£12 Kenwood Supreme 600 Amplifier

[BomberHarris]

I found one of these today at my local oxfam for £12.00 and took it home.. Condition is around 8/10 with a few scratches etc.. I'm trying to find out some information out about it but there doesn't seem to be much thrown up.. I know nice equipment when I see it, and I can tell its build quality is second to none.. I can't find anything on its potential value other then one in the states was listed on ebay for a staggering $2400 - Now i'm sure that might of been somebody trying it on.. but can anybody shed any light to what I've picked up and its potential value?

Thanks

[The Grand Wazoo]

I'll take it off your hands for £12.50 and what's more, I'll pay the postage!

[istari_knight]

In a nutshell, its a very nice amp.

Working & in good condition you'll get between £500 - £600 for it.. Faulty or poor condition & you'll get between £200 - £300 for it.

[istari_knight]

:worthless:

[agk]

Sure is man. I love a bargain, let's have a look.

Edit. If the normal rules apply and its the same as the Trio 600 I've just go ogled its a beauty!

[BomberHarris]

I'm going to give it a clean up and i'll get some photos uploaded!

[keiths]

Jammy bugger ;-) I'll certainly be very interested in the photos when you post them.

[Alex_UK]

Almost too good to be true - why is it that all I ever find in charity shops is bright red Saisho midi systems... :(

[The Grand Wazoo]

I don't think much of the search engine you used if you can't find a lot information about this amp - very strange!
Which one was it, if you don't mind me asking?

[jandl100]

Cor. :drool:

here's a Google Images pic ...

http://i458.photobucket.com/albums/qq305/southpeak/TRIO%20KA-9300/DSC_0210.jpg

[jandl100]

I don't think much of the search engine you used if you can't find a lot information about this amp - very strange!
Which one was it, if you don't mind me asking?

yep! FGI (fekkin google it ;))

http://www.thevintageknob.org/kenwood-Model_600.html

[Radford Revival]

I don't know any specifics but it certainly looks like an excellent amplifier, at £12 it's beyond a bargain. Should provide lots of enjoyment!

[dantheman91]

Nursing a semi..............:eyebrows:

[PaulStewart]

That is quite amazing, I steer clear of Oxfam shops myself for three reasons, I find their politics deplorable, less than 50% of the money they raise goes to actual good work and they are always over priced. Well done for getting a bargain out of them.

[Audio Al]

Weight : 21,3kg. :eek::eek::D

[agk]

We still lack for pics of the actual unit. Would be nice to see the twin 'roidal bargain beast in all its glory.
Ah charity shops, love 'em.

[BomberHarris]

Hi guys, I will get photos soon, I'm just giving it a proper clean up inside and out, it must have around 20 years of dust inside! going to deoxit the switches and I'll show you the final result!

[nat8808]

That is quite amazing, I steer clear of Oxfam shops myself for three reasons, I find their politics deplorable, less than 50% of the money they raise goes to actual good work and they are always over priced. Well done for getting a bargain out of them.

1) They don't sell cassettes any more! Boo.. (ok, there's one in Dalston which does but its a retro hipster area..)

2) Their vinyl is priced as per some record collectors mag regardless of the terrible condition it's usually in, Boo....

3) Electricals is a health and safety nightmare so they don't do electricals....

So how they hell did you get so lucky with this Trio? All the ones in London refuse to handle electricals, especially of an amp nature - have to go to the weird charity shops for that which play African Christian-style worship radio as background music, the one-off ones and then it's £40 for a cheap VHS player than no-one wants..

Good old Mancs for keeping it real I say! (I used to live in Machester, so genuine affection there)

[nat8808]

Weight : 21,3kg. :eek::eek::D

Not something you want to pick up on an impulse buy whist down the shops!

[reddish75]

We still lack for pics of the actual unit. Would be nice to see the twin 'roidal bargain beast in all its glory.
Ah charity shops, love 'em.

You wont see the amp with twin toroidal transformers as that model is the KA9300 which is the Japanese version of the 600, the export version known as the model 600 has twin EI transformers, the amp itself has build quality reviled only by Accuphase from that era, not at all surprising as the engineers that developed the 'supreme' line went on to form Accuphase.

I have completely restored one of these and let me tell you the amazing build quality comes at a price which is that its a bitch to work on, just getting to the solder side of the power amps is a major job and don't get me started on the relay board and the pre-amp.

The volume control is a sealed 6 gang unit? If that's noisy you wont be cleaning that easily. There are a handful of transistors that should be replaced on this unit as they are very likely to fail and cause a host of different problems, oh and the outputs be very careful with those as THE only modern replacement still available just doesn't sound the same.

