Trio (Kenwood) KT 917

[Neil McCauley]

I have owned mine since 1979. The UK price back then was circa £900 which according to an online historic £ to $ conversion taking into account a total inflation of 244% means circa $5k at today's prices apparently. Anyone else out there with one of these magnificent devices?

[The Black Adder]

I haven't but I too have heard great things about that model. I love Trio stuff to which that looks like a serious bit of kit.

[Spectral Morn]

Would love to hear one, never mind own one but sadly these sell for way too much these days for me to find out.

Nice to see you back Howard :cool:



Regards Neil

[Neil McCauley]

Good to be back Neil, and thank you.

[Neil McCauley]

I haven't but I too have heard great things about that model. I love Trio stuff to which that looks like a serious bit of kit.

Serious indeed. At one time I had the LO7D turntable; every bit as good as the 'hype' might suggest plus the LO7M monoblocs (way ahead of their time in the late 1970s and the LOC II preamp. I wanted the matching L-series FM tuners but these were, at the time, impossible to source.

[The Black Adder]

Serious indeed. At one time I had the LO7D turntable; every bit as good as the 'hype' might suggest plus the LO7M monoblocs (way ahead of their time in the late 1970s and the LOC II preamp. I wanted the matching L-series FM tuners but these were, at the time, impossible to source.

Indeed... I've always wondered what the LO7M mono's sound like... There was something about Trio before it started making blenders as Kenwood. Superb quality. And their amps wern't half bad either!... lol :)

[Neil McCauley]

Indeed... I've always wondered what the LO7M mono's sound like... There was something about Trio before it started making blenders as Kenwood. Superb quality. And their amps wern't half bad either!... lol :)

Err ... not the same Kenwood. That's why they traded as Trio in the UK to avoid the kitchen appliance confusion but still Kenwood elsewhere. In the 1970s they had a very talented design crew. I met their design head. A story too long for here but it involved the accidental discovery of speaker cable directionality.

http://www.hifianswers.com/2015/05/loudspeaker-cable-directionality-and-html/

Many of their gifted team migrated away in the very early 1980s and that's how Accuphase was born - apparently. Rumour says that the KT-917 team were responsible for the legendry and vastly expensive Accuphase T-1000 tuner.

Also: http://www.hifianswers.com/2015/05/howard-popeck-talks-about-his-trio-html/

[Barry]

Welcome back Howard - good to see you posting here again.

Regards
Barry

[ff1d1l]

On the evidence of my own tuner, no slouch but possibly not in the KT 917 league (but certainly close), BBC fm is now so variable in quality I wouldn't consider spending serious money on a source so variable, hamstrung by technical issues and with an uncertain future. R4, particularly on a programme like PM, will have audible distortion and or hum on some feeds, just enough to start engendering audio paranoia in yours truly, then another feed comes along which is crystal clear. I mean, WTF?

Take it from me, FM doesn't sound like it used to. Back in the seventies when I was a student I had a decent system of stacked quads driven by various respectable electronics. Tuner was a Rogers Ravensbourne, and live R3 broadcasts were just astonishing - easily the best source unless you had access to mastertapes.

This superiority back in the golden years was attributable to several things, IMHO.
The flourishing of the world leading BBC technical dept, which developed in-house speakers and all necessary broadcast equipment, and/or modified commercial gear to BBC's reassuringly high specifications. Because of the BBC's reputation, this equipment had a world market.
Engineers who knew how to use this gear, and where to position mic trees, how to record bands for In Concert, and indeed how to get the best out of it all.
Indeed were driven by an ethos that the BBC were the best, and compromising this reputation in any way just wasn't on the cards. The assumption was they had discerning listeners with high quality equipment and this was the standard worked to.
Finally the result wasn't squirted down the phone lines at low bitrate before broadcast. And even this broadcast FM might go in a few years.

Now at some point a load of deaf bean counters somehow wrested control from those who actually knew something, and things slipped till they're where they are now. So unless a KT 917 happened along at £50, in which case I might buy it for interest and, ahem, fondling, I wouldn't be interested. My Onkyo is more than up to the task, given present standards, thank you very much.

Got some nice vintage tuners? Sell 'em now while they're still worth something.

[Firebottle]

Got some nice vintage tuners? Sell 'em now while they're still worth something.

Sad state of affairs when it comes to this sort of position.

