Kenwood C1 Basic

Wheel-right

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#1
Acquired one of these a few weeks ago and it sure is not pretty as my PL 2000II but really woke the range of my Nikko Alpha II and the JBL 150's. Seems to have a twitchy relay that takes 15 to 30 second to kick in fully on the left channel but I always let my amp warm up a bit anyway before applying the tunes to it. The adjustable loudness feature works well in my situation and the clarity is great. Like the rest of my stuff one day it will be updated and playing the WOPL's after they get done. Hopefully I'll live long enough to get there...
 

Northwinds

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#2
They are good preamps, the balance control is the weakness of them
 

Wheel-right

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#3
They are good preamps, the balance control is the weakness of them
I understand the C2 has that trouble but not the C1, So I'll get at least another relay and probably the rest of the things to go through it completely. Very pleased with the sound and I'm running it through an Audio Control 520 equalizer which gives an extra level of adjustment.
 

Northwinds

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Fondler errrr... fan of all Nav's avatars
#4
Yes I agree on that, the C2s I have had that issue, only the C1 so perhaps just damaged somehow. It was bought from a tagsale. I assumed both preamps used the same pot
 

62vauxhall

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#5
One of those crossed my path a couple years ago. I already had pre-amps aplenty but the price was such that I bought it anyway. A whopping $7.99.

I thought it well made and with good features but when I pared down the number pre-amps, it was the first to go. When push came to shove, I thought a Hafler DH-101 and a NAD Monitor 1000 shounded better.

I don’t know why but Japanese electronics for the most part all sound overly bright to me.

But the good press about C-1’s didn’t hurt. Within 24 hours it sold and several people expressed interest.
 

Wheel-right

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Man, Ya shoulda been here yesterday
#6
One of those crossed my path a couple years ago. I already had pre-amps aplenty but the price was such that I bought it anyway. A whopping $7.99.

I thought it well made and with good features but when I pared down the number pre-amps, it was the first to go. When push came to shove, I thought a Hafler DH-101 and a NAD Monitor 1000 shounded better.

I don’t know why but Japanese electronics for the most part all sound overly bright to me.

But the good press about C-1’s didn’t hurt. Within 24 hours it sold and several people expressed interest.
Nice clean sounding to me, works well with the setup I'm using. I took the cover off the relay, cleaned the contacts, did a quick DeOxit and lube on the controls everything working great now.
 

Wheel-right

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Man, Ya shoulda been here yesterday
#7
So after the cleaning and fixing the relay something there really made this C1 open up more. Don't know what but hey I'll take it. That relay is a tiny little bugger to deal with. Great on a MC phono cart and CD.
 
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