Lafayette KT-600 - anyone with experience?

JayMX
JayMX Posts: 446
in 2 Channel Audio
So I acquired an very dirty KT-600 pre amp today. I cleaned it up and dim bulb tested tonight. Played Norah Jones through it to the ol Monitor 5's. Wow! Anyone else had ears on one of these? Any gotchas or suggestions? Thanks!
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Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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Comments

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,441
    Sweet
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,801
    edited September 2019
    No experience per se, but these have a pretty stellar reputation and are rather sought after (i.e., they don't stay for sale for long when they pop up).
    I believe (???) Stuart Hegeman was involved in the design.

    There were (again, as I recall) both kit and assembled versions. Pretty sure KT-600 was the kit.

    12457960174_90ed2489fc_b.jpgScan_Pic0024 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    heh.

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    source: https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-unbuilt-lafayette-kt-600-preamp-dilemma.740311/

    That's a nice Kenwood tuner and a cool Knight (Allied) MPX adaptor, too! :)
    EDIT: and what appears to be a Radio Craftsmen tuner -- if so... I've got one very similar to it. :|
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,801
    Found the original source of the Stuart Hegeman article page scans above! :)
    Good old American Radio History -- I love that site!

    https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Poptronics/60s/60/Pop-1960-02.pdf

    see page 54(ff) of that issue for the scoop on Hegeman. :)

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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    @mhardy6647 I figured you would know! Way cool piece and great info. Thank you.

    If anyone here is interested in this piece, please PM me and let’s talk. I’m not 100% on keeping it. If I do let it go, I’d love to place it with a Polkie! Will build a case for it and replace the power cord and the previous owner removed the input and output RCA’s with 1/4” TRS. Fun project!
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    Been thinking about this one lately, never got around to doing anything with it. Probably won't. Anyone looking for a project? I'll swing you a deal. Cool old piece, just needs love.
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    JayMX wrote: »
    Been thinking about this one lately, never got around to doing anything with it. Probably won't. Anyone looking for a project? I'll swing you a deal. Cool old piece, just needs love.

    Where you located?
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    edited April 2020
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    Where you located?

    Utah - 84025
    The unit is relatively lightweight, wouldn’t cost much to ship.

    A few more details: I hacked a pair of cheap RCA's onto the outputs for testing. A previous owner had installed a 1/4” TRS there for some reason... It does power up and pass signal but has a lot of hum. Definitely needs recapped and a new rectifier (at minimum...) Cosmetically it’s a 7. No covers were with it when I picked it up - had been mounted into a console of some sort. Faceplate has some rust and pitting. Bakelite knobs are all there but are very crispy. Someone tried to glue one before I got it. Two silver caps are missing. The tuner input has been replaced with a 1/4” TRS at some point in its life. It came with a mixed bag of 12AX7 tubes - 4 Telefunken, 1 Tung Sol, 1 RCA, and 1 Realistic. I will remove them from the chassis and wrap them individually for shipping. I do have the original manual (in rough shape, but it seems to all be there plus the builder's hand written notes which are kinda cool.). I believe this was kit-built in the early/mid 60’s.

    Let me know if you are interested and we can discuss $ and logistics.

    Thanks!

    A few more pics in no particular order:
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    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,335
    Ooooooh! 7025 Telefunkens! Those are a real bonus!
    Carl

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    It also has a "tape head" input, used to connect true tape "decks" that were just transports minus electronics. It would be interesting to connect a Teac 6010, for example, via the connecting cables to the KT-600. There are several older preamps that are interesting to tape enthusiasts from Heathkit, Acro, Eico, Pilot and Knight and also Lafayette now is on the list.
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  • analog_signal
    analog_signal Posts: 1
    Have you found a home for this? I’m new to the forum but would love to work on this guy
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  • JayMX
    JayMX Posts: 446
    analog_signal wrote: »
    Have you found a home for this?
    I actually sold it through US Audiomart two weeks ago to a fellow from Oklahoma. Sorry you missed it. And welcome to Club Polk, it’s a good place filled with weird and scary smart peeps. Enjoy!
    Current Collection: Monitor 4a (Peerless), Monitor 5B (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7b (Peerless), RTA15TL (SL3000), SDA CRS+ (194’s), SDA SRS 2.3TL, R100's, R200’s, R300 🤩
    Pairs that have passed through: Monitor 4b (Peerless), Monitor 5a (Peerless), Monitor 5b (SL1000), Monitor 5b (SL2000) (4x pair), Monitor 7b (Peerless), Modified Monitor 7c’s (194’s), Monitor 10a (Peerless), Monitor 10b (5x pair), RTA8, RTA8TL, RTA 11T, RTA12c (194's), SDA CRS, SDA 2 (2x pair), SDA 2a, SDA 2b, SDA 1b, SDA 1c, SDA SRS 2 (2x pair), SDA SRS 3.1TL (198’s) (2x pair)...and more to come, it’s a sickness.
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