Auster 隨手亂彈

Kenwood KT-1000 (1981, $450, detector/MPX scheme: pulse count detector, discrete CMOS switch driven with slimed pulses (no charge injection cancellation) generated by digital means. MPX PLL generated 38k with HA11223 chip)
The top tuner in Kenwood's "Audio Purist" series, the KT-1000 uses the pulse count detector circuitry also found in their 600T and KT-615/815/917 series. It has 5 FM gangs and 5 filters (4 ceramic and one LC filter) and most think it sounds wonderful on strong stations. Note: Don't confuse the 1981 KT-1000 with the old 3-gang Kenwood tuner with the same model number (1970, $90, photo). Our contributor Charles calls the newer KT-1000 "the best sounding transistorized tuner I've heard so far," but for various reasons he feels that "DXers need not apply" (read Charles's full review in our FMtuners discussion group). The KT-1000 has a 3-gang AM section and a jack on the back panel labeled "AM IF. out." The front panel buttons include "RF Select" normal/direct (like local/distant?), wide/narrow IF bandwidth, calibration tone, and a button that annoyingly combines servo lock on/off, auto blend on/off and muting on/off all together with auto (stereo)/mono. In other words, as Charles observed, the only way to turn off the servo lock, auto blend circuit or muting is to switch to mono. On the back panel are jacks for an oscilloscope, fixed and variable outputs, a variable output level knob and a 75 μS/25 μS de-emphasis switch.

Our panelist Jim tried to enter a KT-1000 in a Shootout but it failed its physical: "I had problems with this tuner from the start. I have a rule that a known 'sick' tuner can't be in a Shootout. Either this one needs repair, or Kenwood slipped up on this design. The KT-1000 has a so-called 'touch sensor servo lock' that is supposed to disable when you touch the tuning dial. At least on this piece, it does not. I've been inside this tuner twice. Cleaning the tuning caps, tightening screws, and working and cleaning the switches. Nothing helped with these simple attempts. The servo lock doesn't disable correctly when I push the "LOCK AUTO BLEND MUTING" button either. As a matter of fact, you can try and tune off a station and the active servo lock will aggressively hold the same station for over an inch of dial pointer travel. Very frustrating. I thought this tuner might sound like the L-02T, because they have a similar look and style, but it does not. On a first listen, it has more bass punch than the KT-815 or KT-7500, but on extended listening I just wasn't happy with the sound. The whole sound was lighter and somewhat brighter than the L-02T. The audio op-amps are listed on the KT-1000's board as IC18 and 19 and are 4557s. These could easily be upgraded to my fave OPA2604s, but I doubt it would help much. The circuit contains three more 4557s marked as IC 21, 22 and 23 and are used as part of an 'active low pass filter' network. The signal also goes through RL1, a mechanical muting relay. I'll leave this tuner to be upgraded by the more inspired among the DIYers. I can't recommend it to any of our readers." Our panelist Eric owned a KT-1000 for awhile and had no trouble disabling the servo lock, so Jim's sample apparently did have a problem, but anyone considering buying a KT-1000 should be careful because we don't know how common the problem is. The KT-1000 is scarce and usually sells for $110-175 on eBay, but one went for just $81 in 11/05. Here's a nice photo of the Japanese version, the Trio KT-1000.

Kenwood KT-1100 (1983, silver, black)
The KT-1100, which somewhat resembles the KT-1000, is believed to have been originally sold only in Europe and Japan. The KT-1100 has 5 gangs for FM and 4 ceramic filters, and 3 gangs for AM. Our contributor Peter tells us: "Looking at the schematics, the circuitry is fairly advanced. More functions are implemented using integrated circuits than in the KT-917, like the pulse count detector and sample-and-hold stereo decoder (which samples at four different phase angles). Audio low pass filters are Sallen-Key filters using op-amps, and not any LC filters. As usual, several capacitors and op-amps in the audio path should be replaced and the path simplified or shortened. The wide IF mode uses two identical ceramic filters, and in the narrow mode two more filters are added (another type with narrow bandwidth). All the ceramic filters should be easily replaceable. The tuner's sensitivity is among the very best, the selectivity is good in the narrow setting and very wide in the wide setting. The frequency counter is helpful but could use some trimming to be optimized. For a non-modified unit, the audio is smooth and 3-dimensional with promising low-level resolution, but compared to my modified KT-917, there is some treble smearing, most likely due to the less than optimum capacitors in the audio path and phase shift from the low-pass filters. Bass is rather OK, but could benefit from more dynamics and extension. One positive surprise is the AM section, which clearly has more than average sensitivity, and if the signal is good enough, selectable IF bandwidth and usable AM tuning meter (like the Sansui TU-X1) which adds to the usual signal level meter. The KT-1100 is a completely different tuner than the KT-1100SD, of which I have a modified unit." Our contributor Stephan reports that two "MX" ceramic filters (250 kHz GDT) are used in Wide mode and two "J" filters (150 kHz) are added for Narrow. The KT-1100 is fairly common on eBay-Germany but very rare on eBay-U.S., where it sells for $125 or higher ($190 in 10/08). See how one KT-1100 sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page.

Kenwood KT-1100SD (1985)
The KT-1100SD is believed to be identical to the KT-3030, but with back-panel switches to change the voltage (120-220-240), channel spacing (50 or 100 kHz) and de-emphasis (50 μS or 75 μS). Also on the back panel are RCA variable outputs and an output level control, multipath outputs (horizontal and vertical) for an oscilloscope, and a 75-Ohm antenna jack. Front-panel controls include a slider for wide and narrow IF bandwidths, record calibration tone, modulation meter control, and local/distant signal button. There are gold-plated RCA outputs on the front as well. According to our contributor Peter, the KT-1100SD has a 5-gang varicap quartz synthesizer and tunes in 50 kHz steps. It has 5 180 kHz ceramic IF filters which are easily replaced (Peter suggests 230-230-150-150-110), and 4 different IF bandwidth settings. Much can be done to clean up the audio, like a better filter for the varicap control voltage, eliminating the "distortion canceling" circuit, and using better op-amps (including the feedback loop of the detector) and capacitors in the audio signal path. Actually, it is possible to eliminate all coupling capacitors in the KT1100SD, making it DC-coupled from detector to output. "Flywheel tuning" can be arranged by modifying the mechanics of the tuning knob. Also, the muting-while-tuning should be disabled. The modulation bar graph display can be modified to show multipath level as a switchable alternative. Before modification, Peter ranks the KT-1100SD just below the Kenwood KT-8300, but after modification it improves a lot in both audio quality and DX capability and will, in some respects, outperform an unmodified KT-917. Our DIY Mods page has more of Peter's suggested mods. Peter notes that there is also a tuner called the KT-1100D, "which looks almost like the KT-1100SD, but with AM added and with smaller buttons. I recently had the opportunity to have a look at its schematics and, generally speaking, the FM circuitry is less sophisticated than the KT-1100SD's but with some similarities." The KT-1100SD is very rare on eBay-U.S. and could sell for $88 (in 6/05), $213 (in 1/05), or anywhere in between ($101 in 2/08), but it's usually found at the low end of that range on eBay-Germany.

