Kenwood KR-9600 and JBL L100's = A very nice Christmas Gift

[TNHNDYMAN]

My Uncle gave me a great early Christmas last night. He had been up to visit during Thanksgiving, and he was interested in seeing some of my growing collection of vintage gear. He mentioned that he might have an older receiver and some speakers in his attic and would try to bring them during his next visit. He was stationed in West Germany during the mid to late 70's and I believe he purchased these from the base PX around 1976. He was in to visit my grandmother this weekend and brought the gear w/ him so I went over not really knowing what he might have. This Kenny is a BEAST! Wow just wow. Everything seems to work great and all lights are still working. The tuner section is impressive as well as putting out some serious sound. It's a little bass heavy even when leaving all tone controls flat and loudness off. It's over 50lbs and 24" wide so I'm still trying to find a place to put it. The JBL's are in pretty nice shape with nice cabinets but both covers rotted over time and he replaced w/ some odd black and metallic fabric. I have truly enjoyed today just listening to my new toys. He also gave me a Integre DTR 5.5 AVR that is nice enough but w/o preouts or HDMI so it's use is limited. This is one of the best gifts I have ever been given and it really touched me because it was obvious he had to save and struggle to buy these items and wanted me to give them a new home and enjoy them as much as he did.

[SDA SRS 1.2]

That 9600 is nice! I've had mine since 1978 and it's still going strong! Has one of the most sensitive tuners ever.
Treat her gently as the Darlington power packs are no longer available and if they blow, you're SOL.

[Polkersince85]

Nice setup. Those giant Kenwoods are in a world of their own. I have a Model Eleven and the physical size is impressive. Those L100s are highly sought after in the open market.

[Conradicles]

Nice gift man enjoy!

[codyc1ark]

That Kenwood is dead sexy! Nice score!

[Oldfatdogs]

What a good uncle,I'm sure he was happy you will give them a good home.

[TNHNDYMAN]

That 9600 is nice! I've had mine since 1978 and it's still going strong! Has one of the most sensitive tuners ever.
Treat her gently as the Darlington power packs are no longer available and if they blow, you're SOL.

That's what I've found in my limited research is that they are very difficult to find and repair if you do find parts. It seems like a waste of 160wpc but would using the preouts to my Rotel or Carver amp save the Darlingtons the load? I was aware the JBL were a well reguarded vintage piece similar to our affinity for vintage Polk's, but I didn't realize what a price people are paying for sets of these on the bay... 250-700 seems a little over zelous to me but they do sound good. I'd like to find some grill covers that have the original look, but don't want to spend $100 on grills. The Volumne pot is a little scratchy on the Kenwood, but the rest of the tone controls and switches seem pretty quite considering it's been in storage in his attic for 15 years.

On the JBL's, one of the speakers has the grill cover tabs broke off inside the peg holes on the baffle. Thinking about trying to pry them out or snag them w/ a dental hook or something and need to find a source for replacements. Anyways thanks for looking guys.

[cnh]

Very nice! That's one of the most sought after Kenwoods...and frankly all the Kenwoods in the X400 and X600 series sound pretty good. Even better with the power of the 9600. I know a guy not too far away who was reconditioning one of those for sale on ebay so I got a chance to hear it on some monster Ohm speakers. As mentioned, also has a great tuner. The L100 is just the cherry on top of the Kenwood!

What a nice present! Sounds like your uncle knew his stuff. There are days when I can't get enough of my vintage pieces.

Enjoy!

cnh

[indyhawg]

Nice gift. You might want to get you uncle some type of gift to show your appreciation.

[TNHNDYMAN]

Working on something nice to do for him as well and have a Thank You card in the mail already.

[sucks2beme]

There's a place that makes new grills with frames, as well as stands.
Radio shack used to make a cheap clone
roll of foam that looked almost the same,but that's been years.
http://www.foamtrends.com/

[sucks2beme]

Crap. I jusr read the web site closer. They stopped making them.
I guess I shouldn't of waited to ordering a pair

[stuwee]

That's what I've found in my limited research is that they are very difficult to find and repair if you do find parts. It seems like a waste of 160wpc but would using the preouts to my Rotel or Carver amp save the Darlingtons the load? I was aware the JBL were a well reguarded vintage piece similar to our affinity for vintage Polk's, but I didn't realize what a price people are paying for sets of these on the bay... 250-700 seems a little over zelous to me but they do sound good. I'd like to find some grill covers that have the original look, but don't want to spend $100 on grills. The Volumne pot is a little scratchy on the Kenwood, but the rest of the tone controls and switches seem pretty quite considering it's been in storage in his attic for 15 years.

On the JBL's, one of the speakers has the grill cover tabs broke off inside the peg holes on the baffle. Thinking about trying to pry them out or snag them w/ a dental hook or something and need to find a source for replacements. Anyways thanks for looking guys.

The JBL's present an easy load on the amp provided you don't listen at ear-bleed levels for hours on end, you should be fine, but having pre-outs means you get that nice Kennie pre and tuner to use should the Darlingtons go Buh-Bye. Enjoy your early present lucky dawg!! nice vintage rig

[Fongolio]

Awesome Christmas gift!!! Beautiful beast that KW. Congrats!!!!

[gwdgs]

I bought one of those kr9600's new back in the late 70's. No wood on it just the rack handles.
Nice REC.

[dragon1952]

I was in Germany during that same time and those were a couple of items I checked out. So many very good receivers to choose from back then. The JBL L100's were a very popular speaker at the time too.

[TNHNDYMAN]

I'm definately enjoying the Kenwood and JBL's. Need to download the manual and a schematic for future reference. Anyone on CP still have this Kenwood or these JBL's and if so what are your impressions compared to similar vintage gear?