Kenwood KA-5500 amplifier

Kenwood at its best. Born in 1975, so still in the glorious Trio period, the KA-5500 is the little brother of the flagship amp KA-8300. Sharing the same conception and look, we have a no-nonsense great amplifier with a thick brushed alloy front plate, big solid knobs and switches, click-dented volume and light yellow lit analog vu-meters to complete the vintage look. This example should be a 1977 one because we have the trio logo but the branding is already Kenwood.

Among the features to note, we have tape dubbing, an attenuator (useful to kill the volume when the phone rings), tone defeat, and a lovely detail: the VU sensitivity. You can have them play on the real power scale, but also limit the range to 3 watts, so at mild power they keep boucing nervously. Only visual satisfaction!

Build as a sub-DIN at 38cm wide, the internals are a model of organisation, the circuitry is clean, organized, with space to work and for the components to cool. For example the bias adjustment controls are immediately visible, on top of a circuit. All is good thick metal based hence a more than 10 kilos device at the end. A very rare but desirable option when new was the SRA-300 Rosewood cabinet, if you can find one, we put a picture below, the assembly is just gorgeous.

The internet reviews largely praise for this amp, and our sessions were as expected for a quality direct coupling amplifier of this period: warm and detailed stage, good imaging, ample dynamics. Even at high level it does not turn into an agressive box.

A natural match for a vintage system, this amplififer has lots to offer and compares well with its japan born brothers like Marantz, Sansui, Luxman… while offering a more distinctive look.