Kenwood KT-1300B ,
Kenwood KT-1300G (1975, $140)
Kenwood KT-2001 (1971, $120/orig $100) and KT-2001A (1974, $120)
The KT-1300B, KT-1300G, KT-2001 and KT-2001A are crummy old budget tuners that are probably not even worth what you'd pay to have someone ship them. With so many decent Kenwoods available dirt cheap, why bother with these? The only reason we're even listing them is that we're tired of seeing eBay sellers call them "rare" just because they weren't listed on this site. "Rare" does not mean "good." The KT-2001 and KT-2001A had an astoundingly poor capture ratio of 4 dB, but what do you expect for tuners that sold for $120 when new?

Kenwood KT-2200
If you have any information on this mysterious tuner, which may have been sold only in Japan, please post it in our FMtuners group.

Kenwood KT-3030 (1984)
This digital so-called "Direct Linear Loop Detector Super Synthesizer FM Tuner" may have been sold only in Japan. It has 5 gangs, decent specs and wide and narrow IF bandwidth settings. Here's an inside photo of the KT-3030, which our contributor Peter believes is identical to the KT-1100SD.

Kenwood KT-3050 (1993, $269)
The rare KT-3050 uses the same MPX chip (Sanyo LA3401) and output amplifier (NJM4560) as the KT-5020. The KT-3050 also has the same usable sensitivity spec as the KT-5020, although some of its other specs fall short. The KT-3050 has wide and narrow IF band settings and an active reception circuit that automatically detects the best setting of the IF band and stereo/mono switch, and preset stations can be given names. There are switches on the KT-3050's rear panel for voltage, channel spacing, and de-emphasis adjustments. A KT-3050 sold for $90 on eBay in 7/05, and one with cosmetic issues went for $168 in 6/06. Our contributor Greg reports: "My KT-3050 is the North American version -- it doesn't have selectable AC mains voltage nor de-emphasis. My KT-5020 is the worldwide version, with rear panel selectable AC mains, de-emphasis, and AM and FM channel spacing. I compared both tuners to a high-quality FM source (HDCD, EAD T-7000 transport, Threshold DAC2 digital processor) via a commercial FM broadcast setup (Orban, 'proof' mode, no processing). Both tuners were stock, no mods. Disclaimer: Your mileage might vary due to differences between production runs of these tuners, differences in your preamp input impedance, other HiFi system differences, FM radio station differences, etc. Here are my findings by category:

HF Extension and Soundstage
Both tuners are excellent and sound extremely similar to the source. Both tuners have better HF extension than do most tuners I've tried. Both tuners fall just a touch (ever so slightly) short of the original CD's HF extension, but both tuners impart an open, free soundstage - not at all veiled nor rolled-off.

Timbre
KT-3050 - identical to source except slight emphasis of the mids/upper mids (but the difference is so slight that I doubt most people will detect it).
KT-5020 - identical to source except slight loss of lower mids and bass. Here's more from Greg:

Tuning and Stereo/Mono Modes
KT-3050 - Traditional tuning knob. In Auto mode, the tuner seeks the next higher or lower valid signal; in Manual mode, the tuner increments up or down one step size. Has a independent Mono button, so you can force mono for any reason. Very handy. Note: the tuner stays in this mode whether tuned via Auto or Manual.
KT-5020 - Up/down arrow buttons. Same Auto and Manual features as KT-3050, but doesn't have a independent Mono switch, so the tuner switches to Stereo mode for Auto tuning and Mono in Manual tuning. This creates one additional step for each new tuned station for those wanting to surf stereo stations via the Manual tuned mode.

Stereo Decode Thresholds
KT-3050 - Stereo light turns on at 16 dBf; stereo decode occurs at 21 dBf.
KT-5020 - Stereo light turns on at 28 dBf; stereo decode occurs at 44 dBf.

Harmonic Distortion (for 1 kHz fundamental, 100% modulation)
KT-3050 - 2nd -48 dB, 3rd <-70, 5th <-70
KT-5020 - 2nd -64 dB, 3rd <-70, 5th <-70

Stereo Separation
The KT-5020's was consistently better; for example, 59 dB at 1 kHz vs. 50 dB for the KT-3050. See Greg's original post in our FMtuners group for the measurements.

Channel Balance
KT-3050 -.03 dB
KT-5020 -.05 dB

Static Frequency Response
See Greg's FMtuners post for the measurements.

Sensitivity, Selectivity and Quieting
(Real-world, subjective test only) Sensitivity, selectivity and quieting are nearly identical for both tuners, as observed when I tuned in weak, distant first and second adjacents close to strong, local stations.

Intermod susceptibility
The KT-3050 is more susceptible to high-RF intermod interference by 10 dB for distant, weak 105.1 MHz station.
The KT-5020 is more susceptible to high-RF intermod interference by 10 dB for distant, weak 94.7 MHz station.

So it's a mixed bag regarding intermod susceptibility, and I can't declare an overall 'winner.' I would say that both these tuners are fine candidates for either using in stock form, or for audiophile upgrades per Jim's second-round upgrade of a KT-5020." Our contributor Ray D. adds, "The KT-3050 did not do noticeably better than good budget models like the KT-880D or Sansui TU-S77X for DXing, so I decided it was nothing special and put it aside. After the positive addition to the TIC writeup I thought it might be worth selling since it did not really do anything special for me. It took me quite a while to get around to pulling it out and checking to make sure I did not end up with an irate buyer should something have gone wrong with it while it was idle. I hooked up the Silver Ribbon antenna and fed it in to the Cyrus system and gave it a listen. What the BLEEP! This thing sounds great. Not great 'for a digital' but just plain great. Dynamic, harmonically rich, detailed, delicate highs, tuneful bass. This setup does not allow me to judge the soundstage one way or the other. Just to get a reality check I played it for a couple of friends who have good systems (one has some 3a speakers with Linn electronics and the other some Stax and Proacs) and both were stunned. I brought out my Yamaha CT-1010, which sounds amazing when it can actually find a station, and it was no contest, 3050 all the way. So now I can surmise that this tuner needs at least a decent signal to distinguish itself from the good budget models. I thought the hoopla around the KT-5020/KT-3050 was overblown, but it appears I might have been quite wrong."

