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BlastfromthepastKenwoodKA80
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17thMay2016,09:22
PM
dragonweed
diyAudioMember

JoinDate:Sep2010
Location:Hungary

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#1
BlastfromthepastKenwoodKA80

Well,IwasalwayswonderingaboutthisonesinceIhearditsome20yearsago.
Thenlastweekbychancefoundaperfectconditionspecimenonthelocalfleamarketforpeanuts,soIdecidedto
giveitachance.
Doingthecompulsoryhomeworkona30yearsoldampreplacedallelectrolyticsinthepowerstagewithSilmicII
s,andKendeilsinthepowersupply+ultrafastrectifiersIwastotallyblownawayfromwhatcamethroughonthis
oldpieceofhardware....
Havingowned,builtandlistenedaround100differentamps(somereallygoodonestoo)inthelast30years,letme
tellyou,thisisaverydifferentanimalasfarasspeedandtransparencyconcerned.
MaybeIamjustgettingoldandlosingmymarbles,butletmetellyou,theseguysatKenwoodknewsomethingby
thenthatveryfewmanufacturersareabletorepeattoday.
Thesheerclarity,transparence,andattackofthislittleampisbreathtaking.

Iamhearinginformationintheupperoctavesthatsometimesjustplainscareme,becausetheycomethroughwith
sucharealisticway,Ioftenconfusethemwithenvironmentalnoises.NeverexperiencedthatwithANYotheramp
before.

Ontheattachedpicturesyoucansee,thattheydidtheirhomeworkonoutputstagedesign....Splitfeedbackforthe
VASandcurrentampstage,criticallyappliedphasecorrectionandspeedupcomponentsatallplace.

EventhatoldDarlingtonpowerpackdoesitsjobinanexcellentway,thisthingreproduces40kHzsquarewaves
perfectly,withoutovershotandringing.

Afterall,Iamcuriousaboutsomeexpertopinionsfromyou,anycommentsadvices,criticismconcerningthe
design?
AttachedImages
kenwood_ka80_sm006.jpg(239.4KB,112views)
kenwood_ka80_sm007.jpg(288.6KB,109views)
kenwood_ka80_sm014.jpg(510.7KB,107views)

17thMay2016,09:40
PM
JonSnell

Electronic
diyAudioMember

#2
"thisthingreproduces40kHzsquarewavesperfectly,withoutovershotandringing".
Asquarewavehasallharmonicsofthefrequencyproducedandtheyarepresentonthetopleadingedgeofyour
waveformandpresentsitselfasringing.Isuspectyouarehearingharmonics,whichsoundsatisfyingtothehuman
ear.Howfastisyouroscilloscope?
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17thMay2016,10:01
PM
picowallspeaker

diyAudioMember

#3
Quote:

OriginallyPostedbydragonweed
EventhatoldDarlingtonpowerpackdoesitsjobinanexcellentway

JoinDate:Apr2007

STK070III,IIRC

Youforgottosay:twotransfomers,oneforeachrail(forkeepingtheheightofthecaselow)Thetwocapsafter
therectifier,I'mstillkeepingtheminanotheramplifierandthey'restillfine.

Wasthe4558basedtonestagedefeatable?

Yeah,greatamp!
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17thMay2016,10:23
PM
dragonweed
diyAudioMember

JoinDate:Sep2010
Location:Hungary

#4
ThescopeisaLeader1041dualchannel40MHzscope.Well,theloadisan8Ohmpowerresistor,theamplitudeis
10vpp.Withaspeakeritcouldbedifferent,butIamnotriskingfeedingmyspeakerwithsuchasignal.....
ThepowerpackisaSTK0060II8ADarlingtonarray,thetonestageisdefeatable,(replacedwithLM4562justin
case)theinputRCAsfeedthepowerstagethroughtheselectorandthedefeatswitch,withnothingelseinthesignal
path
AttachedImages
SAM_1332.jpg(94.2KB,85views)

Lasteditedbydragonweed17thMay2016at10:27PM.

24thMay2016,09:27
AM
sgrossklass
diyAudioMember

JoinDate:Nov2004
Location:Germany

#5
DoIseeacommonmodebootstrapintheinputstagethere?Cool.

Unfortunatelytheseampsenjoyareputationofbeingnotoriouslyunreliable,mostlyduetorunninghot.Apparently
theyoftenhadtoberunatreducedbiastoavoidblowingup(again).

Iamstillquitefondofthetunergoingwiththisone,theKT80.The10/16couplingcapsattheoutputarequiter
probablydeadatthispointthough,theseshouldbeeitherbridgedorreplacedbybipolar/lowleakagetypes.Very
nicesoundingpieceofkitafterthat.NeverbeenthathappywithmyKT1100,alwayssoundedthintome...maybeit
needsarecap.I'djustneedtodosomethingaboutthestupidlampdrivercircuit,andthewipercontactsinthe
tuningcapcouldusesomecleaningactionagain.

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