Who ever decided it was legit for the government to sell off spectrum :scratch: for mega amounts of money :mental:

[mikmas]

On the evidence of my own tuner, no slouch but possibly not in the KT 917 league (but certainly close), BBC fm is now so variable in quality I wouldn't consider spending serious money on a source so variable, hamstrung by technical issues and with an uncertain future. R4, particularly on a programme like PM, will have audible distortion and or hum on some feeds, just enough to start engendering audio paranoia in yours truly, then another feed comes along which is crystal clear. I mean, WTF?


Was listening to World on 3 'Live from Womad' last night and the sound was so poor I switched to another tuner just to check my main one wasn't buggered. Distortion on recordings of earlier acts was horrendous. Certainly way below even the standard achieved for TV Glastonbury coverage. Really sad state of affairs from a 'World Class' radio broadcaster.

[Spectral Morn]

On the evidence of my own tuner, no slouch but possibly not in the KT 917 league (but certainly close), BBC fm is now so variable in quality I wouldn't consider spending serious money on a source so variable, hamstrung by technical issues and with an uncertain future. R4, particularly on a programme like PM, will have audible distortion and or hum on some feeds, just enough to start engendering audio paranoia in yours truly, then another feed comes along which is crystal clear. I mean, WTF?

Take it from me, FM doesn't sound like it used to. Back in the seventies when I was a student I had a decent system of stacked quads driven by various respectable electronics. Tuner was a Rogers Ravensbourne, and live R3 broadcasts were just astonishing - easily the best source unless you had access to mastertapes.

This superiority back in the golden years was attributable to several things, IMHO.
The flourishing of the world leading BBC technical dept, which developed in-house speakers and all necessary broadcast equipment, and/or modified commercial gear to BBC's reassuringly high specifications. Because of the BBC's reputation, this equipment had a world market.
Engineers who knew how to use this gear, and where to position mic trees, how to record bands for In Concert, and indeed how to get the best out of it all.
Indeed were driven by an ethos that the BBC were the best, and compromising this reputation in any way just wasn't on the cards. The assumption was they had discerning listeners with high quality equipment and this was the standard worked to.
Finally the result wasn't squirted down the phone lines at low bitrate before broadcast. And even this broadcast FM might go in a few years.

Now at some point a load of deaf bean counters somehow wrested control from those who actually knew something, and things slipped till they're where they are now. So unless a KT 917 happened along at £50, in which case I might buy it for interest and, ahem, fondling, I wouldn't be interested. My Onkyo is more than up to the task, given present standards, thank you very much.

Got some nice vintage tuners? Sell 'em now while they're still worth something.

The price seems to be climbing again on tuners, with the fact switch over to DAB has been shelved for now. I think FM broadcast quality has fluctuated a bit recently but even taking that into account poor FM still outperforms DAB in my opinion.


Regards Neil

[Gordon Steadman]

Got some nice vintage tuners? Sell 'em now while they're still worth something.

Nah, not me, I'm collecting. All those lovely things I couldn't afford back then!! The sound out here on some of the classical stations is still pretty good but even if it wasn't I would still be buying.
I have a Rogers Ravensbourne still in the UK waiting to come out, Quad FM3 and FM4 of course and my favourite at the moment is the Sugden (goes with C51). It sounds terrific, better than the FM4 by some way.

On top of that, I have the usual mix of Japanese tuners from Pioneer, Sony and Teac. Some of them sound pretty decent but not TOTR.

The shelves will be groaning soon:)

[anthonyTD]

Good to see you posting on AOS again Howard! :)
A...
Err ... not the same Kenwood. That's why they traded as Trio in the UK to avoid the kitchen appliance confusion but still Kenwood elsewhere. In the 1970s they had a very talented design crew. I met their design head. A story too long for here but it involved the accidental discovery of speaker cable directionality.

http://www.hifianswers.com/2015/05/loudspeaker-cable-directionality-and-html/

Many of their gifted team migrated away in the very early 1980s and that's how Accuphase was born - apparently. Rumour says that the KT-917 team were responsible for the legendry and vastly expensive Accuphase T-1000 tuner.

Also: http://www.hifianswers.com/2015/05/howard-popeck-talks-about-his-trio-html/

[Box13]

The price seems to be climbing again on tuners, with the fact switch over to DAB has been shelved for now. I think FM broadcast quality has fluctuated a bit recently but even taking that into account poor FM still outperforms DAB in my opinion.


