Kenwood KRC-999 (1986)
A $1,499 in-dash computer that happens to play tapes — and one period tester called it the most remarkable car stereo in the world.
Overview
Four pounds, two ounces. That's the total weight of a component that packs a synthesized tuner, a cassette deck, and a seven-band graphic equalizer into a single in-dash chassis measuring 7-1/16 inches wide by 1-15/16 inches high by 5⅓ inches deep. The trick, as HiFi-Stereo (June 1986, p.31) explained, was assigning multiple functions to the same pushbuttons and moving the power-supply parts and a control module onto separate chassis that tuck under the dashboard. At $1,499, the KRC-999 was never going to be an impulse buy at the car-audio shop — and Kenwood's own advertising billed it in the most sweeping terms, with period magazine pages carrying the line that on face value alone it was "the most remarkable car stereo in the world."
The tuner section was specified at 12.0 dBf usable sensitivity in mono and 18.0 dBf for 50-dB quieting, with alternate-channel selectivity of 80 dB, capture ratio of 1.5 dB, and image and i.f. rejection of 70 and 75 dB respectively. FM frequency response ran 30 Hz to 15 kHz within ±1 dB, stereo separation at 1 kHz was 40 dB, and the signal-to-noise ratio was quoted at 73 dB. AM usable sensitivity was 27 dBµ (22.4 µV). HiFi-Stereo (June 1986, p.31) put the tuner on the bench and found usable sensitivity considerably better than claimed — 10.3 dBf in mono and 14.0 dBf in stereo — with mono 50-dB quieting at 15 dBf against the 18 dBf spec. At strong signal levels the reviewer measured 73 dB S/N in mono and 70 dB in stereo, with harmonic distortion of 0.27% mono and 0.35% stereo for a 1-kHz modulating signal.
The cassette section is where the KRC-999 separated itself from ordinary in-dash decks. Kenwood rated frequency response at 20 Hz to 20 kHz ±3 dB for 120-µs tapes and out to 22.5 kHz ±3 dB for 70-µs tapes, with wow and flutter of 0.06% weighted rms and stereo separation of 40 dB at 1 kHz. The S/N figures were the headline: 62 dB without noise reduction, 71 dB with Dolby B, 76 dB with Dolby C, and 86 dB with dbx. HiFi-Stereo (June 1986, p.31) measured wow and flutter at 0.058% — just better than claim — and found azimuth error of only 53° at 15.8 kHz, one of the lowest readings the tester had obtained from a car cassette player, crediting Kenwood's Bi-Azimuth system that realigns the head on every change of tape direction. The measured S/N came in below Kenwood's numbers (56.5 and 54.8 dB on two runs without NR, 60.8 dB with Dolby B), though the reviewer suspected Kenwood referenced a higher level than his 250 nWb/m standard. With dbx engaged the ratio was so high the automated test rig refused to plot it; a direct meter reading gave 82 dB, short of the 86 dB claim but, in the tester's words, outstanding for any cassette deck.
The equalizer offers seven bands — 60 Hz, 120 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 3.5 kHz, and 10 kHz — with ±12 dB range in 2-dB steps, and the section's own frequency response is quoted at 20 Hz to 60 kHz ±3 dB with 0.01% THD. What made it unusual was the feedback scheme: each 2-dB step produces a tone whose pitch depends on the octave being adjusted, with a double tone marking the flat center position, so the driver can shape the curve by ear without looking at the display. Three user curves can be stored and recalled, alongside three factory presets for loudness compensation, vocals, and flat. The display can also be switched to a real-time spectrum analyzer, though HiFi-Stereo (June 1986, p.31) sensibly recommended using that particular light show only while parked.
Tape operation ran through a microprocessor with some genuinely useful tricks. Music search could skip as many as eight selections forward or seven backward, provided pauses of 5 seconds or more separated the tracks; a pause longer than 15 seconds triggered automatic fast-forward to the next selection. Index Scan auditioned roughly the first 10 seconds of each track and continued onto the other side thanks to auto reverse. The deck also provided connections for an optional outboard CD player — Kenwood's KDC-9 — which took priority over tuner and cassette when it entered play mode, ejecting any tape in progress. On the tuner side, five preset buttons held 15 FM frequencies across three memory banks plus the usual five AM; ABSS automatically advanced to the next strong signal when the current one faded, and ANRC blended left and right to suppress high-frequency noise as stereo signal strength dropped. Both could be switched off.
Independent reception was warm but not uncritical. HiFi-Stereo (June 1986, p.31) found a number of the manufacturer's ratings overly optimistic yet still judged the KRC-999 one of the best car stereo units the magazine had ever tested, while noting that tapes with long quiet passages or brief interband gaps would not work satisfactorily with the non-defeatable Automatic Blank Skip. HiFi-Stereo's road tester (June 1986, p.31) praised the clean, musical FM sound and superior AM reception against his reference set, but dinged the ergonomics: the panel lit up like a cockpit at ignition yet the cassette slot stayed dark until power-on, the five closely spaced preset buttons were invisible at night, and the equalizer levers sat where a driver could too easily brush them and shift the curve by accident. Mechanical noise during fast winding was audible even over road noise. His verdict — a hot performer, plumb full of features — came with one wish: that the panel owed a bit less to The Empire Strikes Back.
Output level was switchable between 300 mV normal and 1.0 V high via a side-chassis switch for the installer, and the whole system drew 1.0 ampere at 14.4 V (11.0 to 16.0 V allowable). For a collector, the KRC-999 is a period piece in the most literal sense: a mid-Eighties flagship that assumed a buyer wanted every function the engineers could cram into a DIN-sized hole, complete with dbx, spectrum display, and beeps for every button press. Finding one complete — main chassis, remote power-supply and control modules, and the owner's manual, which ran 39 pages in English before the French half — matters more than cosmetics on a unit this feature-dense.
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