Kenwood KT-3300D (1987, $525, block diagram, detector/MPX scheme: PLL detector, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th composite distortion generators with analog multipliers)
David Rich offers this analysis of the KT-3300D: "Pot adjustments subtract these internally generated distortion components from the composite using trim pots (separate pots for stereo and mono). This approach does not appear to be very helpful since it is not temperature compensated and is likely to go out of adjustment quickly, but I could be wrong about this. This circuit is how Kenwood reports such low THDs. It is easy to rip out of the unit if this is desired. The KT-3300D has a true analog multiplier based MPX. The pure sine wave 38 kHz needed for this approach is generated from IC based MPX (AN7418)." The FM-only KT-3300D tunes in increments of .05 MHz and has 16 presets, multipath output jacks and a recording calibration switch. Our panelist Jim shares lots more technical info and describes the KT-3300D's controls on our Shootouts page, where you can also see how one KT-3300D sounded in comparison to other top tuners. The KT-3300D is extremely rare (one or two per year on eBay) and can sell for $110-210.

Kenwood KT-3500 (1970, $120)
The KT-3500 is an old bottom-of-the line tuner that we might pay $5-10 for, just for curiosity. A KT-3500 with a wooden cabinet sold for $76 on eBay in 8/06.

Kenwood KT-4005 (1972, $190)
The 3-gang KT-4005 is the baby brother of the KT-8005 and KT-6005. It usually sells for $10-40 on eBay, but one went for $1.00 in 12/07 and another for $90 in 7/08.

Kenwood KT-4007 (1974, $230)
The 3-gang KT-4007 is the baby brother of the KT-8007 and KT-6007. It usually sells for $15-40 on eBay.

Kenwood KT-5000 (1972, $180)
Here's another example of how "rare" does not always mean "good." This scarce tuner had decent sensitivity but was the bottom-of-the-line sibling of the KT-7000. Since the KT-7000, a fairly decent tuner when in good condition, can often be found for $25 or less on eBay, we don't see why anyone would pay more than $10 for a KT-5000, but someone did pay $31 in 5/07.

Kenwood KT-5020 (1990, $269)
The KT-5020 is an unassuming black digital tuner that, amazingly enough, has sound quality that many believe challenges that of the all-time best tuners. Our contributor Bill Ammons tested quieting, separation and distortion on an unmodified KT-5020 and exclaimed, "Holy potatoes, this is a sleeper!" Our panelist Jim provides lots of technical and operational info on the KT-5020 on our Shootouts page, where you can also see how one KT-5020 sounded in comparison to other top tuners. Our contributor Hank B., who owns many top tuners, chimes in: "Jim, skeptic and tin ear that I am, I had to go reread your Shootout on this fellow before committing my admittedly short-term listening impressions to paper. Suffice it to say that stunned hardly describes my reaction. Without exception, this guy excels in every realm that for my purposes is important: 1- Within literally five minutes it was obvious that its sensitivity elevated it to within the top four tuners I own; 2- Its selectivity in its unmodified and unaligned state is magnificent; 3- Though I've neither the test equipment nor the expertise to verify the operation of the multiplex demodulator or the audio section, my ears tell me that if they're not perfect, they're mighty damned close. The soundstage has the spaciousness of a good concert venue a la Carnegie Hall or the Boston Symphony Hall and the sound itself is seductively natural and lifelike; and 4- My personal 'acid test' is long-term listening and this, for me, is what ultimately separates the men from the boys. Many a fine tuner which excels in one or another realm has had its mask ripped off here. Not this Kenwood. The biggest problem I encountered was trying to keep myself listening to the tuner and not the music--it's really that good. And I don't know if all 5020s are like this one, but in it I can hear absolutely no difference in audio quality between the 'Wide' and 'Narrow' modes. How many tuners do you know of that can make that claim?"

Our contributors Tim and Ann write, "We found a KT-5020 in a pawn shop two weeks ago. We happened to have a stock McIntosh MR 78, fresh from a McIntosh labs alignment/refurbishment, that we borrowed from a dealer friend, so we compared the KT-5020 to the stock MR 78 and to the MR 74 we use as our standard tuner. From a sound quality perspective, the Kenwood CREAMED the MR 78 and was very close in sound quality to the MR 74. Compared to the KT-5020, the MR 78 was very two-dimensional and 'transistory' sounding on live Public Radio broadcasts. We were pretty surprised, as the KT-5020 is certainly no 'looker' and the MR 78's appearance suggests that it would eat the KT-5020's lunch, but such was not the case. Even the Narrow selectivity setting of the KT-5020 was identical, in our listening environment, to the Super Narrow setting of the MR 78, and the KT-5020 sure sounded much better in its Narrow setting than the stock MR 78 did in its Narrow or Super Narrow setting." Our panelist Eric, a longtime FM DXer, agrees that the KT-5020's sensitivity and selectivity exceed what one might expect and rival his top tuners for DXing and audio quality.

Our contributor Todd adds, "I have done some standard audiophool things to the KT-5020 (clean connectors, dampen the thin chassis, mount transformer on o-rings) but nothing electrical, and I've got to tell you that in comparison, my Magnum Dynalab FT-101A with the Signal Sleuth sounds much thinner, with less body on instruments. One could almost say 'Where did the drums and bass go?' The Kenwood's noise floor is quieter and has much better 'room feel'; with the FT-101A, the instruments sound like they are recorded in an anechoic chamber, with little reverb or depth. My comparison was done with headphones to be able to get down to the smaller details." And our contributor Greg adds, "In terms of accuracy of timbre, sound stage and HF extension, the KT-5020 certainly beats many other solid-state tuners I have. I must also agree with Jim's indirect hint that the KT-5020's bass might need to be just a touch more powerful. Like Jim says, the bass depth is there, but not quite the bass power. Of course we're not trying to imply that the KT-5020 is the equal of a L-02T, but I think the KT-5020 offers great performance for the price." See the KT-3050 entry above for more of Greg's KT-5020 findings. See the DIY Mods page for information on DIY audio section mods for the KT-5020, and read about the performance of a modded KT-5020 on the Modified Tuner Report page. Since early 2005, eBay sale prices have generally ranged from lows in the $200 area in 5/09 to a high of $504 in 1/08. Exceptions include one that sold for $103 in 11/08 for no discernible reason, a misguided $49 "Buy-It-Now" in 12/08, and one that sold for $710 in 4/06 when two lunatics ran the price up from $421. That is just plain ridiculous.

