SteverOHIO

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Great amp, my first "real" amp you might say. I used to own a Yamaha RXV-2600 which was newer but just didnt have the gas in terms of raw power. It (Kenwood KM-X1 power amplifier) has 6 channels and is a ridiculously powerful and excellent sounding bit of gear. It looks like a black steel behemoth which makes a . Combined with its original separate and very hard to find KC-X1 Pre amplifier it is a trip into Japanese Audiophile territory on a budget. The sound quality is better than any HT or power amp Ive heard for under 2 grand, and believe me Ive looked hard for a long time to find an amp powerful enough to get my original factory built in California 15" JBL TPC (concert quality) subwoofers moving. In fact this amplifier not only moves the subwoofers into ridiculous levels of bass, it also still has enough current to allow the midrange driver and tweeter to still sound perfectly clear. There can be no comparison between this and new home theatre packages. The KM-X1 is on a completely different level. I would compare it to a bryston 4B before comparing it to my Yamaha RXV-2600. I had no idea how flimsy most newer home theatre stuff was until I picked up the Kenwood 2nd hand in 2008 for only 7 measley Benjamin Franklins!
Its a step up from home theatre into the type of amplifier you would see in the audio room of a concert hall or cinema. Sure there are amplifiers out there which will out power it and dwarf it but I only paid $700! for mine in 2008 and have not seen anything that cheap with this much clean audio power before or since, its 2009 and im still happy with the power and guess what they are making amps less and less powerful now but just putting more LEDs and acronyms for the masses.

genxtubehead

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.60 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Audio Alternative (L

Summary:
I purchasecd this power amp a few months ago to drive an old set of maggie MG3As. The pinnacle of my audio journey was reached several years ago with a set of MG3.5s driven by a Threshold S-500, Adcom GFA 750 Pre, and Rega planet CD. A more than adequate audiophile system IMHO, but not near the performance of this current setup. This amplifier does NOT sound good at all when using only 2 channels (for stereo setup). Although it is rated at 100 wpc, it surely is not on par with some of the better options out there. It's a totally different story when using it in an active 3-way setup. Bass is still a little muddy, mids and highs are not scratchy or distorted, but still veiled somewhat. It is still exponentially better than trying to drive 1-2way or 3 way speaker per channel with passive crossovers. This amp sound like a close cousin to the big boys in a 3-way active setup. I would think that each channel is biased into class A somewhat due to the fact that it idles hot yet cools somewhat when driven hard. Each channel is driving a 3-4.5 ohm load, respectively. The amp is only rated for 8-16 ohms, but does the job nonetheless. There are 2 internal fans in this amp and they are intermittent. The only time I've even noticed them was when I removed the top cover for a closer look. Elna caps are used in the power supply, but the power cord is basically lamp cord. I'm going to try soldering a new cord in and see what happens. Overall, $400 and a little creativity have yielded near sonic nirvana. I can't wait to try a better amp!!

Strengths:
Lots of hookup options with a six channel amp. Can be switched into standby mode. Drives more than the rated load with ease.

Weaknesses:
Cheapo binding posts, power supply laughs at the cord that feeds it, sounds like crap when each channel is used to drive a complete louspeaker with passive crossover.

Similar Products Used:
Nothing. I've yet to try this setup with a different amp. This one was convenient for my needs.

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Wild West Sound, Ren

Summary:
I, personally, do not understand the criticisms of this exceptional little performer. I purchased this six-channel amplifier about six years ago, and have had no complaints. At first I had it driving my center channel and rear speakers and used a Hafler DH 500 with mods for my mains. When I moved to a smaller placed I stored the Hafler and utlized the KMX 1 for everything. I can't tell the difference. I listen mostly to rock and home theater, and everything is there.

Strengths:
With six channels it is a very flexible amplifier. An absolute bargain if you can find it.

Weaknesses:
With only 100 watts per channel, not big enought for a 4 ohm passive subwoofer I recently purchased. It's time to pull the Hafler from storage, as soon as I can talk the wife into letting me figure out where to put it.

Similar Products Used:
McIntosh, Hafler.

Price Paid:  $590.00

Summary:
I got this one to run Dolby through Bose 901's. I turned it on in 1993, and it has been running since. ok, if I went on a long vacation I may have cut power to it. But it just sits there and does its job quietly, and professionally. I don't baby it, I use old lamp cord so corroded and hardened with age its a wonder any power passes through it to the speakers. I buy my connecting cables at the Everythings-a-Dollar store. I would note that most of it's life the amp has been hooked to a low dollar transformer, to convert foreign 220v 50 hz to the US 110v that this particular model demands, but the lower hertz unconvertable has never caused it to hiccup. i've never heard the fan run, or any trace of amplifier induced noise. Aficionados say the Sony preamps 1000 i used and later the 2000 are some of the best ever made, and this puppy did not detract from the Sony perfection. I am amplifier challenged, I cannot hear when one amplifier "colors" the music more than another, I only hear when it is distorting, and I've never heard a thing from this amp other than the music. Accordingly, I cannot address the coloration observations in reviews below. But it should be noted that all sources, from artists instruments, to recording mikes, to the final loudspeakers in the end user's sound room, no matter how expensive, fail to produce a perfect sine wave, and for those few that have approached a flat frequency response, the Boston boys Advent, AR, KLH etc from the 50's and 60's advised that you would not like a perfectly flat frequency response system if you heard it; so any coloration this component may produce is agreeable to my ears. 3 hundreths of a percent distortion is clean power to me. And power is power. If you can find one, buy it. Preamps obsolete every few years, but clean power is useful forever. And reliable clean power is a thing of joy to hear!

Strengths:
Six channel amplifier, all full frequency channels. A refrigerator-like appliance for reliability, running continuously since 1993, better specs than new high-end THX "ultra" certified equipment at .03 percent distortion, now in-vogue as you find the six channel sound, but only five amps onboard new receivers. THX certified over 8 years ago! Built like a tank.

Weaknesses:
me, too weak to lift it.

Similar Products Used:
have run a Sony 1000es DPL preamp, lately a Kenwood 7772 DD receiver (as a preamp) and soon to be Pioneer VSX-37TX as a preamp. most of its life spent driving six Bose 901's (use two as a center channel on old dolby, one will be the rear surround on ex-es soon. am trying out a set of planar-magnetics (with 4 ohm loads) in the near future, and have also experimented with a pair of Klipsch SP-1's recently. This amp has been the rock on which all of my HT's have been built.

Price Paid:  $795.00

Summary:
Not a great amp. Can be helped with the right cables/wires.
I've had this combo for about five years and have almost stopped listening to music due to the fatigue. Started by replacing the Monster cables(helped!). Next the Monster wire goes, to be replaced with Staightwire. Slowly the sound is improving, maybe I can avoid buying another amp.

Strengths:
multichannel,works with STAGE 3 Preamp

Weaknesses:
Harsh, constrained.

Similar Products Used:
many