Kenwood DP-5060 (c. 1995)
The Kenwood DP-5060 is a single-CD player from the mid-1990s. It was originally priced at ¥45,000 in Japan. It's remembered mainly for its converter technology. The player uses Kenwood's D.A.C. 7 / Pulse-Flow D/A conversion along with the D.R.I.V.E. (Dynamic Resolution Intensive Vector Enhancement) system, a proprietary signal-processing scheme designed to improve the reproduction of minute musical signals, from small levels down to near-silence. The D.R.I.V.E. processor sits between the 8× oversampling digital filter and the 20-bit D/A converter. It uses adaptive filtering and real-time processing to improve micro-level detail and response to transients.
Inside, Kenwood covered the usual 1990s high-end concerns. There is a discrete high-precision master clock circuit, a digital servo for more accurate pickup control, an OEIC pickup with a built-in RF amplifier, and separate power transformer windings for the digital and analog sections to prevent mutual interference. Measured performance was strong. hifi-review.com (1990s) noted that the technical parameters exceeded the manufacturer's own figures by a good margin, and that the player passed linearity testing flawlessly. The same reviewer described the sound as relatively neutral, clean, rich, and dynamic, without graininess or harshness. Spatial reproduction was rated only average.
Reviewers keep coming back to one quibble: the open/close button for the disc tray is in an unusual location that takes some getting used to. Most of the player's extensive functions are only accessible via the included remote control.
Surviving documentation is thin on production dates. The only era reference places it in the 1990s, consistent with the circa-1995 price note. A 20-page English service manual circulates among collectors, and used units occasionally appear on the market, often with the remote. A few known specs:
- Frequency response: 4 Hz – 20 kHz (EIAJ)
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 103 dB or more (EIAJ)
- Dynamic range: 99 dB or more (EIAJ)
- THD: 0.002% or less (EIAJ, 1 kHz)
- Variable output: 0–2.0 V / 0.4 kΩ; optical digital output available
- Headphone out: 20 mW (32 Ω)
- Dimensions: 440 × 127 × 270 mm; 4.3 kg
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