Kenwood KT-5300 (1977, $140)
A very common bare-bones tuner that might be OK for those on a budget, the KT-5300 has 3 gangs and 2 ceramic filters. It has a center-tuning meter but no signal level meter. The KT-5300 is not very sensitive in stock form because it has no IF amplification, and would have to be partially taken apart to access the circuit board for mods. Our contributor Brian Beezley was pleasantly surprised by his: "These simple tuners work amazingly well. This thing has just two chips in the FM strip and a few transistors elsewhere. I was hearing all kinds of stations while I was aligning it (the downside of living on a hilltop). It seems to work great, even on AM. (Don't want to spoil my fun and actually measure a sensitivity number, and no fair listening next to a loud local.) Lots of fun for a $5 garage sale item." The KT-5300 usually sells for $10-30 or so on eBay, with an all-time low of $1.30 in 4/05 and record highs of $81 in 5/09, $80 in 12/07 for one with rack handles, and $101 in 8/08 as two bidders dueled to get one with a wooden cabinet. [EF]

Kenwood KT-5500 (1978, $175)
The KT-5500, apparently an improvement over the KT-5300 at the bottom of the line, also has 3 gangs and 2 ceramic filters. The KT-5500 has signal level and center tuning meters and an IF amplifer that improves sensitivity. Our contributor Bill Ammons says the KT-5500 is a favorite of his because it is inexpensive and easy to modify or service, and gives excellent performance when modified. See the DIY Mods page for information on DIY audio section mods for the KT-5500. The KT-5500 usually sells for $20-40 on eBay, but up to $60-70 is possible for mint ones and the all-time high was a bizarre $117 in 12/05. See our Kenwood brochures page for more about the KT-5500.

Kenwood KT-5550 (1978)
This very rare tuner is the same as the KT-5500, but with a dark gray face. It only shows up about once a year on eBay and sells for $40 or less.

Kenwood KT-6005 (1972, $290)
The little brother of the KT-8005, the KT-6005 uses all discrete circuitry and some say it sounds great. The KT-6005 has 4 FM gangs and 3 AM gangs and is reasonably sensitive, but it has a single IF bandwidth and is not very selective in stock form. The KT-6005 has one ceramic filter, one metal-can LC filter, and a tuned IF stage, so it should not be considered an easy filter mod candidate. The KT-6005 usually sells for $30-60 on eBay. In 3/05, an eBay seller called "oddstuff!" put up a ridiculously hyped auction listing that called the KT-6005, among other things, "Unique Rare Collectors Grade," "Best tuner they made!" and "The ultimate tuner of tuners!" It seemed that potential buyers were offended by the hyperbole and it was quite satisfying to watch that KT-6005 sell for an all-time low of $10.50 (if you can't trust an eBay seller, don't bid!).

Kenwood KT-6007 (1974, $320)
The little brother of the top-of-the-line KT-8007 is a good-sounding tuner in its own right. The KT-6007 has 4 gangs, but its sensitivity is only "OK." It does have some of the same nice features as the KT-8007, including a variable output knob, combination signal strength/multipath/deviation meter and FM MPX filter button on the front panel, and scope output jacks on the back panel, but the KT-6007 lacks a headphone output and has only one level of muting. The KT-6007's adjacent channel selectivity is mediocre in stock form because it uses only one Taiyo Yuden Co. LC filter and one strange green 3-pin filter (not a Murata or Toko). One KT-6007 sold for a too-high $125 on eBay in 9/03, but most sell for $30-70.

Kenwood KT-6040
We think the very rare KT-6040 was sold only in Europe and Asia. Finding one on eBay-U.S. will be tough, because we've only seen a couple for sale in many years (one sold for $265 in 6/09). Our contributor Jeroen reports: "The KT-6040 was the successor of the KT-7020, which was the higher model of the KT-5020. The 6040 is an excellent tuner and, as mentioned by someone else, a sleeper. It is, IMHO, superior to both the 5020 and the 7020, with the 7020 being superior to the 5020. I've checked the schematics of the KT-5020 and the KT-6040, and I see many differences. The 6040 has 5 gangs (I think), 8 ceramic filters and 3 IC filters, and the distortion cancelling circuit is much more complicated. Also the MPX chip is better in the 6040 (LA3450) then in the 5020 (LA3401). The 5020 has a combined AM/FM IF IC (LA1266), while the 6040 uses seperate IC's (LA1235 and LA1245). The KT-6040 is a new design, stepping away from both the KT-5020 and the KT-7020/KT-990D." Our contributor Rudy adds, "I also recently owned the KT-6040 and it's a definite sleeper. In stock form, it's already excellent for both sonic and DX performance. This should be a top-rated digital tuner, on par with the Yamaha T-85." And our contributor Sinan says, "I never heard a tuner with a better S/N ratio! Also extremely low distortion with an amazingly quiet background, but the Sony ST-S555ES has the edge in detail and stage width/depth."

Kenwood KT-6500 (1978, $200)
The KT-6500 was a new addition to Kenwood's 5500/6500/7500 line (there was no equivalent model in their 5300/7300/8300 line). Some say it sounds great, but only has 3 gangs and 3 filters so it'll never equal a KT-7500 even if modified. The KT-6500 can sell on eBay for as low as $20 or so (with record lows of $10 in 7/06 and 5/07) or as high as $90, but usually $35-60. Note: it is possible to buy a KT-6500 cheaply and use its wooden cabinet for a KT-7500. See our Kenwood brochures page for more about the KT-6500. See our DIY Mods page for a writeup and photo of a KT-6500 modified with a tube output. The Trio KT-6100 (photo, closeup, back), which tunes the Japanese 76-90 MHz FM band, is cosmetically identical to the KT-6500.

Kenwood KT-6550 (1978, photo, service manual, circuit board, schematic)
This very rare tuner is the same as the KT-6500, but with a "gun-metal" color front panel. Typical sale prices on eBay are about the same as for the KT-6500, and one KT-6550 even went for $14 in 9/04 "as is."

Kenwood KT-7000 (1970, $250)
and
Kenwood KT-7001 (1971, $310/orig $280)
These clunky-looking 4-gang tuners reportedly sound good but don't quite match the performance (or looks) of most of Kenwood's later tuners. They are also very likely to need at least an alignment, and perhaps repair as well, when found on eBay. Both have variable output knobs on the front panel, and the KT-7001 has two levels of muting. The KT-7001 claims "4 crystal filters." On the back panel, the KT-7001 has one set of RCA jacks for an oscilloscope and another pair to connect a tape deck (we haven't checked the back panel of a KT-7000). Our contributor Paul Bigelow finds the "humble" KT-7001 one of his most interesting tuners: "It is early '70s solid state, 4 gangs, and has a mix of *crystal* and LC IF filters and a totally discrete MPX and output stage. It really is a reality check: it doesn't have 'stock' (chip) IF, MPX and output stages which, I feel, can generate a certain amount of 'sameness' among tuners. The KT-7001 is very much a statement unto itself and I think it sounds very, very good. It's not an RF champ but its sensitivity is so great that only a small antenna is needed and that's the secret to using this tuner (at least in a semi-urban environment): keep the antenna short and it will still pick up the weaker stations and not fill the noise floor with the trash from images." The KT-7000 usually sells for just $10-50 on eBay (one even went for $1.00 in 11/08); the KT-7001 usually goes for $30-75, with recent highs of $139 in 5/07 for one with upgrades and $130 in 3/08 for a mint one.

