Kenwood KA-7002
(c. 1971 ?)

Big DC-coupled integrated amplifier of... 10kg - the twenty or thirty kilo monsters were for later years.

If I deciphered properly the poetic translation of this rare and undated catalog :
The differential amp stage is made around hi-temperature transistors in the first and second stages, with a Zener diode stabilizing the 1st stage, by way of 100% counter-DC current... to stabilize static mechanical charge in the loudspeakers' voice coils. As this differential amplification is also present in the DC stage, good phase characteristics are maintained et the damping factor rises to 45 (8Ohm).
The phono EQ stage is of the three-stage NF type, dervied from the circuits of the [earlier] KA-6000. The sharp 18db/octave two-position low filter uses a tantalum capacitor with 1 mA dispersion current to avoid "thumping" when switching the filter on or off.
The balance function has a "MIX" position that, when enabled, makes the sound disappear when the balance knob is tweaked to perfect stereo equivalence ; the "null balance" switch comes handy when listening to monophonic sources.
I give up trying to make sense of the description of the elaborate protection circuit -too incomprehensible to translate- but the six blue LEDS must have cost a fortune in 1971 !

The numbers to the right indicate :
1. Power block
2. Complementary-symmetry driver stage
3. Tone control block
4. 5-gang volume control
5. & 6. High & Low filter blocks
7. Switch block
8. & 9. PNP & NPN power transistors
10. Equalizing amplifier
11. Power filter for preamp section
12. Head-amp for low-level phono cartridges
13. Power filters for main amp
14. Sealed power trafo.

The mention of 4-channel compatibility (through and in/out loop) should make this rare Kenwood of unknown vintage a circa 1971 or 1972 vintage ; the layout is furthermore somewhat close to the Supreme Series which were launched in 1974, seven years after the original Supreme 1 which gave indirect birth to a concurrent brand... Accuphase !