Kyocera?

[BMWCCA]

I don't know why I even bother to look at Craig's List. Perhaps it's the memory of finding my first pair of L7s, for $200 . . . three houses down the street from me! So last night I cruised through the Electronics heading and found this:

Complete working vintage Kyocera Audio System, including:- R861 Tuner/Amp- RC101 Remote Control Station- D811 Cassette Deck- DA710cx Compact Disc Player- RT102 Remote Control Unit (tuner/amp)- RT710cx Remote Control Unit (tape/cd player)Well maintained by original owner. Beautiful condition.

and shot the seller an email. About 4pm today he called my cell. I ignored it since the state listed was 3,000 miles away and I wasn't expecting any calls. But he left a voice-mail and I called him back and arranged to stop by after work.

He was a nice guy and even a past BMW owner. He was selling the system for friend who had owned it since new until she moved to a much smaller residence. They were looking to get enough to buy her a good iPod dock. Such is the state of "audio" today!

It's home now. I've not had a chance to hook it all up but the cosmetics are flawless. These have the black Lucite side panels, not the grained particle board in the others I've seen. It's beautifully built and was quite the epitome of fine industrial design twenty-five-years ago. So, any comments? Anyone happen to have the owner's manuals for this stuff? Any experience?

The only on-line source I've found claims to allow downloads only to Windows machines. Have they never heard of a PDF?

I don't have photos of my own yet but here are the highlights from the CL ad:



Here's an interesting link: http://www.classicaudio.com/forsale/...R861RC101.html

Update: Cleaned a little corrosion out of the two remote battery contacts (that was my bargaining chip during negotiation) and both are working. I've only listened to the CD with headphones but it's working perfectly and sounds fine. Anyone have any idea what the "BGM" mode is/does? Seems to be a random play of some kind or a search for the loudest passage? Can't really tell and can't find a Google reference.

[svollmer]

Good catch Phil!

I've always liked the look of Kyocera equipment, but never purchased any before they got out of the audio manufacturing business. I recall Myer-Emco, in the Washington DC metro area, used to carry their stuff and even had radio commercials on promoting the qualities of Kyocera. For those who don't know, Myer-Emco was a middle/high-end chain.

So, unfortunately, I don't have anything substantive to add other than to say the equipment looks great and I'm sure it will make a nice system. Congratulations!

[Don C]

Google says BackGround Music. Does that make any sense? Nice looking gear.

[hjames]

Very cool looking stack of stuff!
Kudos on your capture!
I've seen some threads on Ak talking about some of the Kyocera systems.
Good luck on the sound ...

It's home now. I've not had a chance to hook it all up but the cosmetics are flawless. These have the black Lucite side panels, not the grained particle board in the others I've seen. It's beautifully built and was quite the epitome of fine industrial design twenty-five-years ago. So, any comments? Anyone happen to have the owner's manuals for this stuff? Any experience?

[BMWCCA]

This stuff must have been really hot when it came out in the '80s! The integration of the three main components through the remote control module is outstanding. It all connects to the remote module with single RCA/coax runs and a single hand-held remote controls power and most adjustments of each component. Sure any modern A/V receiver will do the same thing today but very few in the high-end (mid-fi?) biz bothered. I always thought the Soundcraftsmen Pro-PT series (pre-amp/tuner) with the remote would be a nice unit but this integrates everything.

I didn't leave work until 10:30 this evening so not much time to play with the Kyocera yet, but . . .

The sound is quite good though it's only connected through "Heather's" L20Ts. The noise floor seems noticeable when in the remote-control volume mode but I've been pretty casual with the interconnects. Dead quiet with the remote-volume defeated. The toroidal power supply and the quality of the circuit layout shows exceptional workmanship. Speaker outs for Speaker 1 accept Pomona (dual-banana) plugs which makes me very happy since everything I have is pre-made that way. The tone controls are in three ranges with both gain and frequency and hide under a very cool heavy aluminum door along the bottom of the front panel that opens with silky smooth damped action.

For less than a cheap dinner date, this is an impressive set.

I'd still love to find a manual at least for the amp.

[Odd]

You will find the service manual here. Free.

It's too big to upload to the forum.

[Krunchy]

Nice catch indeed. That is some good looking gear, very classic & much better than going out to dinner.

Enjoy!

[SEAWOLF97]

I had the wood sided Kyocera CD deck (looks like the one in your link)
.... sounded fine, until the laser died....oh well,
what's the date sticker say ?

I forget the basics of Kyocera.. somehow related to Canon or Sharp

[Don C]

I think that Kyoceras's claim to fame was expertise in ceramics, and that their stuff had more ceramic parts in it. I'm wondering about those black side panels.