Kenwood KT-7020 (1990, photo, German info sheet)
You can search, but you're not likely to find this big brother of the renowned KT-5020 on eBay (U.S.) because it was sold only in Europe and Asia. Our contributor Fabio says, "The circuit of the KT-7020 compared to the KT-5020 seems quite more complicated with the distortion canceler circuits, discrete components MUX (multiplier, op-amps, etc.)." Our contributor Jeroen adds, "Strangely enough, under the hood the KT-7020 is the same as the KT-990D. I own both the 990D and the 7020 and the PCBs are exactly the same with exactly the same components. My hypothesis is that the design of the KT-6040 was meant to be for the KT-7020, but it somehow got delayed and due to time constraints they took the design of the 990D and used it for the 7020."

Kenwood KT-7300 (1977, $260, photo, schematic)
The KT-7300 is a solidly built tuner that weighs a ton, and the consensus is that it has excellent sound. With 4 gangs and 3 280 kHz (wide) filters in stock form, the KT-7300 has the potential to be a decent tuner for DXing (but not as good as a modified KT-7500) when tuned up and modified with narrow filters. The KT-7300 has one IF gain stage and there is easy access to the circuit board for mods. Our contributor Bill Ammons reports that it is a great tuner for weak-signal areas but not as good a performer where there are a number of strong signals. See Bob's Filter Corner for a description of Bill's PCB filter mod, see the DIY Mods page for information on DIY audio section and power supply mods for the KT-7300, and read about the performance of a modded KT-7300 on the Modified Tuner Report page. The KT-7300 is virtually identical, cosmetically, to the KT-7500, even though it's not even close to the same tuner electronically. It has a variable output level knob on the front panel, plus an FM MPX filter and separate muting and auto/mono switches. On the back panel are jacks for an oscilloscope, a 75 μS/25 μS de-emphasis switch and an FM detector output jack. See how one KT-7300 sounded compared to many top tuners on our Shootouts page. The KT-7300 can usually be bought for $35-75 on eBay (with occasional lows of under $20), but much higher is possible: $172 for one with a manual in 4/07 and $128 for a mint one in 12/07. [EF]

Kenwood KT-7500 (1978, $310, photo1, photo2, service manual, schematic, PC board)
The KT-7500 has 5 gangs and 5 filters, with one filter being used for the wide IF bandwidth setting and 4 for narrow mode. It is a very DIY-friendly tuner and will sound terrific when its audio section is updated. It will also blow away most unmodified tuners (at any price) for DXing with a few narrow filters installed. The KT-7500 has a variable output level knob on the front panel, plus an FM MPX filter and separate muting and auto/mono switches. On the back panel are jacks for an oscilloscope and a 75 μS/25 μS de-emphasis switch. The KT-7500 usually sells for $60-100 on eBay without a wooden cabinet (with a low of $31 in 8/06 and recent highs of $187 and $201 in 11/06 for mint ones), or up to $125-150 with a cabinet. Two KT-7500s with DIY audio section and power supply mods as described on our DIY Mods page each sold for $350 in early 2002. More recently, other KT-7500s with audiophile mods have sold for $170 to as high as $305 (in 11/06). See how one stock KT-7500 sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page, read about the performance of a modded KT-7550 on the Modified Tuner Report page, and see the Kenwood brochures page for more about the KT-7500. A description and great interior photos of extensive mods to a KT-7500 can be seen on our contributor Mike B.'s website. [BF][EF][JR]

Kenwood KT-7550 (1978, photo, service manual, schematic, PC board)
This rare tuner is the same as the KT-7500, but with a bronze face. They are seen once or twice a year on eBay and usually sell for $100-125, slightly more than the average KT-7500 price (with a recent low of $58 in 1/09 for a 7550 and a high of $202 in 1/07). Our contributor Ken M., who owns several top tuners, had a chance to listen to Jim's modded KT-7550 (see the DIY Mods page for details of the mods, and read Jim's review of its performance on the Modified Tuner Report page): "I listened to the Kenwood and it's VERY impressive. Stereo separation, soundstage, highs and mids are outstanding. Especially impressive is the lack of grain in the mids and highs. The highs were very natural-sounding compared to my Sansui TU-X1, which I find to be artificial (I'd love to know whether that is just my sample or true of all the TU-X1s). Bass was there, but not with the definition, punch and dynamics of the Accuphase T-109V. My guess is, this is power supply-related. I was getting quite a bit of background noise and the KT-7550 did not have the DX capability of the Accuphase, but I think both of these were antenna-related and not tuner-related, although I used the same dipole as I used with the Accuphase." [JR]

Kenwood KT-8005 (1973, $390, photo)
The KT-8005, Kenwood's top-of-the-line tuner at the time (replaced after a year by the KT-8007), is a solidly built, 25-pound FM-AM tuner with a 5-gang, 2-FET RF front end. The KT-8005 uses two 4-stage filters, early ceramic type, in small metal boxes labeled "MuRata Ceramic Filter" on the top. Each of these filters is equivalent to two modern 3-pin ceramic filters. The specs in the owner's manual say 100dB alternate channel selectivity and it performs like it, with excellent selectivity as well as sensitivity. Instead of a chip, the MPX section consumes an entire board of discrete components. The audio output stage is also all discrete transistors, and many feel that the sound, when the tuner is properly serviced and aligned, is wonderful. Our panelist Jim, who admits to a prejudice against early transistor designs, says, "It was interesting to have this two-tone tuner on my shelf. I see the common heritage of the silver and bronze Kenwood tuners that came later." This tuner, like any other 30-year-old piece of equipment, is unlikely to be in perfect shape as found on eBay, so anyone considering buying a KT-8005 should either check it out first or budget some money to have it aligned. But our panelist Bob adds, "The 8005 and 8007 seem a lot better [when in typical 'as found' condition] than the earlier KT-7000 and KT-7001, which seem to need parts/repair to work well, rather than just an alignment." See the KT-8007 writeup below for more of Bob's comments on the KT-8005. The KT-8005 usually sells for $50-130 on eBay, with an all-time high of $290 (with manuals) in 9/04. A KT-8005 sold for just $12 on eBay in 6/06, perhaps because the seller annoyed potential bidders with his inflated $40.00 shipping charge. [BF][JR]

