Profile: Kenwood Shows New Mobile Amps with Smaller Footprint

The five new Kenwood amps provide advanced cooling through the use of two smaller fans rather than one large fan which provides two airflow paths over the heat sinks allowing better distribution of air. This gives the amps the ability to operate at lower impedance and improves overall reliability. The new Kenwood amplifier models will all be available in February, 2008.

The KAC-9104D is a monaural amplifier with 500-watts of continuous power at 4 ohms and 900-watts at 1 and 2 ohms, yet it's 30% smaller than the model it replaces. The amp features built-in Bass Boost up to +18dB at 40Hz, a Variable Low-Pass Filter (-24dB from 50Hz to 200Hz), a Variable Infrasonic Filter for reduced distortion at ultra-low frequencies and Auto Signal Sensing for auto activation. Two KAC-9104D amps can be combined in dual-mono configuration for powering a subwoofer with 1,800 watts of power. The KAC-9104D has a suggested retail price of $300.

This amp shares many of the features of the KAC-9104D with power output of 300-watts at 4 ohms and 500-watts at 2 ohms in a chassis size 33% smaller than previous models. The KAC-8104D will be priced at $200.

The KAC-8404 is a four-channel amplifier that is 44% smaller than the previous model with power output of 50-watts x 4 at 4 ohms, 75-watts x 4 at 2 ohms or 180-watts x 2 at 4 ohms. The KAC-8404 will be priced at $230.

The KAC-7404 is 30% smaller than the model it replaces with 170-watts x 2 at 4 ohms, 250-watts x 2 at 2 ohms or 500-watts x 1 at 4 ohms. It includes Variable Low-Pass and High-Pass Filters, built-in Bass Boost and Auto Signal Sensing. The KAC-7404 has a suggested retail price of $200.

The KAC-6404 is a four-channel amplifier with 40-watts x 4 at 4 ohms, 60-watts x 4 at 2 ohms and 130-watts x 2 bridged at 4 ohms. It includes Variable Low-Pass and High-Pass Filters, Auto Signal Sensing and speaker level inputs. The KAC-6404 has a suggested retail price of $150.