Regards Neil

If you ever see anything on DAB that you particularly want I would always tape it for you Davros.

[trio leo]

I had a Trio L07D, built like a tank 73lb, I had an L07C pre-amp, L01A power amp the L01T tuner, all beautifully made and sounded fantastic IMHO, although the L07's were more powerful than the L05 Mono-blocs I preferred the faster attack of the L05's.

The Trio Mono-blocs were the inspiration for the start of Albarry Mono-blocs.

Nice to see the Trio legacy continuing in the form of the wonderful Accuphase products as well.

IIRC Howerd, you used to come to Bespoke Audio Stockport back in the 80's, glad to see you back , hope you are well.

Enjoy your music :)

Cheers Al

[Neil McCauley]

I had a Trio L07D, built like a tank 73lb, I had an L01C pre-amp, L01A power amp the L01T tuner, all beautifully made and sounded fantastic IMHO, although the L07's were more powerful than the L05 Mono-blocs I preferred the faster attack of the L05's.

The Trio Mono-blocs were the inspiration for the start of Albarry Mono-blocs.

Nice to see the Trio legacy continuing in the form of the wonderful Accuphase products as well.

IIRC Howerd, you used to come to Bespoke Audio Stockport back in the 80's, glad to see you back , hope you are well.

Enjoy your music :)

Cheers Al

L07 versus L05; I have to agree with your observations.

I had a pair of L08 monos plus the matching pre but .... by that stage the magic of their design prowess had gone, probably to Accuphase. I was unaware that the Trio monos were an inspiration for Albarry. Thanks for that; it makes me happy. And thank you for the welcome. Appreciated and not taken for granted. Indeed I am well. You too I hope.

[Barry]

Nah, not me, I'm collecting. All those lovely things I couldn't afford back then!! The sound out here on some of the classical stations is still pretty good but even if it wasn't I would still be buying.
I have a Rogers Ravensbourne still in the UK waiting to come out, Quad FM3 and FM4 of course and my favourite at the moment is the Sugden (goes with C51). It sounds terrific, better than the FM4 by some way.

On top of that, I have the usual mix of Japanese tuners from Pioneer, Sony and Teac. Some of them sound pretty decent but not TOTR.

The shelves will be groaning soon:)

I think the opposite - but then it's all a matter of taste. I don't understand the attraction the Leak 'Troughline' tuner has to many: I find it far too soft, smooth with too much bass emphasis on vocals (both male and female).

I have a small collection of FM tuners; in order of preference they are:

1 Quad FM4

2 Quad FM3
Cambridge T55
B&O 1700

5 Quad FM2

6 Leak 'Troughline' Mk.III (aka Stereo).

[Arkless Electronics]

I agree that the Troughline is over rated.. vastly so IMHO. I've got a Sugden R21 which is the same as the R51 but styled to match the wooden sleeved integrated amps. It's good but it's no super tuner.... As far as Leak goes the Stereofetic and later re-styled Delta are sleepers. About on a par with the Sugden tuners and Quad FM3 IMO but go for no money.

The only link between Trio and Albarry monoblocs is that they're both monoblocs... No similarity whatsoever in the circuitry.

[ff1d1l]

I As far as Leak goes the Stereofetic and later re-styled Delta are sleepers.
.
The Troughline I have sounds very good IMHO. But only on strong signals with nothing close on the waveband, so not too good an option for where I am.

Somewhere I've got a Leak Delta stashed away, maybe I'll haul it out and fire it up as you recommend it! But the Onkyo 9090ii is the best tuner I've had for my situation - extremely good sound qualty if the broacast is up to it, and pulls in weak Irish stations in good stereo -great for me as I live in North Wales.
A Yamaha T 7 I've also a soft spot for. Excellent SQ and more sohpistication than is initially apparent.

[Nick_G]

I've never tried a KT-917 but I do have a Kenwood L-1000T which dates from about 1990 or 91. It's a large graphite-grey box and is heavy, weighing about 10 kg. I've read several articles online that suggest that Accuphase were involved with this tuner as well. I don't know how reliable this info is. Like ff1dl's Onkyo this Kenwood is an excellent tuner for pulling in weak signals in a crowded band and sounds fantastic on a good broadcast.