[dr_gallup]

I think that Kyoceras's claim to fame was expertise in ceramics, and that their stuff had more ceramic parts in it. I'm wondering about those black side panels.

Yeah, I never bought in to most of their claims about using ceramics for anything other than turntable platters.

[BMWCCA]

You will find the service manual here. Free.

Got that. Thanks. Really looking for the owner's/operator's manual.

what's the date sticker say ?

March 1988. Seems to be fairly late-production.

Interesting:

The company acquired electronic equipment manufacturing and radio communication technologies in 1979 through an investment in Cybernet Electronics Corp., which was merged into Kyocera in 1982. Shortly afterward, Kyocera introduced one of the first portable, battery-powered laptop computers, sold in the U.S. as the Tandy Model 100, which featured an LCD screen and telephone-modem data transfer capability.

Kyocera gained optical technologies by acquiring Yashica Co., Ltd. in 1983, along with Yashica's prior licensing agreement with Carl Zeiss, and manufactured film and digital cameras under the Kyocera, Yashica and Contax trade names until 2005, when the company discontinued all film and digital camera production.

In the 1980s, Kyocera marketed audio components, such as CD players, receivers, turntables, and cassette decks. These featured unique elements, including Kyocera ceramic-based platforms, and are sought by collectors to the present day. At one time, Kyocera owned the famous KLHbrand founded by Henry Kloss, though Kloss and the original Cambridge design and engineering staff had left the company by the time of the Kyocera purchase. In 1989, Kyocera stopped production of audio components and sought a buyer for the KLH brand.

For some reason I can't seem to get anything but static out of either tuner band. Has local frequencies stored in the memory so it must have been working at one time.
Yes, the antennae are connected!

[Rob Robinson]

Kyocera (originally Kyoto Ceramics Co.) was founded by Dr. Kazuo Inamori who is now the chairman of Japan Airlines. Their initial focus in the U.S. was establishment of an industrial ceramics manufacturing facility near San Diego where they produced very sophisticated substrates for integrated circuits using very high temperatures and pressure. They are probably best known by many for their photo copiers and their ceramic knives which are an offshoot of the manufacturing processes used for the IC substrates. They also were the world's largest producer of synthetic gemstones using similar technologies (high heat & pressure) and had their own global chain of high-end jewelry stores (Tokyo, Beverly Hills, Paris, New York, etc.). At one point around 1981 or 1982 Kyocera formed a joint venture with EAD (Electro Audio Dynamics) which was at the time the parent corporation for KLH and Infinity Systems. This was named IKC International (for Infinity, KLH and Cybernet - a Kyocera brand of electronics). There wasn't much actual cooperation between the members of this group (although Cybernet produced the electronics for some short-lived KLH rack systems) and it disappeared shortly thereafter when Sidney Harman purchased Infinity and Kyocera retained KLH. The late Dennis Wratten was at the time the president of KLH and he, the late Frank Jones and I moved KLH from Westwood, MA, (EAD had sold our building in a desperate need for cash) to co-locate with Infinity on Deering Avenue in Canoga Park, CA.

[Titanium Dome]

Kyocera (originally Kyoto Ceramics Co.) was founded by Dr. Kazuo Inamori who is now the chairman of Japan Airlines. Their initial focus in the U.S. was establishment of an industrial ceramics manufacturing facility near San Diego where they produced very sophisticated substrates for integrated circuits using very high temperatures and pressure. They are probably best known by many for their photo copiers and their ceramic knives which are an offshoot of the manufacturing processes used for the IC substrates. They also were the world's largest producer of synthetic gemstones using similar technologies (high heat & pressure) and had their own global chain of high-end jewelry stores (Tokyo, Beverly Hills, Paris, New York, etc.). At one point around 1981 or 1982 Kyocera formed a joint venture with EAD (Electro Audio Dynamics) which was at the time the parent corporation for KLH and Infinity Systems. This was named IKC International (for Infinity, KLH and Cybernet - a Kyocera brand of electronics). There wasn't much actual cooperation between the members of this group (although Cybernet produced the electronics for some short-lived KLH rack systems) and it disappeared shortly thereafter when Sidney Harman purchased Infinity and Kyocera retained KLH. The late Dennis Wratten was at the time the president of KLH and he, the late Frank Jones and I moved KLH from Westwood, MA, (EAD had sold our building in a desperate need for cash) to co-locate with Infinity on Deering Avenue in Canoga Park, CA.

Rob,

Thanks for that bit of history.

We love that kind of first-hand background info around here.

[BMWCCA]

Dang. But for a simple twist of fate I could have another JBL relative through the Harman family. I'll have to be satisfied that my JBLs and Crowns are now kissing cousins.

Thanks, Rob, for the history lesson. Can you confirm that they built this stuff with acrylic side panels that appear for all the world to be piano black? An option? A late model-run change?