Kenwood KT-8007 (1974, $420, photo)
The KT-8007 was Kenwood's top-of-the-line unit produced just after the KT-8005 and right before the KT-8300. It was the first Kenwood with a deviation meter that would also be standard on later top models like the KT-8300, 600T and KT-917. The differences from the KT-8005 are in the MPX circuit: the KT-8007 uses a chip based HA1156, while the KT-8005 uses an all discrete MPX board. Other than that, they are very similar in appearance, features, and function. The KT-8007 has a 5-gang front end, 2 4-stage ceramic filters (equivalent to 4 modern 3-pin filters), and a discrete output stage that combine to make one of the best-sounding tuners around. Our panelist Bob recommends the KT-8007 for "deep bass, extended highs, and a very clean midrange that has an incredible sound on uncompressed jazz and classical music." Another contributor agrees, telling us that his KT-8007 has exceptional sensitivity and a warm sound that he prefers to that of all his other tuners, including the 600T! Bob adds, "The MPX chip in the KT-8007 makes it much less likely than the KT-8005 to go out of alignment in a way that disturbs the audio sound. In a nutshell, the KT-8007 is more reliable, and is similar in many ways inside to the KT-8300, except that the 8007 still has the single IF path. Of course, it looks nothing like the 8300, cosmetically. The board of discrete MPX stuff in the KT-8005 has a much higher drift rate over a long time, whereas the chip in the KT-8007 basically never needs alignment." A bit of trivia: the KT-8007 uses basically the same tuning knob and selector buttons as the 600T, with a combination signal strength/multipath/deviation meter, variable output knob, muting off/level 1/level 2 switch and FM MPX filter. The KT-8007 also adds a front-panel headphone jack, which the 600T does not have. It also has scope output jacks on the back panel. The KT-8007 usually sells for $175-280 on eBay, with a low of $80 in 11/04, a recent high of $313 in 2/08, and a nutty all-time high of $461 in 1/06 as two guys ran the price up from $222. Bear in mind that the 8007's little brother, the KT-6007 (see above), sells for well under $100. [BF]

Kenwood KT-8155 (1979) (schematic)
The KT-8155 is the extremely rare dark-gray version of the KT-815. The only one seen on eBay in the past several years sold for $130 in 3/04.

Kenwood KT-8300 (1976, $380, photo, inside, owner's manual, service manual, audio section 1, audio section 2, RF section)
The KT-8300 was a great tuner when new, very sensitive and selective even in stock form. It has the classic Kenwood silver-faced styling (the "gun-metal" gray-faced version of the KT-8300 is the KT-9900), a powerful front end with a 6-gang tuning capacitor, and the potential for top-quality sound after an alignment. The KT-8300's front-panel features include a button to switch the combination multipath/deviation meter, a wide/narrow IF bandwidth button, MPX filter switch, variable output knob and two levels of muting (or muting off). On the back panel, there are fixed and variable RCA outputs, scope outputs, a 75 μS/25 μS FM de-emphasis switch and a dimmer on/off switch. Inside, you'll find two independent filter paths, very much like a 600T (which it somewhat resembles) but without the "middle" path. The KT-8300 uses two 4-pole linear phase LC filters for the wide IF bandwidth setting and three 4-element ceramic filters for narrow mode, rather than the modern 3-pin type. See how one stock KT-8300 sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page. See the 600T vs. KT-917 page for Bob's quick comparison between the 600T and the KT-8300, and see our Kenwood brochures page for more about the KT-8300. In our FMtuners group, our contributor Ryan C. tells how audiophile mods transformed his KT-8300. A description and great interior photos of extensive mods to a KT-8300 can be seen on our contributor Mike B.'s website. Our panelist Ray "had to play some DX games with the KT-8300 vs. the Pioneer TX-9800 and Optonica ST-7405. The TX-9800 won the pure sensitivity challenge, but not by as much as with most. When I tested them for adjacent-channel performance, the TX-9800 and KT-8300 could both ignore the adjacent, but the ST-7405 had lots of interfering hash." The KT-8300 usually sells for $150-300 on eBay but up to $400+ is possible for a nice one. The recent low was $122 in 8/09 and the all-time high was a stunning $610 in 4/04 for a mint one with manuals. [BF][EF][JR]

Kenwood KT-9900 (1977 or 1978, photo)
Believed to have been sold only in Europe, the KT-9900 is identical to the KT-8300 in every way except for the 9900's worldwide voltage capability and the color of its front panel, which can be either bronze or "gun-metal" (a metallic medium gray). The KT-9900 and KT-8300 share the same owner's and service manuals and the circuit boards appear to be as identical as the front panel controls are. Our contributor Jeff R. did a shootout: "After a few months, we have decided that our KT-9900 is a better-sounding tuner, by a slim margin, than our Sansui TU-717 in our system. I have no way, either by instruments or knowledge of the use of any instruments, to prove that either tuner is operating at peak performance. Except for LED lamps, they are as-found, likely stock tuners. Also our preference of the KT-9900 over the TU-717 has nothing to with the Sansui not sounding good -- it does sound great. When I flip the switch from 1 to 2 and 2 to 1, we all agree the Kenwood has more of a depth of sound. I am not sure what that is called, imaging maybe? There is just something more going on, more like the band is in the room somewhat at various places or centered at different times. The Sansui doesn't seem to do this quite as well, and doesn't seem to expand the sound as deep. The Kenwood seems much more sensitive to antenna aiming. I couldn't tell you which is more selective. I live in a hole here in Tulsa, surrounded by stations, and they are all uphill, or over the hill. Having said all that, once either finds another station, the other will tune right into to it, and usually not much differance, other than the quality of the 'soundstage,' imaging, or whatever that depth quality is called. I never recall being able to say this one got 100.5 in OKC and that one didn't. They both did, but neither was very listeneable. The one thing that throws it all off for fair is I do not have a dB meter to set the outputs of both tuners the same for a certain volume setting on my preamp. Dialing the Sansui up a bit always seems to catch it up, very close, to the Kenwood sound, but the KT-9900 always has room to go. Again I wouldn't say anything bad about the Sansui, we just think we hear more with the Kenwood. It hasn't one thing to do with measuring anything objectively. Three of us hear it the same, just our humble ears' opinions."

Our contributor Dave N. did a similar comparison and agreed with Jeff's conclusion, while Hank A.'s personal shootout came out the other way, and our contributor doug s. says that his KT-9900 was "one of only a few out of more than 100 tunas I have sampled over the years that I found lacking in soundstage depth enough that I wouldn't want it for serious music listening. It was not refurb'd, but it worked fine - excellent reception." KT-9900s often sell for slightly more than KT-8300s on eBay, with a low of $204 in 3/05, a recent high of $353 in 1/09, and an all-time high of $510 in 5/04. To add to the confusion, there's a silver-faced KT-9900 that was sold under the Trio brand name (see the Trio listing).