Regards,
Nick

[Neil McCauley]

I've never tried a KT-917 but I do have a Kenwood L-1000T which dates from about 1990 or 91. It's a large graphite-grey box and is heavy, weighing about 10 kg. I've read several articles online that suggest that Accuphase were involved with this tuner as well. I don't know how reliable this info is. Like ff1dl's Onkyo this Kenwood is an excellent tuner for pulling in weak signals in a crowded band and sounds fantastic on a good broadcast.

Regards,
Nick

Hello Nick. This might be of interest: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1401204845&&&/Classic-Tuner

In the mid 1980s my 917 stopped working on one channel. The device was of such design sophistication (but not necessarily reliability) that the then UK importers were doubtful it could be fixed in the UK. Thus a long return trip to Japan was in the offing. However, I asked Bob Stuart (now Robert, incidentally) who at the time was a close friend at Meridian to take a look.

As a favour, he and the ever-generous Dave Hall fixed it. They were curious of course and with my agreement explored it, measured it and listened to it. At that time they had their 104 and 204 as references. They told me they were astonished; the measurements in some instances being beyond the capability of their then instruments. The sonic performance was in their view peerless. Possibly, just possible this informed their design thinking of their 504.

This type of support, utter candour in the face of true state-of-the-art design and all round bonhomie is sadly a thing of the past. Happy memories. I doubt we’ll see a return of such pleasantries.

[technobear]

That KT-917 is a thing of beauty for sure.

I'm still using this into a pair of Rogers LS4a:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8349/8191237636_1386b5e1b0_b.jpg

1982 I think. 80 Watts. Heavy class A bias. Sounds divine driving the T1's.

[Nick_G]

Hello Nick. This might be of interest: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1401204845&&&/Classic-Tuner

In the mid 1980s my 917 stopped working on one channel. The device was of such design sophistication (but not necessarily reliability) that the then UK importers were doubtful it could be fixed in the UK. Thus a long return trip to Japan was in the offing. However, I asked Bob Stuart (now Robert, incidentally) who at the time was a close friend at Meridian to take a look.

As a favour, he and the ever-generous Dave Hall fixed it. They were curious of course and with my agreement explored it, measured it and listened to it. At that time they had their 104 and 204 as references. They told me they were astonished; the measurements in some instances being beyond the capability of their then instruments. The sonic performance was in their view peerless. Possibly, just possible this informed their design thinking of their 504.

This type of support, utter candour in the face of true state-of-the-art design and all round bonhomie is sadly a thing of the past. Happy memories. I doubt we’ll see a return of such pleasantries.

Thanks Howard. That is a fascinating story.

I need to get my L-1000T looked at as there is audible distortion in the narrowest bandwidth setting (not sure if that is normal) and occasionally on auto-tune it goes past local signals, probably because the peak signal is slightly off-centre. Also, on bass-heavy material the stereo lamp flickers unless off-tuned slightly. Still, I can't complain for the price I paid for it. It still sounds wonderful on a good BBC broadcast.

Regards,
Nick

[SteveW]

Really good to see you posting on here again Howard. A welcome return.
Cheers Steve

[Firebottle]

Thanks Howard. That is a fascinating story.

I need to get my L-1000T looked at as there is audible distortion in the narrowest bandwidth setting (not sure if that is normal) and occasionally on auto-tune it goes past local signals, probably because the peak signal is slightly off-centre. Also, on bass-heavy material the stereo lamp flickers unless off-tuned slightly. Still, I can't complain for the price I paid for it. It still sounds wonderful on a good BBC broadcast.

Regards,
Nick

Hi Nick,
It's likely that the discriminator coil just needs little tweak to centralise the response. Over time components can age a little.
If you are not phased by the task I will talk you through it if you can provide internal close up shots of the tuner board, so that I can identify the correct coil.

Cheers,
Alan

[Neil McCauley]

Really good to see you posting on here again Howard. A welcome return.
Cheers Steve

Thank you to all of you who have welcomed me back. It's not something I take for granted. Howard

[Nick_G]

Hi Nick,
It's likely that the discriminator coil just needs little tweak to centralise the response. Over time components can age a little.
If you are not phased by the task I will talk you through it if you can provide internal close up shots of the tuner board, so that I can identify the correct coil.

Cheers,
Alan

Thanks Alan but there is a repair technician in Surrey who I plan to do my tuner(s) - yes I have several. He did a good job repairing some minor shipping damage to a JVC amplifier that I bought in the spring, and apparently he specialises in tuner repair/restoration. I'd rather leave these things to people who know what they are doing.

Regards,
Nick