Just picked up this Kenwood KRX-5 cassette receiver from 1982, Made In Japan, 30 WPC. Never had one, and curious what others thought of them, certainly a compromise between a cassette deck and a receiver - but has phono input and auxiliary input.

Was looking for an inexpensive project, and enjoy well-made oddball audio gear such as this. Photos are from hi-fi engine in Dutch, that’s all I could find on it - and apparently this “Casseiver” was only available from 1982 to 1984.

 

They were a low power entry level unit for young people with small pocketbooks. Not a bad unit if your expectations aren't really high.

 

Apparently there’s somewhat of a demand for big name casseivers, the Marantz 4025 from 1979 sells for over 300 on eBay. The big brother of the Kenwood I picked up had an MSRP of almost $800 in 1982. Way out of my budget back then!

 

Kenwood was pretty credible back then. I still have some eighties Kenwood pieces. Same era car stereos amps etc too.

 

Worst thing about these 80s Kenwoods is they'd produce a unit for a year or two, then not only discontinue it but parts and repair literature too.

I have a late 80s KW A/V receiver that was high zoot in its day. About 4 years ago it wouldn't turn on. I've had two competent guys look at it and neither was able to source a schematic; not even a Sam's.

I miss the thing.

 

Good point, that why when I’m looking for oddball projects like this focus on gear made in Japan. In the 70s and into the early 80s most of that stuff was so robust - and built like a tank.

Also have a few made in Korea units and they’re pretty solid, Lo-fi stuff typically was made in Taiwan, then many big names started to go to Malaysia then China. My early 90s AV Onkyo receiver was expensive new, made in Malaysia, and lasted about 15 years - versus 50 for most Made In Japan gear.

Not inclined to pay the prices of the Made in the USA gear, like early Sherwood, early Marantz, early Fisher, early HK, and McIntosh.

 

I paid a pretty penny for my Marantz receiver, but the thing is a tank. 70 lbs, 185 WPC, and with these speakers, I think I could hit the next zip code after I blew the windows out.

 

Marantz 2385 is a beast, top 10 in the power wars of the 70s. I’ve got its little brother 2238b, with wood case. Felt like I stole it from a guy who deals in locally picked audio, but paid what he asked - $80. Needed bulbs in a good cleaning but that was easy. There's a 2385 on eBay right now for 3500, seems a bit insane to me.

Hard to believe Marantz even played in the Casseiver arena for a few years, the beginning of the end of classic Marantz.