Kenwood L-01T (1980, photo)
The L-01T is a very rare FM-only tuner that is seldom offered for sale in the U.S. Our panelist Jim was lucky to have a chance to play with one: "The inside of the L-01T is amazing, with two potted transformers and 3 full wave bridge rectifiers for 3 totally separate regulated supplies. The first, +12V, feeds the first oscillator circuit (assumed to be the local oscillator feeding the mixer), a dedicated supply back to the transformer for the ultimate in LO stability. The second and third, fed by the other transformer, has separate windings for the MPX/audio section (+/- 16 volts) and the +14 volts for the front-end IF section. This very healthy power supply sits on its own board. There is a pivoting arm for the dial pointer wires to move freely. There are 7 gangs in the front end, as follows: antenna in, switch, single tuned gang, double diffused MOSFET gain stage, single tuned gang, JFET buffer/follower, switch, triple tuned 3-gang section, transformer coupled into a balanced mixer. The switch, not seen before in any high-end Kenwood tuner, allows bypassing the first 2 gangs and the MOSFET gain stage for less front-end intermodulation (IM) distortion with high input signal levels. Finally, two gangs are used in the local oscillator, which is buffered and also includes a touch switch controlled varactor-tuned feedback stage from an IF IC, looking very similar to the KT-917's distortion reduction circuit. I only see 4 filters but the block diagram shows them as 'either/or' in filter selection. The detector is the Kenwood pulse count detector, and the MPX decoder is the sample-and-hold switching type, again, very similar, if not identical, to the one in the KT-917. The top and sides are well done plywood and plastic. The bottom is fiberboard with plastic or aluminum sides. The framework supporting the circuit boards and FM front end is either copper or copper-coated aluminum. The only steel I found was the potted transformer cans, screws and the tuning dial balance wheel. Kenwood was VERY serious about non-magnetic influences inside this baby. If I owned this work of art, I would replace all the steel screws with brass screws and change out the resistors with steel end caps in the audio stage, put in new audio caps, sit down and listen to music. The sound is pretty good, stock, with better-than-average bass and a good midrange, but more than necessary sibilance in the highs."

Our panelist David "A" adds, "I learned that the L-01T was actually made in two distinctly different versions. The early European tuners, serial nos. E #00800001 through E #00800071, had a substantially better second oscillator/mixer that performed significantly better than the one in the other version of the tuner. I think that this may account for some of the disagreement between owners of this tuner. European units in this range can be expected to sound better because the better dual conversion circuitry (2.4 MHz vs. 400 kHz) allows the pulse count detector to do a better job. I suspect that the tuner in Jim's Shootout is not from this range of units or it would have likely placed higher. I would expect the sonic difference to affect the imaging, frequency extremes and depth perspective." Here is an interesting review of the L-01T, and read our panelist David "A"'s Ricochet. Three L-01Ts sold on eBay for $1,200-1,625 in 3-7/03, and others went for $861 (eBay-Germany) in 10/04, $1,000 in 11/04, $895 in 2/05, $1,500 in 1/06 and $1,077 in 10/06. An early European L-01T with a low serial number went for a breathtaking $1,800 in 7/05. [DA][JR]

Kenwood L-02T (1982, $3,000/orig $1,800, photo1, photo2, inside, front AGC, Hi-Fi News review, detector/MPX scheme: active IF, PLL detector, first order sample and hold, MPX PLL generated 38k with TR7040 chip)
The solidly built FM-only L-02T has a 7-gang front end and is a phenomenal tuner. Based on a review of the schematic, David Rich had said that he would avoid the L-02T because it's "as far as you can get from the KISS ["keep it simple, stupid" -Editor] principle." However, our panelist Jim calls it "a masterpiece" that he found comparable to the McIntosh MR 78 for DXing, with better sound than the Mac. Our panelist Eric agrees that the L-02T is a dream machine in all respects from a DXing standpoint. Here's Jim's full review: "The L-02T is big, heavy and industrial-looking, a cut below analog beauties like the KT-917 or Sansui TU-717, cosmetically. Ergonomically, the knobs are a touch too shallow for ease of control. The tuning dial is only 5/8 of an inch deep and the other two round controls are only about 1/4 inch deep, compared to 1-1/4 inches deep on a KT-917, 1 inch deep on a TU-717 or 7/8 inch deep on a Kenwood KT-7500. Now for the good news: The L-02T is sonically the best stock transistor tuner I've listened to in my system. It has very good bass and a rich, full midrange, not rich or full like a tubed Mac MR 67 but a more neutral sound as you would expect from a transistor tuner. The treble isn't hot or irritating but does have some extra sibilance due to all those old electrolytics in the signal path (if I hadn't heard the difference after putting in new caps in other tuners, I wouldn't see it as a problem). The audio stage uses four 8-legged op-amps (4564 DA) supported by four 16-legged op-amps (MB84066B). I am going to guess that more care was taken aligning this tuner before market, which may partially account for the great sonics. In an A/B test, in narrow mode, the L-02T (with stock filters) matched my KT-7500 (with hand-picked narrow filters) in its ability to grab weak signals without splatter from surrounding stronger stations."

One of the L-02T's nice features is a signal strength meter that reads from 0 to 100 dB. Its tuning range goes down to an unusually low 87.4, allowing one to tune in the audio portion of TV channel 6 (at 87.75) or pirate stations transmitting below the normal FM band. Only six L-02Ts have been seen on eBay-U.S. since the end of 2001, with two of them selling for $2,551 and $3,000 (both in 2/06); and two from sellers in Hong Kong going for $3,206 in 3/06 and $1,732 in 10/06. The most recent U.S. one sold for $2,045 in 3/08. We're also aware of one that sold privately for $2,250 in 2003, but the seller was kicking himself because he got an offer of $3,000 later. The L-02A (photo1, photo2) is the amplifier that matches the L-02T. See how one L-02T sounded compared to many other top tuners on our Shootouts page, and read our panelist David "A"'s Ricochet. This site has dozens of high-resolution photos of the L-02T, inside and out, before and after mods. [DA][EF][JR]

Kenwood L-03T (1982, photo)
The 7-gang L-03T is a rare tuner that we believe was sold only in Japan. It tunes only the Japanese FM band, 76 to 90 mHz, and modifying it to tune the North American FM band would be difficult and expensive, at best. An L-03T sold for $556 on eBay-U.S. in 4/05, the first one we ever saw offered. If you have any information on the L-03T, please post it in our FMtuners group.