[PaulStewart]

Their vinyl is priced as per some record collectors mag regardless of the terrible condition it's usually in,

Too right, before their recent "attitude" to Scarlett Johansson after which I decided never to darken their doors again, I went to the specialist record one in Marylebone High Street. They had a copy of Beggars Banquet with a tatty sleeve and vinyl that looked as if it had been used for gauging practice by an insane gauger :lol: The price for this gem? 20 squids, I kid you not.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Electricals is a health and safety nightmare so they don't do electricals....

So how they hell did you get so lucky with this Trio? All the ones in London refuse to handle electricals, especially of an amp nature

Yes, my understanding was that Oxfam don't accept or sell mains powered electrical goods except for corporate donation of multiple units of IT equipment, which they make use of in other ways than selling......

[istari_knight]

Now that you mention it, I've not seen electronics for sale in a charity shop for a decade or so.

[keiths]

According to their website, some Oxfam stores do accept and sell electricals, but they are few and far between...

[The Grand Wazoo]

Uh-Oh, my mistake, obviously!!
......ahem

[keiths]

Now that you mention it, I've not seen electronics for sale in a charity shop for a decade or so.

My local Oxfam doesn't accept electrical goods, but the other three charity shops in my town all do. In fact a mate of mine goes into the local Age UK shop and PAT tests their donated electrical goods for them.

[istari_knight]

Fair do's :thumbsup:

I visit the local one's every couple of weeks [Oxfam,PDSA,Cancer research, Help the aged & the best one's called PANTS!] none of them have ever had anything electrical... Usually just moth eaten clothing, chipped crockery and some unloved Donny Osmond LP's.

Tell a lie, one had some Townshend Glastonbury speakers once but they were completely knackered.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Pants in Falmouth?
They have two shops don't they? Earlier this year, I got some fantastic and rather rare jazz albums in the big one by Sainsbury's for a pound a piece.

[istari_knight]

Pants in Falmouth?
They have two shops don't they? Earlier this year, I got some fantastic and rather rare jazz albums in the big one by Sainsbury's for a pound a piece.

Yeah, thats the only good one IME.

[nat8808]

How the hell has this thread ended up talking about pants in Falmouth??

[nat8808]

According to their website, some Oxfam stores do accept and sell electricals, but they are few and far between...

Few and far between indeed..

Heart Foundation ones seem to, at least in their bigger shops but essentially just all-in-ones, old PC monitors and the odd food mixer.

I bet those Glastonburys were still worth the money, whatever condition. Max. £250 to replace all the drivers if they needed it..

[istari_knight]

Few and far between indeed..

Heart Foundation ones seem to, at least in their bigger shops but essentially just all-in-ones, old PC monitors and the odd food mixer.

I bet those Glastonburys were still worth the money, whatever condition. Max. £250 to replace all the drivers if they needed it..

They wanted £250 for them IIRC, cabinets were well worn & needed all new drivers.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Well..................

[Audio Al]

Well..................


+1 :lol:


and

:worthless:

We like dust as well ;)

[istari_knight]

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c129/istari_knight9/tumble_zps9be5952d.gif

[nat8808]

Too busy enjoying it I imagine..

[Audio Al]

No Photos = It did not happen ;)

[agk]

I envision a starving man, so enthralled by the sound coming from his new old amp he hasn't even left the sofa for a week.

[BomberHarris]

Hi Guys, Apologies I forgot about this thread..

So heres an update :

I received around 9 offers for it once I listed this thread, However I've wanted to enjoy it myself first and wasn't ready to part just yet.. I found out that the main dial knob was an aftermarket crappy one, So I have sourced an original one, ( which set me back £40!! ) , and there are a few blown capacitors.. Sound is full one one side.. It's going to have a refurbish and judging by the offers i've had, it will be sold.. I will try and get some photos before hand although any attempts for now have looked tatty ( I'm a bit of a perfectionist )

[keiths]

Gosh, I'm surprised you intend selling this :rolleyes:

[istari_knight]

Its amazing these "blown capacitors" - The Supreme 600 on eBay last week apparently had some too yet I've never seen any in a Japanese amp... The old Nippon-Chemicon's & Elna's are ruddy good caps.

[BomberHarris]

I dont know if I intend to sell yet.. I've had high offers on it but I'm gradually become aware of how rare / sought after this is.. Might be worth holding on too ?

[synsei]

I dont know if I intend to sell yet.. I've had high offers on it but I'm gradually become aware of how rare / sought after this is.. Might be worth holding on too ?

Rare or not it is how it sounds which is important Robert, if you like what it does then keep it, if not then move it on... simples... ;)

[reddish75]

I would say, and have, its more than likely the 2sc1451/ 2saA809/810 that these amps have, best replacements for these long obsolete, good replacements not easy to find, just do the job replacements available from mouser.

Btw any tech that sees an amp and just says 'blown capacitors' swiftly turn on your heals out of the door!

[pete_mac]

Wow... 12 quid... what a score for a truly iconic Kenwood! Nicely done.