stripped down honda civic back in the 80s and during the first month when I had no stereo I used my kids little fisher price cassette player during my commutes to work. Not too bad considering. My almost 16 yr old daughter could have a nice set-up in her bedroom if she was at all interested. She could care less though. When I was her age, I would have killed for a nice stereo in my room. After my son graduates college and gets a place, I'm going to hook him up royaly. At least he will appreciate it. When he comes home to visit we spend hours listening to music and watching movies. It won't be long before you see him on this forum I'm guessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgb Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 My son will probably catch the bug, he's always listening to music or singing. His favorites at the moment are Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, School House Rock and Lion King. He's already bugging me to get him a CD player for his room. I'd love to find one of those little Nakamichi shelf systems from the 80s. Those little jobs could kick some serious *** for the size. The more I think about it, the more I'll probably keep my KG4s in storage for him when he;s older. I hate to part with them, took me a long time to save up for those puppies when I was 19. Every summer for several years one of my friends and I would use our last paycheck to go buy stereo stuff, usually in Harrisburg, PA, which used to have a great little Hi-Fi "district" with Silo, HiFi house and two local, high(er) end stores within about a mile. Took a couple paychecks at 3.35 an hour to get the KG4s. My first "real" hi-fi considted of a Kenwood 75 watt A/V reciever, a Pioneer Cd player that skipped more than Richrard Simmons, Kenwood dual casette deck, Yamaha turntable and Ortorfon OM-40 Gold cart (which I got for $99 on a retail of about $400!). Even on a realatively cheap turntable, that thing was very impressive. First speakers were also Kenwoods. They were the first item to be replaced. Loud, but pretty horrible overall. In college I discovered Nakamichi and eventrually got a reciver (which I still use the amp from), cassette deck (also still have) and CD player. _______________________________________________ My almost 16 yr old daughter could have a nice set-up in her bedroom if she was at all interested. She could care less though. When I was her age, I would have killed for a nice stereo in my room. After my son graduates college and gets a place, I'm going to hook him up royaly. At least he will appreciate it. When he comes home to visit we spend hours listening to music and watching movies. It won't be long until you see him on this forum I'm guessing. ---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 My first "good" speakers were huge Jensens. I think they were 3 or 4 way with 16" woofers if I remember corrctly. They could put out some great muddy bass but the tweeters kept blowing out. Maybe it was the 160 wpc SS I was cranking into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 9:12:46 AM rf3iicrazy wrote: ---------------- On 10/23/2003 9:00:46 AM fini wrote: My wife has pretty successfully brainwashed my 2 girls into despising visible audio equipment. I could set up awesome systems for them both (and most of their friends), but they will have nothing of it. I must have done something wrong. I cleaned pots last night, too, but they were in the sink. I will be knitting some Cornwall "cozies" today while watching Oprah. I've got to go get a tissue...excuse me... fini ---------------- Fini, You girly man, watching Ofrah & cleaning pots, now I've heard it all. No REAL man watches Ofrah. Tom ---------------- Hello: Rod Stewart was on last night. Catch the tail before the news. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 My son's goal is to best my system in one swoop. He's getting ready to collect on a $48,000 settlement from the car wreck last year. He told me, I really like the RF-7's, but I wish they had more bass. He thinks he's buying two RSW-15's -- but I'm about to put the hammer down. How do I stop him from pissing this money away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 23, 2003 Author Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 11:10:01 AM DeanG wrote: My son's goal is to best my system in one swoop. He's getting ready to collect on a $48,000 settlement from the car wreck last year. He told me, I really like the RF-7's, but I wish they had more bass. He thinks he's buying two RSW-15's -- but I'm about to put the hammer down. How do I stop him from pissing this money away? ---------------- Dean, Thats simple, if he lives in your house you make the rules. If it was me, I would sit down and agree on a set amount he can spend and put the rest away for the future. If that plan doesn't pan out, put it all in savings, and tell him when he's of age he can move out and blow it all on what he wants. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 the light Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 is dimming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschfoot Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 DeanG, how about briefing him on compounding interest? Settlement, huh? Injury and he thinks this is his compensation for his P&S? That could be a tuff one. I think it would be cool to have a vintage 70's system at his age. It might even appreciate! Get a big ol' Marantz or Pioneer and maybe some real walnut Large Advent or ESS speakers until he learns something about electronics. I bet if he joins this forum and puts out a "want list," he could collect a cool system from our closets and make a few friends in the process. And it might still even sound better than your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 24, 2003 Author Share Posted October 24, 2003 O.K., got home last night to a warmed up Kenwood audio system. My eight year old told me he warmed it up for our listening session. LOL! Im respectfully happy to say that the sound coming from that system at higher spls truly SUCKS! Once you shut down the loudness button it gets thin and edgy. At the lower spls with the loudness function on, along with the voicing of Klipsch it sounds nice. It all came back to me as far as the character of this amp. Thats what I disliked about the unit when I had it as my main system in the eighties. The fond memories of my younger years. I hooked up my HK TT w/Grado Brown to the setup, and it truly lets me appreciate my current vinyl setup. All in all its a great setup for a eight year old boy, emulating dad. It will have a more respectful sound when it gets into his bedroom, being smaller & more acoustically friendly. This little experience has allowed me to appreciate what I have as a current audio system, and reflect on the strengths and weakness of my setup, equipment & room wise. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 That's the cutest darn thing I've ever heard. Warmed up his SS so he and dad could have a listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 24, 2003 Author Share Posted October 24, 2003 Gary, Talked to Barry, were all good! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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