Kenwood L-07T (1978, $625, photo1, photo2, detector/MPX scheme: quadrature detector, charge injection cancellation discrete MPX switches, MPX PLL generated 38k with HA1156 chip)
The FM-only L-07T looks identical to the L-07TII described below, except that it's gun-metal gray in color rather than black, and its rack-mount holes are open on the outsides. Those two differences make the L-07T more "industrial-looking" than the L-07TII. We believe that the circuitry of the two tuners is mostly identical, but the L-07T uses a quadrature detector rather than the L-07TII's pulse count detector and also lacks the two extra ceramic filters that apparently run the L-07TII's meters. Here's a photo of the inside of the L-07T. Like the L-07TII, the L-07T has a 7-gang tuning capacitor and is also very sensitive and quite selective even in stock form (spec'd at 100 dB alternate channel selectivity in Narrow). Any filter modification should probably be done by a pro because the L-07T contains two Murata "Surface Acoustic Filters," specially designed by Kenwood, for the wide IF bandwidth setting and 3 older-style 4-pin ceramic filters which have 4 stages each for narrow mode. The L-07T is scarce on eBay and can sell for anywhere from $159-162 (in early 2009) to $538 (in 11/06), but $250-325 seems to be most likely. The matching amp is the L-07C. [EF]

Kenwood L-07TII (1979, $625, photo, brochure cover, brochure page1, brochure page2, with L-07CII amp, detector/MPX scheme: pulse count detector, IC based MPX HA11223)
The L-07TII is a sleek, narrow, black, rack-mount style FM-only analog tuner that looks very different from the classic silver-faced Kenwood components. It has a 7-gang tuning capacitor and two independent IF filter systems for the wide and narrow IF bandwidth settings, and is very sensitive and selective unmodified with alternate channel selectivity that exceeds 100 dB out of the box. Any filter modification should probably be done by a pro because the L-07TII contains two Murata "Surface Acoustic Filters," specially designed by Kenwood (top row in photo), for the wide IF bandwidth setting and 3 older-style 4-pin 280 kHz ceramic filters which have 4 stages each (the center one in this photo was replaced as part of a mod) for narrow mode. Our contributor Brian Beezley points out that "narrow filter replacement is easy in the L-07TII despite the stock 4-pin filters. The PCB has six holes for each filter, each set correctly spaced and wired for a pair of 3-pin filters. So you can install a total of 6 filters in narrow if you want." The two normal 3-pin, 2-stage ceramic filters (lower right in the photo) are apparently used only to run the meters and are not in the IF signal path. Here's a wider shot of the inside of the L-07TII. The L-07TII uses Kenwood's pulse count detector circuitry, like the 600T and KT-615/815/917, and sounds extremely quiet. Post-mod, it is comparable to a modified KT-8300 for DX performance, but maybe not quite as sensitive as the 600T. See how one L-07TII sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page. The L-07TII is fairly rare and usually sells for $325-400 on eBay, with highs of $620 and $661 in 7-8/03 and $620 in 2/08 for mint ones and a low of $206 in 8/07. [EF][JR]

Brian reports: "The L-07TII is the most sensitive tuner I've yet measured (50 dB quieting at 15 dBf in mono and 36.5 dBf in stereo). With its three stock 4-pin ceramic filters replaced by two new 3-pin 110s and one 150 (and 3 jumpers) in narrow, it is also the most selective (50.5 dB adjacent-channel selectivity). But on an outside antenna, the tuner had a fatal flaw: background noise on strong signals and no hint of weak signals that other tuners received clearly. This was due to front-end mixer overload. Adding AGC to the two RF amplifier stages dramatically improved performance in my high-RF location - no hint of mixer overload remained. This tuner is one of the few with a postdetection filter good enough to suppress HD Radio self-noise. You won't be annoyed by background noise due to the stereo decoder responding to HD Radio sidebands as stereo subcarrier signals. With its pulse-count detector, 1 kHz THD measured 0.03% in wide and 0.5% with the modified narrow filter. I cannot hear any difference in audio quality between the two filters. The center frequency of the surface acoustic wave filters used in wide is somewhat below 10.7 MHz. But since the detector linearity does not vary with the IF, you can tune to a slightly different frequency to center the signal in the wide IF filter. I modified the tuning-meter driver so that minimum distortion occurs in narrow when center tuned and in wide when tuned to the leftmost edge of the center tuning segment." Finally, Brian points out, "The poor intermod performance I found in actual use for the stock 7-gang L-07TII should caution against relying on a simple capacitor-gang count to estimate tuner susceptibility to signal overload."

Kenwood L-1000T (1991, $1,100, photo, front AGC, detector/MPX scheme: see David Rich's comments below)
The L-1000T is a solidly built FM-only digital tuner that was Kenwood's attempt to recapture its '70s-early '80s glory. It has a 6-gang front end, 3 IF bandwidths, and other features comparable to the Onkyo T-9090/T-9090II and Denon TU-800, but without their extreme selectivity. Our contributor Miklos gives us a tour of his L-1000T: Beautifully built, special braced chassis and a minimum of controls on the tuner itself. In the inside photo to the right is the front end, at the top are the two antenna inputs, and along the front end to the left is the IF section. On the left side is the massive PS, at the top left corner is the standby PS transformer and beside it to the right is the motor-driven output level control. The unit is big and heavy, and its footprint is a bit larger than the 600T's. All of its controls (except the standby/off, tuning and tuning mode selector) are built into the remote control. It tunes in 25 kHz steps and is very selective, in comparison to my other (unmodified) tuners." Our contributor Ed Hanlon remembers hearing about the L-1000T in 1991: "It ran very hot, and was basically a computer. I recall that you HAD to have the remote, or you couldn't use all the functions." Our contributor Jeff, who prefers the sound of his L-1000T to that of his L-07TII, confirms that the L-1000T would be almost impossible to use without the remote.

Another contributor says he owned one around 1995: "One of the most unique tuners I have ever seen or used. Very selective, but the sound was not among the best I have heard. It was about as quiet as I think a tuner can be." The L-1000T was indeed one of the quietest tuners around, and might be a world-beater for DXing with narrow filters installed. David Rich adds: "The L-1000T looks like it might be the best Kenwood ever, maybe the best tuner ever, once past the front end (the best front end is the KT-917). The L-1000T has an RF amp bypass (like the Onkyo T-9090) to reduce front end IP3 but at the cost of sensitivity. Everything in the KT-3300D but the 38kHz MPX now has dual PLLs to generate a very, very low jitter pure sine wave source to drive the analog multiplier. The L-1000T has better construction than the KT-3300D. Please note that I have never seen this thing in the flesh. I am just presenting info based on the manufacturer's specs and the schematics. If you pay a fortune for one on eBay and it turns out to be a bomb, do not blame me." See how one L-1000T sounded compared to other top tuners on our Shootouts page, and read our panelist David "A"'s Ricochet. The L-1000T is seldom seen on eBay and can sell for anywhere from $400-600, with a low of $350 in 7/03 for one without a remote and a recent high of $680 in 2/09. Kenwood is supposedly still selling the remote, for about $70.

=======================================
KT-5020 is the equal of a L-02T