Matching speakers with Kenwood A-91

[dennis.george]

Hi everyone,

As a newbie to the audio world i stumbled across a full M-91 Kenwood Deck and my challenge is to pair some good speakers to them.

Currently the only information that i have found regarding the A-91 amplifier that is contained in the deck are from a polish website (on which you can directly click translate)

The website states the following specs:
RMS = 2x 65W for 8 Ohm impedance speakers
Dynamic Power = 2x 80W for 8 impedance speakers
Impedance= 4-16 Ohms (there is a switch that can let me select 2 ranges of values)

Should i start my speaker search based on this specs? I am unsure about the information found online and if they are right to start my research on and i would like your opinion on this matter.

And since I did not use the deck with a good pair of speakers i would like to understand if I am dealing with a good deck/set here.

Thank you in advance! D.

 

[AnalogSteph]

While I hope that you have meanwhile found a suitable set of speakers, I am surprised that this thread (which turned up in the suggested ones) has not received any replies.

Assuming no major technical issues (it might need a new protection relay), the Kenwood 91 system should make a decent entry-level hi-fi much like it did 32 years ago.

The most interesting specs are the 65 W / 8 ohm power rating (which is fairly standard) and the 100 dB line SNR.

Choosing a speaker depends on your use:

In nearfield (desktop) use, you may want to go as low as 82-83 dB SPL / 2.83 V / m sensitivity, otherwise hiss may become a tad bothersome. These speakers are likely to be on the smaller side, like 4-5".

If, by contrast, you're more the party type, a speaker rated 92 dB (and I mean for real, not Klipsch) would unleash up to 110 dB SPL @ 1 m. You may be looking at a 10" (or two 8") or 12" woofer at this point.

For typical hi-fi use at 1.5-3 m, you'll probably want to be looking at something in the (common) 85-88 dB sensitivity range.

For speakers known to dip substantially below 5-6 ohms in impedance, I would choose the lower-impedance switch position. Anything that says above that, choose the higher-impedance one. Be wary of "4-8 ohm" or "8 ohm compatible" ratings and look up an actual impedance plot if in doubt.